Los distintos campos de la ciencia se han desarrollado a un ritmo vertiginoso durante las últimas décadas. Ingenieros, inventores y científicos de todo tipo han logrado en cuestión de poco tiempo que nuestras vidas sean cada vez más cómodas y fáciles. De hecho, la relación entre tecnología y sociedad es tan evidente hoy en día, que películas como las de Stanley Kubrick o Steven Spielberg han dejado de resultar ficticias. Esta serie documental desvela nuevos avances y descubrimientos en torno a los diferentes campos de la ciencia. La investigación se centra en una serie de pruebas que ayudarán a predecir cómo se desarrollará cada uno de los avances científicos. El desarrollo de dispositivos de realidad virtual, las nuevas posibilidades genéticas o la inspiración en la propia naturaleza para la mejora de inventos son solo algunos de los temas que abarca la serie.
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00:00I am Stephen Hawking, and I'd like to take a picture of the future.
00:04Wow!
00:05In each episode, we'll see how five great scientists
00:08investigate completely revolutionary discoveries.
00:12This is amazing.
00:14The consequences of progress are very close.
00:17We'll show you how to increase your chances of success.
00:20We'll show you how to increase your chances of success.
00:23We'll show you how to increase your chances of success.
00:26We'll show you how to increase your security.
00:29You'll play better, you'll connect faster,
00:32you'll live longer, you'll see beyond,
00:35and you'll be smarter.
00:38With the technology at our disposal,
00:41the possibilities have no limits.
00:44So welcome to the science of the future.
00:49Seventy years ago, the first computers were turned on.
00:53Now the microprocessors are so present in everything
00:56that the limits between the physical and the virtual
00:59are beginning to dilute.
01:02Our five scientists are going to examine
01:05how a door is opening to a completely new dimension.
01:12The virtual world.
01:1490% of all the data has been generated in the last two years.
01:19And a good part of it is made up of videos.
01:22Computer-generated environments are already used in many areas,
01:26but can we make even better use of this technology?
01:29Military and police forces often face dangerous situations,
01:33and their training can make a difference between life and death.
01:37Is it possible to create a virtual world
01:40in which they could experience extreme situations?
01:43Is it possible to create a virtual world
01:46in which they could experience extremely dangerous situations
01:49without the threat of being injured?
01:52Karim Bondar will go to Georgia to investigate
01:55the innovative system that is being tested in recruits.
02:11Training with firearms is mandatory for any first-line officer,
02:15but it's not enough.
02:17You also need teamwork and tactical exercises.
02:22But even after many hours of training,
02:25the only way you know if you're ready
02:28is to face someone who tries to kill you.
02:31What tactical exercise can prepare you for that?
02:35Karim is about to find out
02:37when he faces armed murderers face to face.
02:41This isn't a video game.
02:43It's an advanced military exercise.
02:49These guys are trying a new form of fully virtual combat training.
02:55Seen from the outside,
02:57all they do is run through an empty room.
02:59It's very...
03:00Yeah, yeah, it's very weird.
03:02Explain to me what's going on here.
03:04This is VirSim, the most complex immersion simulator in the world.
03:09We can put up to 13 soldiers or police
03:12inside a virtual world
03:14and recreate the experience of a battlefield.
03:18OK, so set up,
03:20what are we seeing in our virtual world?
03:23We have a warehouse
03:25where we have a group of enemies
03:27with no good intentions,
03:29up to no good,
03:30and our guys have to go in
03:32and clear the building of bad guys.
03:34Clear.
03:35The idea is to recreate a virtual environment
03:38but similar to reality
03:40to prepare our soldiers and police
03:42to face dangerous situations under a lot of pressure.
03:45They are seeing the screen in front of their eyes.
03:48They've been shot.
03:50Can you tell what they've been shot with?
03:52Yes, when you get shot, you get a warning, so to speak.
03:55You get a sensory stimulation in the muscle.
03:57Basically, this allows you to know
03:59how you'd react if someone pointed a gun at your head.
04:02Yes, it's very important
04:04because you don't know how people are going to react
04:06until they have someone pointing a gun at their head.
04:08In a shooting range, you shoot the whites
04:10but they don't shoot you either.
04:12So, thanks to VIRSIM, we can see how our men behave
04:14in a stressful situation.
04:16That's what stress is about.
04:18It makes them feel stressed.
04:20You put them in a place where they'd want to be.
04:22One of the reasons we started creating VIRSIM
04:24was because almost all the simulators in the world
04:26had always been bought and financed to train pilots.
04:29We've done a lot of work with the planes
04:31but in the wars they've almost always been soldiers
04:33or those who have fought on the ground,
04:35those who have died or been injured.
