Only a limited number of people could attend the event in Vrijhof building at UT, where it was held, but anybody could watch the inspiring talks online on the TEDxTwente U website. The whole day was presented by Jan Douwe Kroeske, the chairman of the day.
Moralizing technology
The first speech of the day was given by Peter-Paul Verbeek, a Philosopher of Technology and a professor at UT, whose topic was Ethics of things. Professor Verbeek pointed out that even though people like to think they are in charge and in control of technology, all technology influences human behavior. Because of this, we should be cautious about designing new technology and create things that shape our behavior in a good way. ´It´s not about getting rid of power and letting machines take over. It´s about using our power for smart interaction with technology, ´ explained Professor Verbeek.
Artificial pancreas
The next speaker, Robin Koops, shared his personal story with the audience. As a diabetic, Koops tried to figure out a way to improve his life that was inevitably disrupted by the disease. Eventually, he and his team created the artificial pancreas, which allows diabetic people to live a normal life without having to measure their blood glucose value and inject insulin several times a day. The artificial pancreas does this for them. This device, which resembles an old-fashioned walkman, is equipped with glucose and heartbeat sensors and insulin and glucagon pumps, therefore diabetic people can enjoy life without having to think about the right nutrition all the time.
Talks by UT Students
Part I of the event ended with a speech by a UT student Emile Nijssen. Nijssen´s passion is to create useful technology that can make our daily lives easier and more fun. The main message of his speech was ´Just code it´, encouraging people to use technology to come up with innovative solutions to issues they experience every day. Nijssen´s latest invention is Homey, a device capable of controlling almost everything in your house, such as lights or a TV.
Merijn Bruijnes, PhD student from the University of Twente, took the stage during the Part II of TEDxTwenteU. He talked about the *Bot project, which focuses on the impact of telepresence robots. Such ´Skype on wheels´ robots might become quite common in the future and Bruijnes discussed the technological, social and ethical issues that might be involved in everyday usage of such device.
