Vook Blog Experience books in an exciting new way

As I wrote in my previous blog post about TEDxBoston I was really excited to attend the inaugural TEDx event here in Boston yesterday. I was prepped for a full afternoon of inspiration and innovation. The minor setback of no wifi didn’t stop me from tweeting up a storm (apologies if I flooded anyone’s streams). I was definitely not disappointed.

We watched TED videos about a device being created to act as a 6th sense so we can  fluidly interact with the world around us,

and a brain scientist who got to observe her own stroke and found nirvana.

We heard from John Hoffman and the Alzheimer’s Project — an undertaking by HBO to bring light to and lessen fears about Alzheimer’s, which a study found is the second most feared illness in America.

We tried inhalable, zero calorie chocolate called Le Whif (it made me want to eat more chocolate rather than sating a craving- in case you were wondering). And found out that dirt can produce enough electricity to run a lamp in Africa. Of course there is a bunch of science behind it that I only barely grasp, but the concept and execution are awe inspiring.

Smart Cities Group over at MIT are doing really cool things with electric city cars, mopeds and bicycles. One of my favorite parts of the presentation was the novel approach to incentivized redistribution of product. One of the problems with public access to personal transport is that vehicles might not always be there when you want them, or there might not be any room to park the one you have when you arrive at your destination (this very problem is one of the reasons why Zipcar requires two-way rentals – pickup and return to same location). Smart Cities Group came up with a model where picking up and dropping off vehicles in a way that properly redistributed them around the city was incentivized. It would be more expensive to drop off a car at a popular destination, and cheaper (or possibly even free) to pickup at a popular drop off place and to bring it to a less popular pickup location.

There were diagrams. It made a lot of sense on the PPT.

While I could easily write a whole blog post about each presentation, I’m going to conclude my recap with what was for me, the most memorable part of the entire experience. The last presentation was about El Sistema — a program developed in Argentina that teaches youth music. To quote them, “[El Sistema is] a visionary global movement that transforms the lives of children through music. A new model for social change.” Hearing how bringing music to children, most of whom live below poverty lines, was teaching them to be leaders, to dream big, to want more from life was truely inspiring. And I definitely agree with them when they say that effective education is based on love, approval and community experience.

We were then blessed with one of the most touching and heartfelt musical experiences of my life. The Youth Orchestra of the Americas, an orchestra made up of youth from 22 countries, played two passages from Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. Ben Zander, the conductor, is energetic, charismatic and passionate. His love for music infused the audience and even got us to our feet dancing at the end (not the Beethoven though). One thing Mr. Zander said that stuck with a lot of us is that Beethoven taught us there is always a path to joy and triumph however deep the suffering. The day ended feeling exalted and inspired. And it got me thinking. What if vooks can inspire? How can I change the world with the project that I’m working on?

One thing that has always amazed me about the Harry Potter phenomena is not just that the books are amazing, but that they inspired children to read again. Other books that hadn’t been reprinted in years were suddenly flying off the shelves. J.K Rowling not only created an empire but she brought to life imaginations that had been dormant.

What if we can do the same with vooks? What if we can inspire people to read again? What if bachelors take the time to learn how to cook, because having a video next to the recipe makes it easy enough for them to actually do it, instead of hitting the speed dial for their favorite Chinese food? What if under privileged youth can teach themselves how to play an instrument because of the integration of media. What if the loner finds community because they can talk to people online who are reading the same thing they are?

What if.

Related posts:

1. TEDxBoston