ETH Meets You at TEDxZurich 2017
ETH Zurich professors and researchers to speak at TEDxZurich's “Opening Doors” on 17 November 2017. Join the event or watch via live-stream.
external pageTED believes passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. They have built a network that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world’s most inspired thinkers, as well as a community of curious souls who engage ideas and each other. The TEDx program presents opportunities for local communities around the world to share ideas. TEDxZurich is one of more than 115 TEDx events that take place in more than 35 countries each year.
As an Academic Partner of external pageTEDxZurich, ETH Zurich supports the concept of "Opening Doors" by live-streaming the event in the entrance foyer Polyterrasse of the Main Building. The external pagetalks can also be followed live on external pagehttp://tedxzurich.com/openingdoors.
We hope you will tune in to watch ETH Zurich professors, Rima Alaifari and Robert Riener, as well as doctoral researcher, Pascal Bérard as they take the TEDxZurich stage.
Speakers
From Disney and Pixar Animation Studios at UCLA to evolutionary biology research at Princeton, Rima Alaifari’s career sheds light on the exciting doors opening up to the next generation of “math geeks.” Alaifari, ETH Zurich’s youngest professor, develops applied mathematical theories with potential applications in medical imaging, signal processing, and machine learning. Theoretical results suggests that new algorithms may address the quality of medical images and reduce patient radiation exposure.
Robert Riener founded the world’s first Cybathlon, an Olympic-style competition that facilitates a conversation between academia, industry, technology developers, and people with disabilities. The Cybathlon accelerates the development of assistive technologies around the world. Riener is also a full professor of sensory-motor systems and head of the Department of Health Sciences and Technology at ETH Zurich and professor of medicine at the University Hospital Balgrist. His research focuses on rehabilitation robotics, virtual reality and human motor learning.
Despite enormous breakthroughs in motion-capture technology, animators still seek the ultimate tools to create realistic avatars with warm and expressive eyes. Pascal Bérard, a PhD candidate at ETH Zurich works with Disney Research Zurich on a novel software system that reconstructs the human eye in an unprecedented level of detail and realism. His name appears in the visual effects credits for the films: The Jungle Book, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Doctor Strange. Bérard was also named to the 2017 Forbes 30 under 30 Europe list.
Exhibition
Steer an avatar with your thoughts
Brain Runners is a brain–computer interface (BCI) video game that enables competitors to control the movement of an avatar by using only concentrated thoughts. Participants of TEDxZurich 2017 receive the opportunity to play the game in the studio and see how well the players’ brain signals are being read.