“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.

“Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have."

When I feel vulnerable about the possibility of failure, I try to remember this quote. I try to remember that vulnerability and connection are the heart of innovation. Maybe the greatest lesson on creativity that I've learned from the research is this: When failure is not an option, neither is innovation. Steve Jobs lived that truth. 

How could I not add my voice to the many appreciations of Steve Jobs being offered today? Before I heard the news yesterday, I had actually watched a video from 1987, the Apple Knowledge Navigator, which blew me away the first time I saw it and now I know was uncannily accurate. The vision, the persistence to stick to it, the ability to make it happen that Jobs had are amazing. But Steve knew his role and acknowledged in his commencement address at Stanford that he would eventually give way to new generations of leaders.

Of all the things I've seen today, this quotation and tribute by Brene Brown is my favorite, I think. Also notable are the person who wrote" iThank you," Roget Von Oech's observation that he finally understood why Apple called its new iPhone the 4S—it's for Steve, and Steve's own closing words from that Stanford address—"Stay hungry; stay foolish."

There's a remarkable image offered in tribute at Brene's blog.

If you’ve ever been to the hospital, you probably are famiiar with the holter monitor, a device for measuring electrical activity in the nervous system. And you probably also know what holters tend to look like: a bunch of unsightly and uncomfortable plastic patches and wires attached to a bulky, beeping screen. The alternative could come in the form of a system being developed by researchers at Carlos III University in Madrid that uses a tank top instead of rubber suckers, and dispenses with the wires in favor of, well, a completely wireless set-up.

Not only is the tank top less intrusive and more comfortable than traditional biomonitoring systems, say the researchers, it also is just a fraction of the cost. Alongside the washable T-shirt, whch contains a series of electrodes that measure and record bioelectrical activity, the system also includes a removable thermometer and accelerometer that measures temperature and movement, and a separate positioning device that allows doctors and nurses to keep track of where patients are.

Another post on wireless monitoring. It was quite a day fo posts on simplifying Health Care: Science Times in this morning's NYT talked about a drastic reduction in the cost of CPAPs by implementing simpler alternatives and Mashable posted on using phones for health care in Africa.

A retirement center in Florida says an iPad pilot program started in July is helping keep residents young at heart.

The iPad’s large touch screen and light weight are helping healthy residents socialize more — as they play with puzzles and games — and it’s been “pretty amazing,” the home director says with re-educating stroke and dementia patients.

I'm a big fan of games for cognitive recovery—I started out with TV game shows (Thank you Alex Trebek and Alan Ludden—and I'm a big fan of the iPad for entertainment and more serious pursuits.

A powerful exoskeleton is helping stroke patients and victims of spinal cord injuries to walk again. "The prototype device is called the Lower-extremity Powered ExoSkeleton, or LOPES, and works by training the body and mind of a patient to recover a more natural step." Developed over the last several years at the University of Twente in Enschede in the Netherlands, the device "can do all the walking for the patient, or it can offer targeted support in either one leg or with one element of the walking process."

What's the Big Idea?

Commercial versions of the product could be developed as early as next year. Beyond victims of medical injuries, the lower-extremity exoskeleton is being designed with military function in mind. A California company is developing an exoskeleton that "enables infantry soldiers to lift and carry weights of up to 90kg in the field, and consists of a hydraulic-powered frame which straps around the soldier's body." In the future, exoskeleton devices may be used by aging individuals to keep pace with younger ones when families are out and about. 

Read it at B.B.C. News