- [Narrator] This is Alec.
He's testing one of the most advanced bionic limbs
on the planet.
- [Alec] This bionic power leg is completely different
than anything out there.
You walk on it, and you're like, "Wow."
This is gonna make a difference for everybody.
- [Narrator] Rather than having Alec control the device
with his mind, this prosthetic uses artificial intelligence
to control itself.
- [Dr. Lenzi] These devices have achieved things
that before we thought was impossible.
The field is evolving really quickly,
and a lot of the things that we see in the movies
will become reality.
- [Alec] Amplified humans is going to be a thing,
and the fact that I get to see all of that
before it happens, it's magical.
I love coaching. (shouting)
Football is great because it correlates to life so well.
(shouting)
You're gonna battle through adversity.
It's about how you use that to help yourself grow
and move forward.
(somber music)
In 2013, I was working with my cousin
and my uncle building houses.
I was just heading to work.
It was cold here in Utah,
and I knew that the roads were gonna be a little icy.
Ended up going over the canyon right by my cousin,
and he wrecked about halfway up.
So, I got out to help him and make sure he was okay,
and another truck hit me doing about 85, 90 miles an hour.
I should've died.
I should've died multiple times.
I should've died from the tear in my heart,
the infection in my leg should've killed me,
and it didn't.
But when you have been through something
so traumatic and lost a limb and literally a piece of you,
then, you know I have to have some sort of purpose here.
- [Man] How are ya?
- [Alec] It's been a minute, yeah?
How's life?
- [Man] It's pretty good. - [Alec] Good?
- [Man] Yeah. - [Alec] Good.
How do you feel like your knee strength is?
This--that knee.
- [Man] This knee? - [Alec] Yeah.
- [Man] I feel like it's really weak.
- [Alec] Really weak?
That's still normal.
I mean, you're still early on, and that's an issue
that we're gonna work with for sure.
I really enjoy talking with patients
and helping them to walk.
With my leg, I relate to them in a different way.
- [Narrator] Today, Alec is working in the lab
of Dr. Tommaso Lenzi to develop a new type
of bionic prosthesis.
- [Dr. Lenzi] So, Alec was the first person to test
our bionic leg.
Was way more than just a subject.
He's like a collaborator.
Our test today is to compare the performance of a bionic leg
with a conventional prosthesis.
We are looking into agility, turning, climbing two steps
at a time, things that no one thought was gonna be possible
to do with a bionic leg.
- [Narrator] With conventional prosthetics,
amputees have to go up stairs one at a time,
leading with their good leg.
Powered prosthesis changes that.
- [Woman] Takes a lot of effort to go up two steps
at a time, and so, to have the robot be able to perform
that movement is a big deal.
- [Dr. Lenzi] I'm pretty happy with this.
- [Narrator] For the first time ever,
Dr. Lenzi's team performed a new test on the leg.
They took it outside the lab and into the real world.
-I mean...
- [Dr. Lenzi] Yeah, yeah. - [Woman] Nice!
- [Alec] That was money right there.
- [Woman] Yeah!
- [Narrator] That was great.
- [Dr. Lenzi] And as he like going up a flight of stairs like that,
it's pretty amazing.
The way we win at this game is by taking an approach
that's completely different than our biological leg.
The (mumbles) way to think about a bionic prosthesis
is as a tool.
They receive inputs and perform movements.
The challenge with this approach is that is requires
a lot of attention from the user.
So, we decided to give a brain to the bionic name
to kind of match the behavior of the user.
- [Alec] It is very different.
Instead of straight swinging, like on a hinge all the time,
it really is up and over.
- [Narrator] Dr. Lenzi's theory is that this way
of using a powered prosthetic will feel more effortless
than controlling it consciously, making it easier
for amputees to adopt a powered prosthesis.
- [Woman] We've got an amputee coming in to walk on
a robot, and that kind of sounds crazy when you put it
in those words.
Someone's gonna come in and put their weight on it,
and you have to believe 100% in the work that you've done.
- [Alec] Something big is coming down the pipe.
Able-bodied little kids that come up to me
right now, and they're looking at me like that leg
is a little different.
In 10 years, they're gonna come up to me,
they're gonna say, "I want that leg.
"I wanna be able to do the things that you can do
"on that leg."
- [Dr. Lenzi] I feel very optimistic on what bionics
can do for people because I've seen how much
it has evolved in the last 10 years.
I believe that we are the generation that will see
physical disabilities disappear.
- [Alec] My job is to give people hope.
I am a literal example.
Like yeah, hard things are gonna happen,
but let's use those things to grow
and move ourselves forward.
(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] Thanks for watching this episode
of "Superhuman".
If you liked the video, subscribe to our channel
for more "Superhuman" episodes,
and don't forget to visit freethink.com for more stories
of people moving the world.