04:37So, this is a simulator for everyone else.
04:39Now, I'm going to put myself in the front line
04:41of fire to see how it works.
04:45Instead of using the usual battle gear,
04:47I'm going to equip myself with a kit
04:49which will track the movements of my entire body.
04:51So, there's these little markers
04:53on top of the knees, on the feet.
04:55Tell me about why the markers are important.
04:57The markers are placed
04:59in certain parts of the body
05:01so that the cameras always look for them.
05:03During your live broadcast,
05:05an avatar will appear
05:07based on the location of these markers.
05:09So, it's going to look like me?
05:11It's going to look like you
05:13in size and dimension.
05:17The markers emit infrared light
05:19towards the 84 cameras
05:21mounted all over the ceiling.
05:23They determine my position,
05:25they follow the movements of my limbs
05:27and they send the information
05:29to the computer in my backpack.
05:31This visor is stereoscopic
05:33and will allow me to experience
05:35a fully virtual 3D world.
05:39The cameras will detect me,
05:41send the information to a large server system
05:43and transmit it wirelessly to my backpack
05:45and that's how the virtual world
05:47will be able to see me.
05:49Exactly. I couldn't have explained it better.
05:51Today, we don't have an M16.
05:53Today, we will be firing electronic weapons.
05:55They are as heavy as the real ones.
05:57You aim the same way
05:59if they have a recoil.
06:01You have to practice a little
06:03before you start the exercise.
06:05Did I get it?
06:07No.
06:09Oh.
06:11Up and to the left.
06:13Okay, thank you.
06:15Did I get it?
06:17No.
06:19Not that I want to kill anyone,
06:21but...
06:23Yes, now, yes.
06:25Good shot.
06:27This whole experience
06:29confuses my senses.
06:31I feel like I'm there.
06:33The fact that the gun
06:35looks so real when you shoot
06:37and that everything moves
06:39when you move,
06:41it's totally real.
06:43It confuses your mind completely.
06:45VirtSim is the closest thing
06:47to the experience
06:49of being in the front
06:51without actually being there.
06:53And now, Karin is about
06:55to discover how extreme
06:57the virtual danger can be.
06:59Situation.
07:01We have spotted some armed individuals
07:03in an apartment complex.
07:05Your mission will be to enter
07:07and clear the building,
07:09room by room.
07:11There have been several shots
07:13and they have taken a hostage.
07:15Each of us has an avatar
07:17that reflects everything we do
07:19and we can interact with each other.
07:21Okay, Karin, follow me.
07:23Yes, okay.
07:25Stay close to me.
07:31Okay, Karin.
07:33Let's go first to the left
07:35and then to the right.
07:37Okay, the bathroom is clear.
07:39Okay, bathroom clear.
07:41Now enter the room on the left,
07:43the one behind you.
07:47Clear?
07:49Yes.
07:51Okay.
07:53You don't know how scared I am right now.
07:55You watch the back
07:57and I'll watch the front.
07:59What was that, Karin?
08:05Man down!
08:07Man down!
08:09Corridor clear.
08:11Okay.
08:13There's nothing here.
08:15Clear this room.
08:19Stay here.
08:21They shot me.
08:23Two muscle stimulators
08:25fixed to my triceps
08:27discharge an electric shock
08:29to tell me that they shot me.
08:31Video game graphics
08:33may be better,
08:35but this is not a game.
08:37Oh!
08:39Oh, my God!
08:41Man down!
08:43Cross your legs.
08:45Put your hands behind your head.
08:51Oh, that was intense.
08:53Oh, I am sweating.
08:55My heart is racing.
08:57I was like a little bit terrified.
08:59I was scared to go
09:01from one room to the next
09:03and then right at the end
09:05I get shot.
09:07I just get down.
09:09It hurts.
09:11And for me, the game is over.
09:13Time for the verbal report.
09:15Joe Harmon is going to tell us
09:17how the hostage mission went.
09:19As we sit here,
09:21you're clearing the room
09:23and you keep the gun in a good position.
09:25You're keeping your eye on the dangerous areas.
09:27You're moving very well, methodically.
09:29You're entering the rooms
09:31in a very decisive way.
09:33That's why I mean you're pointing the gun
09:35and you're looking at the next lethal threat.
09:37Here you're pointing
09:39at your partner's head,
09:41which is not always a very good idea.
09:43I don't know why I put it up.
09:45But Charlie's angel posture,
09:47you master it perfectly.
09:49So, great.
09:51Here you're doing very well.
09:53You're covering from behind.
09:55And look at this.
