Not Impossible Labs aims to create accessible technology on an open-source platform in the spaces of mobility, health and communication, and then use storytelling to inspire others to do the same.
The company with a massive vision to do good for humanity first caught our attention when developing the EyeWriter, an open-source software that enabled TEMPT, a paralyzed graffiti artist with ALS, the ability to paint again. The technology, a low-cost pair of eye-tracking glasses, allows TEMPT to control a virtual paint brush by blinking to turn it on and off, and moving his eyes to draw.
PSFK catches up with Not Impossible Labs Founder Mick Ebeling about his new book Not Impossible, the journey in working with TEMPT and other DIY initiatives that have the power to improve the lives of people around the world.
PSFK: Can you tell me about your background and that of Not Impossible Labs?
Mick Ebeling: Not Impossible Labs started after being inspired by TEMPT and creating the EyeWriter, looking at its success and questioning why we shouldn’t do it again.
I’m a political scientist, but I am a producer. Science isn’t my background. The reason we’ve been successful is the way in which we approach things from the perspective of a producer. A producer looks at what needs to be done regardless of whether or not they have the expertise, then figure out how to pull it off.
One of the mantras that we live by is “commit and figure it out.” You rarely get consecutive projects that are the exact same project as what you just did, and as a producer that doesn’t even begin to phase you, you just roll with it. That’s one of the things I love most about about what we’re doing—we are using technology for social good.
Outside of health, in what areas do you see technology powering a better humanity for all?
We’re looking at projects right now that pertain to health, but that also fall under other categories provide a better life for mankind. To me, that’s what’s exciting. We’re looking at Cerebral Palsy and Alzheimer’s and things that have origins in health or in quality of life, but the ramifications of these inventions will also help people without those maladies. When you start to create things that can help one person, you have the ability to help many people.
What does this approach distinguish your work from other initiatives?
A lot of people will attack the WHAT while we attack the WHO. That’s our focal point: we say ‘who needs this and why does it need to be made?’ Not ‘what is the syndrome and how can we help it?’
From a storytelling perspective, we are able to harness the power of the crowd and the belief in what people are doing because we tell the why and the who and people can relate to that.
Can you talk about the spirit of an open-source platform? What were the challenges for you?
We realized that open-source, in practicality, doesn’t mean accessibility. We had people ask if we could make them an EyeWriter, so we give them the code to make it themselves and people would write back with the same request. We realized that the ability to DIY doesn’t necessarily mean that the person who needs it will get it. That was a great lesson learned and it’s more about making what we create accessible, which sometimes means free and sometimes means open-source. Accessibility is really our guiding light.
Can you talk about the power of storytelling and technology being used together?
As humans, we relate and want to relate to other humans. With Not Impossible Labs, if we’re able to make it so that someone reads our story and understands that we helped one person and that the ramifications are we can help many people, that comes from the storytelling.
The EyeWriter was not a sexy piece of machinery, but what’s remarkable is that it helped someone draw again for the first time in seven years, and it proved powerful because it was pivotal for other software recognition technologies to be awed by our prices and think they could do the same thing.
Any time that we can play a role in inspiring these things to be produced faster, cheaper and better because of the story that we tell, that’s exciting to us.
When we can look back on this in 10 years we can say, ‘Is this the best arm that we could have made for Daniel? Hell no, it wasn’t the best arm but did that story shine light on open-source 3D printed prosthetics? Absolutely. It was one of the biggest stories about 3D printed prosthetics to date.’ And so the fact that we could play that role in the genesis of that movement, and through our story inspire other people to make better 3D printed prosthetics…that is exciting. We want to play a role in the possibility of what technology can do to make the world a better place. If we do that, then we are fully achieving the mission of Not Impossible.
Any concluding thoughts?
We believe in the power of the crowd. We believe that every solution to every problem that exists today is already out there, it’s just a question of our minds putting the pieces together in the right way, and then those problems will be solved. There is nothing that exists today that wasn’t impossible at one point. That goes from the obvious, to cell phones and airplanes and computers, down to woven clothes and medicine and light and fire.
We believe it narcissistic of us to think that mankind has finally discovered something that is truly impossible. Logic would say that everything that’s impossible today is on a trajectory to become possible.
Not Impossible
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