TEDGlobal 2012: Radical Openness

Radical Openness — in pictures, quotes and more

As the world becomes interconnected, the ways we relate and learn about one another (and the rules about what we share) are changing. That was the inspiration for TEDGlobal 2012: Radical Openness, held in Edinburgh.

Talks from TEDGlobal 2012

How Arduino is open-sourcing imagination

Massimo Banzi helped invent the Arduino, a tiny, easy-to-use open-source microcontroller that's inspired thousands to make the coolest things they can imagine -- from toys to satellite gear.

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Photo: James Duncan Davidson / TED
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Talks from TEDGlobal 2012

Four principles for the open world

The recent generations have been bathed in connecting technology from birth, says futurist Don Tapscott, and as a result the world is transforming into one that is far more open and transparent.

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Photo: James Duncan Davidson / TED
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Session 11: Taking Another Look

Cancer in context

Mina Bissell's career has been driven by a tremendous question: what makes cancer become cancer? In a talk that drew a standing ovation, she shares her insight that cancer development might be caused by two main factors: context and architecture.

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Session 10: Reframing

Quantum locking

Here, physicist Boaz Almog demonstrates superconductivity (after rescuing his equipment from UK customs). He shows how a superconductor, cooled with liquid nitrogen, can hover and "lock" into place above a magnetic disc, suspended in mid-air.

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Session 9: The Upside of Transparency

The technological future of crime

“I study the future of crime and terrorism," says Marc Goodman, "and quite frankly I’m afraid.” In a gripping talk, he walks us through examples of technology's dark side -- and the dangers of an increasingly open world.

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Session 8: Talk to Strangers

Games that heal

"On your deathbed are you really going to wish you'd spent more time playing games?" It's a question game designer and gaming advocate Jane McGonigal often hears. At TEDGlobal, she answered with a game -- one she designed to help herself recover from an injury.

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Session 7: Long Term

A new chapter for the TED Prize

Curator Chris Anderson and TEDx Director Lara Stein announce the beginning of a new chapter for the TED Prize. One key shift, seen in the photo: The cash award has been raised to $1 million, providing powerful seed funding for the wish.

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Session 6: Misbehaving Beautifully

"Everyone becomes psychotic in his or her own ways"

"In another time, I would have ended up in the back ward of a hospital," Elyn Saks said. "Everything about this illness says I shouldn’t be here. But I am." In a talk that drew a standing O, she described her schizophrenia, her treatment, and her path to a successful life.

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Session 5: Shades of Openness

Listening to Picasso

"I've never seen color and I don't know what color looks like," says artist Neil Harbisson; "I come from a grayscale world." Yet, with the help of an "electronic eye," he can "hear" color. To a rapt audience, he describes hearing the color of grass ...

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Session 4: Globality

"The sharp-dressing piano-playing man"

On Day 2 of TEDGlobal, Jonathan Batiste revisited the stage to play a burst of Chopin's "Funeral March" on the melodica, followed by a "St. James Infirmary Blues" on the piano.

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Session 3: Building Blocks

Thinking rationally? Think again

"The way to run a business or country has been flipped," says Eddie Obeng. The problem, he says, is we still behave according to the old rules. "Next time you're making your absolutely sensible decision, wonder if it still makes sense in our world after midnight."

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Session 2: Tinker Make Do

Bringing objects to life with augmented reality

"Wouldn't it be amazing if our phones could see the world the way we do?" ask technologists Matt Mills and Tamara Roukaerts. They demo phone-based augmented reality that turns a painting of Robert Burns to life.

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Session 1: Critical Crossroads

Open-source security

"We keep trying to build walls," says Admiral James Stavridis. "Walls don't work. We need to build bridges, instead of walls." Admiral Stavridis is the Supreme Commander of NATO, and a proponent of what he calls "open-source security."

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