09:57Here, both me and the others
09:59were surprised by the speed
10:01that you actually got into combat
10:03in a real-life situation.
10:05You've done an impressive job,
10:07Karin.
10:09Playing back the scene
10:11is a fundamental instruction
10:13for the combatants.
10:15And this feedback and training
10:17with simulation can be used
10:19in many other areas,
10:21from sports training
10:23to complex surgical procedures.
10:25Here's where they shot you.
10:27Do you have any idea
10:29where you were?
10:31Well, I don't know.
10:33I guess I wasn't being very careful.
10:35Well, I think you had it in mind.
10:37You wanted to be careful,
10:39but look at the position you're in.
10:41Yeah.
10:43It's a very large room
10:45and it's been very quick
10:47towards the centre of the room.
10:49Yeah.
10:51And that has made you open up
10:53to angles that you weren't ready
10:55to cover.
10:57Yeah.
11:17The virtual world
11:19offers us the opportunity
11:21to escape to places
11:23that we couldn't visit
11:25in any other way.
11:27In my case,
11:29I'd be investigating
11:31what another galaxy would be like
11:33here on Earth
11:35with satellite navigation.
11:37We have mapped maps
11:39with incredible precision,
11:41but there are still
11:43large spaces
11:45that even the GPS
11:47hasn't been able to access
11:49until now.
11:51Let's face it,
11:53the satellites have created
11:55an extensive database
11:57of digital maps
11:59that allow us to see
12:01exactly where we are
12:03in 360 degrees.
12:05But our virtual map of the world
12:07is far from complete
12:09because neither the GPS
12:11nor the panoramic street view
12:13can access the buildings
12:15or underground.
12:17So we are still largely based
12:19on architectural projects
12:22but now scientists
12:24from Baltimore
12:26are trying to change that.
12:29Arati Prasad
12:31is about to find
12:33a new and fascinating invention.
12:38Like any city,
12:40the center of Baltimore
12:42is full of buildings.
12:44I can use satellite navigation
12:46to find any of them,
12:48but once I get into one,
12:50they don't work at all.
12:52But this could be about to change.
12:54In the physics lab
12:56applied to Job Hopkins
12:58where the idea of GPS
13:00was born 50 years ago,
13:02another team of engineers
13:04has invented an artifact
13:06capable of mapping
13:08these hidden 3D worlds.
13:10And I'm about to put that
13:12to the test.
13:14This revolutionary mapping
13:16technology came about
13:18in 2005.
13:20Hi.
13:22So this is where it all started.
13:24Yes, this is the robot
13:26we were investigating.
13:28In 2005 we were working
13:30with autonomous vehicles
13:32and we wanted those vehicles
13:34to be able to do things
13:36by themselves.
13:38And in indoor environments
13:40you can't receive GPS
13:42so we used a technology
13:44called SLAM,
13:46which allows you to use
13:48that map essentially
13:50to wander around
13:52and move around.
13:54The laser spins around
13:56and scans through infrared
13:58and the computer measures
14:00how long it takes
14:02the beam to go out and come back.
14:04The little white dots
14:06on the screen
14:08show where the laser
14:10has hit the objects
14:12around it,
14:14and you can see
14:16in real time
14:18around the robot
14:20with which it could never
14:22hit anything.
14:24How did you develop
14:26this technology
14:28to make it useful
14:30to people?
14:32I can show you the backpack
14:34in which we take the basic premise
14:36of what we did with the robot
14:38and we move it to something
14:40that a human can carry around.
14:42So this is the map
14:44as you walk around the area.
14:46So this is like a normal backpack?
14:48Yes.
14:50Great.
14:52No, it's not heavy at all.
14:54So I'm here.
14:56I'm the red dot
14:58in the middle.
15:00I'm going to zoom in.
15:04So it's looking
15:06similar to what came out
15:08with the robot
15:10with the white dots
15:12that we saw before.
15:14Yeah, so it's capable of
15:16capturing a lot more
15:18details than the robot.
15:20Unlike a robot,
15:22I can't keep the laser
15:24steady, so they had to
15:26add sensors to measure
15:28the movement of the backpack
15:30to compensate for my steps.
15:32So something special
15:34we've added to the backpack.
15:36If you press the camera button
15:38and you can actually turn it,
15:40you'll see it's a 360-degree panoramic view.
15:42Oh, wow.
15:44See what's in it.
15:46So I could make my own
15:48streetlights.
15:50So eMaps works well
15:52in the laboratory,
15:54but it has to be a tool
15:56in all kinds of buildings
15:58for it to be a truly versatile
16:00tool in a changing world
16:02like ours.
