Mick Ebeling: The invention that unlocked a locked-in artist

Freeing a paralytic from his prison of a bed

Mick comes across as a pretty average, normal run of the mill kind of guy. His video almost seems self-promoting at first: "Look at me! I did something great!", but it contributes more to

the idea of "Anyone can do this. I'm just a normal guy but I still made this happen".

Mick eases into his presentation off by saying that he has worked on many projects in his life, but the one that was the coolest was around a guy named Tempt. He was one of the first graffiti artists in the 80’s and came home from a run one day saying: “Dad, my legs are tingling”. Now he is completely paralyzed except for the use of his eyes. His company decided to sponsor and gave his brother the money, but first asked what they were going to do with it. And he simply said; “All I want to do is be able to talk with my brother again”. He soon found out that unless you are in the upper class of people, it is not possible to get a device that will allow paralytics to communicate. So Mick decided to set with a check that he had no idea how he was going to pay.

He met a group of people called the GRL, Graffiti Research Lab, and he discovered a technology that used light and lasers to draw on any surface. After about a year later he forced an insurance company to get Tempt one of these devices known as a Steven Hawkins machine.

http://www.graffitiresearchlab.com

Then they got seven programmers from all around the world to come to his house and they took over for about two weeks. In the end, using only a cheap pair of sunglasses, some copper wire, various supplies from Home Depot and Radio Shack, they hacked open a PS3 Camera which was mounted to an LED light, he made the EyeWriter. It is a completely free device, the code and software are published online, and they make absolutely no profit.

After seven years, Tempt was able to do graffiti for the first time and express himself. Mick and those who contributed to the project, along with the EyeWriter itself got several recognitions, and even awards including the top 50 inventions of 2010 in TIME.

Mick uses humor at the appropriate moments to keep the audience interested, makes everything he says line right up, and states the point concisely. Mick's points at the end are that: "If you see somthing that is impossible, make it possible", "If not now, then when?", "If not me, then who?". This video has inspired me to make any improvement I can in general to the world, not just making life easier for myself. I would recommend this video to anyone you can get to watch it, because this WILL grab you attention by the neck and motivate you to make a difference too. I feel that anyone can do anything if they can get the right talent, ideas, and hard work. If the whole world worked like this, then we would have a utopia on Earth.

To view more TED Talk Videos, go to: http://www.ted.com/talks
To see the best inventions of 2010, go here: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2029497,00.html
To make your own EyeWriter, go to: http://www.eyewriter.org/diy/