Bold Technology Matters Scholarship

We live in a world where we walk around with small computers in our pockets. Children use tablets at the dinner table, our cars have touchscreen interfaces and there's an app for everything. We are so immersed in the world of technology that it almost seems like there are few needs left that we need to be catered to... but that is only if the "we" I am speaking about is exclusive to able-bodied individuals. We have the opportunity to change the museum space - the industry I hope to work in someday - into a more inclusive and welcoming atmosphere for people of all different abilities through the power of innovative technology. The tech I am the most excited about is interactive touch tech, specifically implemented within the art museum space - a technology catered towards those with vision impairments that would allow them to experience the art as a unique and immersive sensory experience. Believe it or not, many blind individuals love going to museums. It may seem curious to full-sighted individuals because we are so used to relying on our eyes to give us almost all of our information around the world around us. We use these tools for reading museum labels, watching videos and slideshows, looking upon a painted masterpiece, or a collection of photos. To an individual who is used to taking in the world with their eyes, it is hard to picture experiencing a museum in any other way. But there are other ways, and we just need to get creative in how we bring those modalities to the museum space. Touch tech - being able to put on a set of VR gloves and "feel" a sculpture or the texture of paint on an 18th-century work of art - is a new technology that could revolutionize the way people experience their museum visits. Not only would bringing this technology into our institutions add a whole new depth of accessibility, but it would also allow sighted individuals to experience these pieces they are so used to seeing only through a visual modality in a new, tactile way. Nobody is allowed to touch things in museums outside of exhibitions created specifically for hands-on interaction. You won't see any curator inviting you to touch a Parthenon Marble or a leftover fragment of Myan pottery... but bringing this technology into these spaces would allow us to do this (virtually, of course). It would revolutionize how everyone is able to experience the museum space, and to me, that is beyond exciting. So yeah, I'm obviously excited for the next iPhone and maybe for a self-driving car in the future. But what I am most excited about is bringing technology, and increased accessibility along with it, into the museum space. It is time to re-think how we present art and culture, and I think VR touch-tech is a great way to dive right in.

Because of my commitment to healthcare and research, the ability to print fully functional human organs and limbs is the piece of technology about which I am most excited. Though researchers have already begun to embark on this journey, there are many components of this piece of technology that have yet to be perfected. For example, in 2019, a team of researchers in Tel Aviv were the first to successfully bioprint a 3D human heart; however, this model lacked some of the necessary vascular infrastructure needed for this organ to be used in full-blown organ implants. Furthermore, researchers at the University of Würzburg were able to successfully use progenitor cells to produce blood vessels and other connective tissues under highly controlled laboratory conditions. Yet, like above, these were unable to be developed and deemed functional inside of the bioprinted heart produced in Tel Aviv. Thus, despite the great amount of progress being made in this field, there is yet much that remains to be done. The benefits of this piece of technology would be of unrivaled benefit to humanity. In addition to those with medical emergencies who need organ implants, this technological advancement would improve the lives of those returning from service as well as those born with debilitating injuries. Between the years 2001 and 2018, the Department of Defense (DOD) reported that more than 1,500 veterans who had returned home from Iraq and Afghanistan had missing or greatly damaged limbs. No doubt, a machine capable of producing fully-functioning limbs would provide injured veterans the needed mobility to enjoy full and complete lives after returning home from overseas. More than just veterans, this technological advancement would help children and infants who suffer from birth defects and other birth-related complications. According to the CDC, approximately 1 in every 1,900 children is born with a stunted, missing, or otherwise dysfunctional limb. Using the 3.79 million births reported by the CDC in 2018 for reference, that yields an estimate of nearly 2,000 children and infants who are born with a limb defect annually. Surely, a machine capable of bioprinting human organs, body parts, and limbs would allow these children to achieve their full potential and experience the happiness that they deserve in their lives. Finally, this technological advancement would greatly improve the lives of those living in third-world countries who have little to no access to the technology needed to grow human organs in the laboratory. A device capable of producing functional body parts would greatly improve the healthcare systems of these countries. By being able to successfully bioprint human organs and limbs, those who live with handicaps and few material resources to change their situation (a large number of people in third-world countries) could receive affordable help and, as a result, live their life with the mobility and happiness of being injury-free.