16:04How will this impressive portable
16:06camera work?
16:08This is the U.S. Coast Guard
16:10American.
16:12It's a labyrinth of narrow
16:14and winding corridors
16:16with more than 140 rooms
16:18spaced in over 2,500
16:20tons of steel.
16:22It's completely
16:24impenetrable for GPS.
16:26All right, so
16:28I'm going to put the backpack
16:30in and I'm going to try to
16:32cartograph this ship because
16:34it's got to be able to do
16:36something outside,
16:38go up the stairs, go down the doors.
16:40There are pipes, ducts,
16:42curved walls.
16:44This is going to be a much
16:46bigger challenge than
16:48what the robot was doing,
16:50right?
16:52Okay.
16:54All right.
16:56What's most extraordinary
16:58about this little backpack
17:00is every intricate detail
17:02And he's doing it as I move along the ship.
17:06The map looks great, doesn't it?
17:08I've been through... well, you can see how narrow these passages are.
17:13It's like a maze.
17:16I've been going up and down. The ship itself is inclined.
17:20I've climbed steps, I've had to bend over because the doors are very low.
17:25I'm very impressed with what this technology has achieved.
17:29I've got a really nice map.
17:31And what surprised me the most was all the details that it has captured.
17:35You can see the walls of all the rooms.
17:38Yes, each of the small squares on the map is about five centimeters.
17:41At every step, the camera has been capturing images.
17:44So if we click on the camera icon, and then in this room, we can see...
17:48This is where we are now.
17:50Yes, we can turn around and see what was there when you went through this room.
17:55If you've got a camera, what else could you add to it to better detect the environment?
18:00Well, one of the things we wanted to do with this system was to be able to integrate many other types of sensors.
18:05For example, this one in the front is another laser scanner pointing up.
18:09So it scans the environment as you move through it, and you get a set of 3D points.
18:14So you can create a complete 3D panorama of the area you've been through.
18:18And we also want to add a few more sensors.
18:21For example, let's say you want to make a map of a supermarket and see how the Wi-Fi coverage varies all over the place.
18:26You could incorporate the sensor into the system and create a map that will show you both the map of the place and the coverage that's on top of it.
18:33And it's also interactive.
18:35Yes, it's interactive because it gives you images.
18:37This is the type of technology that allows you to see a place virtually without having to be there.
18:42And it's amazing. It's impressive to see how accurate it is.
18:46eMaps has already proven that it's capable of making ship maps.
18:49Over the coming years, more and more buildings will be added to our 3D virtual world map.
18:55Even in a shopping mall as big as this one, we'll never get lost again.
18:59It also could be used in more serious cases in the near future.
19:04It could help rescue services make a map of a collapsed building in an instant.
19:09And the police could do the same in the scene of a crime in seconds.
19:16There is more information being shared around the world in a second than was stored on the internet 20 years ago.
19:24With this colossal digital capability, one of the possibilities is to create things in the virtual world and bring them to life in the real world.
19:33And I mean bringing them to life literally.
19:36This is a field that could provide incredible benefits.
19:41When I was diagnosed with a degenerative disease, I was 21 years old.
19:47The doctors saw that I had more than two years.
19:51Thankfully, I'm still here.
19:53In a lot of cases, people who are diagnosed with a multi-organic dysfunction face a similar prognosis.
19:59But now radical thinking beyond that offers a hope for the future.
20:03Transplanting body parts to size.
20:07A team of scientists from California thinks that if something can be designed by a computer, it also has to be able to be printed.
20:14Daniel Kraft will investigate if that idea is well-founded.
20:19One of the most exciting technologies that is about to revolutionize our day-to-day is 3D printing.
20:26It works on the same principle as the 2D printers we have at home.
20:30But instead of words, the machine is able to read a three-dimensional design
20:33and put different layers of liquid material, in powder or paper,
20:36to create almost any shape that can be designed by a computer.
20:40In fact, I have a 3D-printed belt on me all at once.
20:43They've even scanned me too and given me another version of me, a mini-me.
20:50Now the researchers want to apply 3D printing to more serious issues.
20:55In the United States, an average of 18 people die every day waiting for organ transplants that never arrive.
21:01There are very few organs.
21:03As a physicist, I know that although there are organs available,
21:05you have to hurry to go, extract them and take them to the place where the transplant is expected.
21:13What if there was another way to merge science and tissue engineering
21:16to create personalized organs available to the patient
21:19at the time they need them and based on their own body?
21:25Sounds like science fiction,
21:27but in Organobo they are already printing the first human tissues, cell by cell.
21:39Keith Murphy is the co-founder.
