Thursday, January 30, 2020

5:15 pm | Red Carpet Reception

6:00 pm | Documentary Screening

7:30 pm | Panel Discussion

8:30 pm | VIP Post Panel Reception

The documentary explores what it means to be human by following the incredible journeys of three people with implantable brain interfaces. Directed and produced by artist and futurist Taryn Southern and Elena Gaby, the film prominently features Cleveland Veteran Bill Kochevar and the cutting-edge work of the Cleveland Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) Center at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center (UH).

Paralyzed below his shoulders in a bicycling accident, Kochevar is believed to be the first person with quadriplegia to have arm and hand movements restored with the help of two temporarily implanted technologies. The film, which premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, explores the medical, personal and ethical questions that arise as human and artificial intelligence become one as a means to fight disease or overcome injury.

A panel discussion moderated by NPR Future You Host, Elise Hu, with filmmakers Taryn Southern and Elena Gaby, Cleveland Clinic Bioethicist Paul Ford, PhD, Director of the Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery Center at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Professor of Neurosurgery at Case Western Reserve University Jonathan Miller, MD, and Cleveland FES Center researchers A Bolu Ajiboye, PhD, Robert F Kirsch, PhD, and Dustin Tyler, PhD, will follow the film.

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Educators, Veteran Service Organizations and Non-Profits contact Cheryl Dudek, cdudek@FEScenter.org for special/group ticket sales.

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