Hugh Herr

We can also pursue these regenerative and surgical and electromechanical strategies as a revision.

So it is possible for someone like myself that already has an amputation to undergo this reconstruction surgery to go from the past to the future.

It has changed.

And I'm actually thinking carefully about when to go under the knife, when to receive these interfaces for myself.

So in five years, when this entire bionic reconstruction is made available clinically, commercially—

You know, for a bionic, say, foot ankle with the magnets and the surgery and whatnot, it's on the order of $100,000, including the surgery and the robotic components and the sensing components and the computer components.

Well, it's on par with other surgeries.

The bionic legs that I'm now wearing cost about $40,000, about the cost of a car.

What is the value of being able to walk?

$40,000 sounds like a lot, but it's pretty nice to be able to walk across the room.

You know, people often talk about the example of eyeglasses, right?

The glasses are a prosthesis, but now, you know, it's a fashion accessory.

So yeah, I mean, when technology really works, when we're able to rebuild bodies and give people back their freedom and

give people back their ability to dance and to run with the expression that they want to put out into the world.

Will these new bodies express themselves in terms of good design and aesthetics?

Absolutely.

Correct.

My own body, my bionic legs are upgraded every five years, and my biological body continues to get worse and worse due to age-related degeneration.

That's right.

So you're right, that is very interesting.