21:41So Keith, do you imagine an era in which personalized organs can be printed?
21:45We have not yet reached the point of being able to manufacture complete organs,
21:48but we can build smaller tissues.
21:50Right now we can make blood vessels
21:52and we have extracted cells from a patient from his adipose tissue
21:55and we have made a blood vessel from that single source of cells.
21:58But how do you make a live blood vessel?
22:01The process is remarkably similar to the one that followed for my elegant belt.
22:05The first thing scientists like Vivian do is virtually design the tissue they want to print.
22:10I just finished creating an example of a tubular structure or blood vessel.
22:15The interface is very good because it is very simple for the user.
22:18For example, by clicking on the blocks,
22:20you can choose whether the material is a gel, a type of cell,
22:23and so the printer knows how to print.
22:25So there we have the cells A, B and C, for example,
22:27and when it comes to different types of cells,
22:29it uses different types of tape.
22:31Okay, and you could create, for example, a blood vessel
22:33with a different shape than the round one?
22:35Can I try it?
22:36Sure, try it.
22:37Okay, so now the same doctors can design blood vessels.
22:39How many cells would each of these blood vessels have?
22:41We would be talking about millions of cells for each blood vessel.
22:45It's amazing.
22:46It's as if we were using one of those computer programs
22:49that allow us to draw a square or a screen image,
22:52but not just to create an object, but a genetic material.
22:56In this case, a blood vessel.
22:59The challenge is to transform the design of a virtual cell structure into a reality.
23:03First, you need the raw material, the biological ink for the printer.
23:07In this case, it's human liver cells,
23:10very similar in size to the ink drops of an injection printer.
23:15For this test, we're going to print a miniature liver.
23:18It will be only half a millimetre thick and four millimetres high,
23:22but it will be able to do almost all the functions of a real one.
23:28Hi, Vivian.
23:29So, here's the printer.
23:30From what I can see, there are two cartridges.
23:32What's inside the cartridges?
23:33Well, look, in this cartridge are the patient's cells,
23:36and in this one, cells that help them bind.
23:41The function of a biological printer
23:43is very similar to that of the ink printers that print words.
23:46Following the pattern designed by the computer,
23:48the 3D printer creates sheets of biological paper
23:51compatible with the cells made from collagen or gelatin
23:54and retains the cells for a while.
23:56Then, it prints the living cell groups on the biological paper, drop by drop.
24:00Each drop of biological ink has a width of approximately 250 micrometres,
24:05a little bigger than a strand of human hair.
24:07Pinpoint accuracy is essential.
24:10The best thing about 3D printers
24:12is that we can control where we want to place the cells exactly.
24:16That way, we can put them wherever we want
24:18and let them do their job and create a tissue.
24:22That's one of the most surprising aspects of the process.
24:25Once the cells are in place, nature takes care of the rest.
24:28It's like being in an incubator.
24:30The different groups of cells start to merge
24:32and create more complex tissues.
24:34Now we're going to see some tissues that we printed yesterday
24:37and that have been incubating all night.
24:39So, they're going to go from printing, from incubation, to cultivation in 24 hours.
24:43This could be studied toxicologically right now, for example.
24:46But the question is, does it really look like a printed tissue or a real one?
24:50Let's compare it with a cross-section of the human liver.
24:54It's a very delicate material.
24:57It's going to be 5 micrometres thick.
25:00This would be a cell layer.
25:02Once it's on the object carrier, we're going to add a few drops
25:05and we're going to put it under the microscope to see what we have.
25:08Here I have a sample of the human liver,
25:10a very fine sample in which we can appreciate the complexity of the liver,
25:13the main organ of the body in charge of cleaning our blood.
25:16Organobo has also printed living human cells,
25:19a three-dimensional human liver created from mother cells.
25:24We're going to need a microscope to check the results.
25:27How does this compare to a normal human liver? Do they look the same?
25:30Yes, they do. We're looking at a very viable tissue.
25:32The cells are happy, healthy, well-organised,
25:35and we can achieve all of that in such a perfect way
25:37thanks to an automated process carried out by a computer.
25:40The success of 3D biological printing
25:42implies that these liver cells could be used right now
25:45to test drugs or investigate diseases.
25:48And because the tissue is exactly the same DNA as the donor,
25:51these tests could be carried out to measure individual patients,
25:54a great advance in medicine.
25:56So, Keith, how far do you think we can go in the future?
25:59Well, in the far future, what we expect from this technology
26:01is that it will allow us to take a patient's cells
26:03and take them to a plant where we can make an organ for their subsequent transplant.
