TED Conference Photos: 18 Steal-Worthy Ideas to Inspire Attendees

The buzzy gathering in Vancouver offered dozens of ideas for facilitating engagement and collaboration, not to mention comfort, in an unfussy environment.

Alesandra Dubin

March 23, 2015

The TED Conference officially wrapped Friday, drawing about 1,300 attendees from 46 countries for the event’s signature 18-minute talks at the main program at the Vancouver Convention Centre. TED organizers also attracted more than 650 attendees from 60 countries to the concurrent sister conference, TEDActive, which took place at a new venue this year: the Whistler Conference Centre.

At the main conference, more than 70 new speakers and performers over five days kept attendees rapt at the custom-built pop-up theater from architect David Rockwell, a visually disarming spectacle assembled from thousands of laser-cut pieces, which debuted last year.

Within the TED Conference and its Social Spaces—areas meant to facilitate interaction and collaboration—as well as at TEDActive were dozens of steal-worthy ideas to inspire and energize a crowd of top-level thinkers, while keeping them comfortable, too.

Attendees at TED explored the Osmo by Loop.pH, a map of more than 3,000 stars and planets etched into a membrane.

Photo: Ryan Lash/TED

The custom-built pop-up theater at TED was back for its second year. The space, from architect David Rockwell, was reassembled from thousands of laser-cut pieces.

Photo: Ryan Lash/TED

After getting sneak peaks of the day’s talks, visual artist Derek Cascio worked overnight to draw massive black and white murals of those themes onto the walls of the convention center with a dry-erase tool known as IdeaPaint. Then attendees added their own layers as the sessions got underway.

Photo: Ryan Lash/TED

TEDActive attendees seeking a break from the week’s activities—as well as a chance to reflect on the conference's hallmark "Ideas Worth Spreading"—could find downtime in a tranquil meditation room, where a lounge setup mimicked a campfire setting.

Photo: Marla Aufmuth/TED

TEDActive hosts Kelly Stoetzel and Jay Herratti warmed up the crowd with a Truth or Dare wheel in keeping with this year's conference theme. Attendees could spin the wheel and land on truth or dare, or win a prize.

Photo: Marla Aufmuth/TED

TEDActive offered a place for attendees to sit and be still, under open domes strung with thought-provoking hand-written signs.

Photo: Marla Aufmuth/TED

In keeping with TED2015’s theme Truth and Dare, the Truth Booth offered different daily activities curated by TEDActive’s resident so-called "Truth Fairies."

Photo: Marla Aufmuth/TED

Catering at TEDActive included deconstructed takes on bloody Marys served in shot glasses.

Photo: Marla Aufmuth/TED

TED attendees used headsets to experience virtual reality, one of the hottest topics on the tech radar.

Photo: Ryan Lash/TED

TED Social Spaces included the beanbag seating—which has become a trademark of the conference—that encouraged creative thinking in a nontraditional, unstuffy environment.

Photo: Ryan Lash/TED

Out-of-the-ordinary activities and experiences within TED's Social Spaces included the Harmonograph Swingset, a modern-day, hand-crafted timber swing that played off a 19th-century invention that recorded harmonic frequencies as visual art.

Photo: Ryan Lash/TED