Exponential Africa Interview

Welcome back to another episode of Exponential Africa. We're at the SingularityU South Africa Summit for the third year at the beautiful Kyalami racetrack, and we are fortunate enough to be sitting with an incredible human being, Tilly Lockey. Tilly Lockey's life has been positively impacted by advances in robotics and technology. From the UK, Lockey serves as a true source of inspiration and possibility. She was diagnosed with meningococcal at a young age and sadly lost both her arms. She now has Hero Arms made by Open Bionics, which are completely 3D printed and fully customizable to suit her needs. Tilly, thanks for being on the show.

Thanks for having me, I'm really excited.

So the first time I actually saw you was on a live stream where you were having a conversation with the Dalai Lama.

Yeah.

And I couldn't stop watching. It was so inspiring to, you know, to see how excited he was to meet you and just the conversation you guys were having. How was that?

It was absolutely insane. Obviously, he's such an inspirational, well-known figure, and it was just— I have no words. We were just— they were like, oh, Tilly, we want you to come down to Amsterdam with SingularityU. I've done a couple of events in Amsterdam with SingularityU, and they said, well, this time we're going to have the Dalai Lama there. And I was just shocked. Because I know who he is. I think everybody knows who he is. And then when we went to the venue, we were in this amazing church, the Dean Newey Kirk, and it was just so stunning. And I remember him coming down the aisle and you didn't actually see on the livestream, but he was high-fiving everyone. And so I was there with my hand out, ready to give him a high five. And as soon as he saw me, he was just like, wow. And we just had that instant connection. He was— because he's not a huge fan of technology. He doesn't use much social media. Well, none at all. He doesn't really watch TV other than the news at 3 o'clock in the morning. But he saw them and it was just a really good event where we were talking about how technology can help people and technology and compassion, that was the theme. So it was just a great experience.

Yeah, I remember him saying that, you know, technology can help save humanity. He was very positive about embracing technology in the future.

Yeah.

So let's talk a little bit about these Hero Arms from Open Bionics. How long have you had them and Do you want to tell us a bit about them?

Yes, so I got these specific hands in January, and these were gifted to me by 20th Century Fox, and they were gifted to me in London. I had no idea about it, and then they told me that they wanted me to go to the world premiere and walk down the red carpet, but it was blue in this case, and I just had no words. All I could say was, what? Because I was just I was so amazed and just shocked really, but it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I remember I was shaking with excitement when I was there. So yeah, I got these ones in January off them, so I'll never forget the day where I actually received them. But they are inspired by the movie Alita: Battle Angel. So I don't know if anyone's seen it, but in the movie—

James Cameron's new movie.

Yeah, yeah. In the movie Alita, she's got like a really cool robot body and they wanted to replicate them in humanity, so I've got the exact replica of Alita's hand but for kids in real life, so it's pretty awesome.

Yeah, I watched that movie on the plane and then I found out the story and it was like, James Cameron is probably, you know, one of the greatest filmmakers that has ever lived.

Yeah.

And I think it's just extraordinary that, you know, he came and met with you and worked with you on the movie.

Yeah, and he was really nice as well. He was an absolutely amazing guy.

And how do your hands, how do the arms work?

Like, uh, So these hands are completely muscle operated. There are muscle sensors on the inside here and here, and they are perfectly sensitive to my strength, my muscles, because that's what they work on at the lab to make it really easy for you, because everybody's different. But basically, I think they move just like your hand would move, but you just don't really realize you're doing it because you've been doing it all your life. But basically, if I squeeze the muscles, the fingers will close. And if I flex, they will open. And then if I flex again, I'll feel a vibration in the arm, and that tells me that I've changed grip modes. So there are 4 grip modes in total. So this is just a normal close, like if you're picking up a ball or something. Here is the grasp, and I use that to pick up makeup brushes, pens, longer objects like that. And I also use that as a thumbs up. And then if I press this button here, I have access to the 2 other grips, and it goes purple. And they are the pinch, good for smaller objects, and then the tripod grip mode, and this is what I would use if I was like holding a fork or something for extra support.

I mean, it's really unbelievable. It's really extraordinary. I mean, it's almost like a new language has been created.

Yeah.

It's like a new user interface.

Yeah.

And where do you see this going in the next couple of years?

I have really high hopes for Open Bionics because they're a really startup company. They've only been going 5 years And I've been working with them for 3 of those years. And when we first got with them, they were literally working in like a shoe cupboard. And there were only 4 of the workers there. And there's still, I feel like, I think all 4 are still working with them now. But they've expanded so much. And they're now in the medical services in lots of countries like France, Spain, Germany, not England yet, but they're going through the trials at the moment. And countries like that. And we're trying to expand a lot more. And yeah, there's, I think, over 100 of them now, and they've just opened a new lab, and they are going to be launching the opening of that lab as soon as I get back from here. So if we can make it, that'll be good. I really hope so.

Amazing. And I mean, since you were very young, you've been getting different technologies, different types of prosthetics and bionics. How have you seen it develop over the last 10 years?

It's absolutely insane. We started my first ever hand I got, I was 2, and they were from our national healthcare system in the UK. And I never want to say anything bad about the NHS because they are the people who saved my life when I was battling with my meningitis when I was a baby. And they've helped me a lot with leg problems, all sorts that have stemmed from the septicemia. And so I never want to say anything bad about them, but their prosthetics weren't ideal. I couldn't physically operate it, I was scared of it, I thought of it more of a weapon than a hand. As much fun as it was like chasing around my sisters pretending I was Captain Hook or something, they just weren't the best and they didn't help me at all. So we moved on from that and then 10 years down the line here we are with 3D-printed multi-grip hands.

It's almost like we're upgrading ourselves as humans. And with this new type of positioning around the prosthetics, it's— you want to get upgraded.

What was classed as a disability is now an advancement, and I just feel like that's so crazy bearing in mind what prosthetics were like 10 years ago. It's just moved so quick.

Wow, so inspiring. And I mean, what is your hope for the future around bionics?

I have a lot of hopes for the future. As I said, I've got really high hopes for the team. They're doing so well. They're so new. 5 years these were made, it just makes me imagine what could they be like in another 5 years. Could they have lasers in the hands? Could they have projectors? Because I was really optimistic when I started working with Alton Burnicks. I rocked up in the lab with this huge vision board and I was like, right, I want Bluetooth speakers in the hand, I want music, I want like a personal assistant in there like Siri in an iPhone. So you'd be like 'cause they couldn't— my school couldn't take my hands away from me. That was the thinking behind it. So if I was doing, like, a maths assessment or something, I could be like, "Hey Siri, what's the answer to this question?" and, you know, things like that. So I was definitely very optimistic back then. But I feel like in 5 years, it's gonna happen, and—

I think so. I mean, Ray Kurzweil, one of the founders of Singularity University, says that by 2029, the computational power will be so strong, we'll connect our brain, our neocortex, to the cloud. Being able to access information at, you know, really fast speeds. So you could— it could be exactly the same in your arm or, you know, in different parts of the body.

Yeah.

So it's very exciting.

Yeah, it is.

So thanks so much. We can't wait to see you on the stage and be here again back in South Africa. Yeah, thank you. We've run out of time, so I really hope you enjoyed that episode. Make sure to like and subscribe. And yeah, can we have a handshake? Awesome, that's amazing, eh? Wow.

Thank you.

And a thumbs up. Cheers.

Keep smiling.