26:07So we're in a fascinating era for the future of medicine
26:10with all this change in 3D printing, tissue engineering,
26:13computer-made designs, genomics.
26:16Unifying all these concepts allows us to create new organs,
26:19new tissues in a novel, powerful and impactful way.
26:22The set date to start injecting these tissues into humans is 2015.
26:27Now that the liver printed with biological ink is already a reality,
26:31this field that so much invites reflection is advancing rapidly.
26:34It's clear that there is still a long way to go
26:37until complete organs like the kidney can be printed.
26:41But I hope that does stop being a fantasy one day.
26:44However, it's clear that the fantasy world is evolving as fast as any other.
26:49And I've heard about an entertainment system
26:52based on such an immersive virtual reality
26:54that makes you react as if you were in it.
26:59In the lucrative world of entertainment,
27:02virtual reality has been a dream for decades.
27:06Frankly, it's been a disappointment.
27:09Will we ever be able to engage to the point
27:12where the real and the imaginary can only be distinguished in our minds?
27:17A team from California claims to have made quite an advance.
27:22Chris Eliasmith is on his way to test the futuristic artifact
27:26they have developed to find out
27:28if it's right to be all the interest that's being generated.
27:38When I was a kid,
27:39virtual reality was going to open the door to any universe you could imagine.
27:43It could be a warrior, the captain of a spaceship,
27:46or the driver of a snowmobile,
27:48anything, anywhere, at any time.
27:51And the technology of virtual reality was around the corner.
27:54Out of the way, out of the way.
27:56Snowmobiles and trees aren't a good combination.
28:00This is big.
28:01It's loud.
28:02It's pretty fast.
28:04It isn't virtual.
28:05We've won the gold medal.
28:07First, you can dance, dance.
28:10That's right.
28:13Governments and companies are investing millions of dollars
28:16in the research of virtual reality.
28:18This is a dream of science fiction
28:20that has never materialized in real life.
28:23Is it about to change that?
28:27I'm here in Southern California to talk to Palmer Lackey.
28:30Has he made virtual reality a fact?
28:32I'm going in.
28:33If there's a secret in there, I'm going to find out.
28:37Chris Eliasmith.
28:38Palmer Lackey.
28:39How are you?
28:40Good.
28:41Well, Palmer, you probably know better than anyone
28:43that virtual reality has been around for 20 years, more or less.
28:46What have you done in particular to achieve it
28:48when others have failed in the attempt?
28:50If you've seen The Matrix and you like video games,
28:52you want to have all that technology in all your games.
28:55What I discovered as I was researching
28:57is that virtual reality wasn't as advanced as many people believed.
29:00Did you go over what came out?
29:02I bought an enormous number of screens mounted on my head
29:05and I started to analyze them, to see how they worked
29:08and try to improve them and make modifications.
29:10So you've got all kinds of material on your desk,
29:12but there's one thing that stands out about the rest.
29:14It's a pair of I.O. glasses for a computer.
29:16Do you want to try them on?
29:17Sure, of course.
29:21There we go. There's a grid.
29:22Very good.
29:23Now you're in a revolutionary virtual reality environment.
29:26Yes, it's amazing.
29:27So you can see, I'm looking here and I'm going back.
29:31The problem in this case is obvious.
29:33This outdated technology doesn't follow the movement of my head with precision.
29:36The walls are moving in a strange way and they make me dizzy a little.
29:39There's a kind of deviation.
29:42So can you explain to me what I'm seeing and why it's so disorienting?
29:46What you're seeing is the tracking that an accelerometer is doing
29:50and the problem with the accelerometer is that it can only measure the acceleration
29:53and the direction of gravity.
29:55So, as you can see, the whole room doesn't stop changing
29:57as you're looking around.
29:59Yeah.
30:00This poor tracking causes another problem.
30:03Latency.
30:04Your movements are reflected with delay.
30:06It doesn't offer a comfortable or useful experience.
30:09But apparently Palmer Luckey and his team
30:12have overcome the problems of deviation and latency in their Oculus Rift.
30:17It's time to see how it works.
30:19So here we have the development kit for the Oculus Rift.
30:21Cool.
30:22So can I pick this thing up?
30:24Of course.
30:25So this is very similar to ski goggles.
30:28Exactly.
30:29What's this guy doing?
30:30That's all the tracking we've designed specifically for virtual reality.
30:34Nate says that this chip contains a digital gyroscope
30:37that detects 1,000 times per second the changes in the orientation of the head
30:41as well as the internal ear,
30:43sending signals to a complex processor.
30:45And we put it on the visor
30:47to be able to follow all the user's movements.
30:49This all reminds me of how the brain works.
30:51Basically, you're following the same procedures
30:53that the brain uses in order for what appears on the screen
30:56to change in the same way that the real world does.
30:58Yes.
30:59So the Oculus Rift has a kind of brain on the chip.
31:03Oculus Rift has reduced the problems of deviation and latency.
31:07But for virtual reality to really work
31:10from the moment you enter it,
31:12you have to be able to disconnect from your real environment
31:15and immerse yourself in the virtual.
31:17The technology has to make you believe in what you're seeing.
31:22Now, these...
31:23This doesn't look so common.
31:25What's this about?
31:26This doesn't usually come with ski goggles.
31:28Sure.
31:29So this is all about the lens assembly.
31:31A good part of the secret magic of the Rift is here.
31:34Basically, these are glasses that magnify,
31:37that give a distortion that surrounds you
31:39when you look through them.
31:41This is allowing me to cover my entire field of vision
31:43and make the experience more immersive.
31:45Exactly.
31:46Unlike the small screens before.
31:47Right, so you point to that screen.
31:49I think I know what this is.
31:50To see how it works,
31:51you need to turn them on and take a look.
31:53Take that with both hands.
31:55Bring it up to your eyes
31:56and adjust the tape to your head
31:57the same way you would adjust your glasses.
31:59Okay.
32:00It looks pretty blurry.
32:01What you want to do
32:02is find the optimal focus of the lenses
32:04so that if you look up or down...
32:06Better?
32:07Yeah, the first one.
32:08Perfect.
32:09I'm hooked up.
32:10I'm going to try a very well-known video game,
32:12but I'll be doing it in a three-dimensional virtual world.
32:15What I'm looking at on the monitor
32:16is exactly the same thing
32:17that's being played on the Oculus Rift.
32:19We have two images,
32:21one for each eye,
32:22split in the Rift.
32:24And inside, what you're seeing, Chris...
32:26There's only one.
32:27There's only one, exactly.
32:28Your brain is fused to both.
32:30It's designed to act
32:31in the same way that the eyes do in real life.
32:34And to a great extent,
32:35that's what makes the Rift so immersive,
32:37its stereoscopic depth.
32:39You actually look at it from a certain distance
32:41and you're able to perceive distance and relief.
32:43Now do the following.
32:44Look left.
32:45Look right.
32:47Up.
32:48Down.
32:50And then actually, if you look over your shoulder now...
32:52I don't have legs.
32:53Turn 180 degrees,
32:54turn around and look what's behind you.
32:56You're able to follow the movement of your head
32:58in 360 degrees with very little latency.
33:00One of the main reasons
33:01that makes the experience with the Rift so immersive.
33:03Okay.
33:04Now I'm going to give you a command.
33:05Put your hands up.
33:06There you go.
33:07So there you are.
33:08You can explore Hawken City.
33:10Great.
33:11You can turn your head
33:12and see everything that's around you.
33:14It's like you're in the city.
33:15So here I am,
33:16fighting the evil Meg Warrior
33:18and I don't have any problems following him on the track.
33:20I can run and not stop looking at him.
33:22Why is it so easy for me?
33:23One of the key features of the Rift
33:25is its low latency in tracking the head.
33:27It's essential for the experience to be immersive.
33:30We have to make the player feel as if they were in that world.
33:33There's no way we can show the experience
33:35the same way I experienced it.
33:37But I didn't detect any latency problems.
33:39The information from the sensor is processed so fast
33:42that the delay is barely 30 milliseconds.
33:44That's getting similar to what we experience
33:46when we see the real world.
33:47Under 20 milliseconds,
33:48any delay stops being noticeable.
33:51To see the cover well,
33:52we have to minimize the latency to the maximum.
33:54Reduce it to almost 0 milliseconds.
33:58So, tell me your first impressions.
34:00This is as if I was there.
34:02I don't know.
34:03It's, well,
34:04as soon as you start falling,
34:06you can feel it directly in your inner ear.
34:09The neuroscientist I have inside me has come out.
34:11It's like you're really falling.
34:13It's amazing.
34:14That's what we're trying to do with the Rift.
34:16That the players get into the game and live the experience.
34:19Welcome back.
34:20Wow, sorry.
34:21I'm all sweaty.
34:22It's okay.
34:23In virtual reality,
34:24your body reacts in the same way that it does in real life.
34:27So, the feeling of falling gives you a little bit of fear.
34:30It causes you a little bit of panic.
34:32It increases your heart rate and you sweat.
34:34You're right.
34:35It's hard to describe.
34:36I'm speechless.
34:37It's impressive.
34:38That's the reaction we're looking for.
34:39Impressive.
34:40So, I play video games.
34:41I don't believe them.
34:42When can I buy an Oculus Rift?
34:44We don't want to launch anything that's not ready.
34:46We have to make sure it works,
34:48but at the same time,
34:49we want it to come out like the rest of the world.
34:51So, are we talking about weeks, months, years, decades?
34:54We're talking about months, not years.
34:55The full team will be launched in 2014.
34:59With virtual reality,
35:00this kind of fantasy and evasion will be even more impressive.
35:03The technology industry is convinced
35:05that the Oculus Rift will change the rules of the game.
35:08As processing power continues to increase,
35:11virtual reality is destined to improve.
35:14But there is still a question to be solved
35:16between us and technology.
35:18To avoid any kind of interruption,
35:20computers should be able to read our minds.
35:23Can science make that possible?
35:26Someday, the convergence between the real world
35:29and the digital world will be so profound
35:31that it could become a decisive force
35:33that will help us shape the future.
35:36Today, interaction is limited
35:38by our bodies and the devices we use.
35:41I would like to witness an era
35:43where this is no longer the case.
35:45That would be a real liberation revolution.
35:48But is it possible that this will happen?
35:50Jim Al-Khalili is in the Netherlands
35:52looking for the answer.
35:56Imagine if one day you could interact with technology
35:59and the rest without needing anything
36:01but the power of thought.
36:04Good morning.
36:06Devices like this could become just a memory.
36:14But is it possible to control a machine
36:16just with the mind?
36:22A team of neuroscientists
36:24from the University of Maastricht
36:26will show Jim how their experiments
36:28in this area are going.
36:30The driving force behind this project
36:32is Bettina Sorger.
36:35She's developed a system capable of translating
36:38three types of mental activity.
36:40Reading, arithmetic, and image visualization
36:43in alphabetical letters.
36:45There are several regions of the brain
36:47involved in the execution of a mental task.
36:49When you perform tasks of mental visualization.
36:52Like right now, when I'm moving my hand.
36:54Right now, you have many active areas.
36:56But the regions involved in the execution of another task
36:59will be different.
37:01For example, in mental calculation.
37:03Like when we go over the multiplication tables?
37:05Yes, and also in another task, in speech.
37:07When you recite a poem that you know by heart,
37:10a third of a network of brain regions will be activated.
37:15So, in this way, the different mental tasks
37:18activate different combinations of brain regions.
37:23So here, Jim, you can see a 3D representation of the brain.
37:27As the colored areas,
37:29these are the regions that are activated
37:31during the execution of a mental task.
37:33Is it possible to have a view of it from just one angle?
37:36Sure.
37:37To see the different parts that are lit.
37:39Okay, here we have it.
37:41Two areas that are activated
37:43when a subject is performing a task of motor visualization.
37:46So, when someone is making a drawing,
37:48these are lit?
37:49Exactly.
37:50Yes.
37:51These areas need energy, oxygen,
37:53and that's what we measure with our magnetic resonance system.
37:56Bettina has created a program that can read ours.
38:00The functional magnetic resonance already existed.
38:03What have you done to make it so novel and different?
38:06Our intention is to adapt the technology
38:08to use the knowledge we have about the brain
38:11so that we can create a computer brain interface
38:14that allows us to write letters from the mind.
38:17Wow.
38:18So I could connect my brain to the computer.
38:20I wouldn't need to write or use a mouse.
38:23That's right.
38:24Without any intermediary that we can see,
38:26just with thought.
38:30With the help of a functional magnetic resonance scanner,
38:33the program detects each of the different mental tasks
38:36in a certain period of time
38:38and assigns each brain activity different alphabet letters.
38:41I want to check how it works,
38:43but first I have to learn the language of the machines.
38:45It's time to go back to school.
38:47So, to guide you through this coding with letters,
38:51we have visual representations.
38:53We differentiate them according to the tasks.
38:55Seven.
38:56Fourteen.
38:57Now we stop.
38:58Now we wait for the entire rows to disappear.
39:00The theory is that if I want to say the letter A,
39:03I have to draw an image in my mind
39:05while the letter A appears on the screen.
39:07Very ingenious.
39:10I think I'm ready to try for real.
39:12I think so too.
39:13All right, let's go.
39:14Can this really work?
39:16It seems like a lot of work to write a single alphabet letter.
39:20My whole world is reduced at this point
39:23to what I have in front of me,
39:25that is, to a monitor that I'm going to have to look at
39:27and that I'm going to have to read.
39:29Okay, Jim, now I'm going to ask you a question,
39:31and that question is,
39:32where did you spend your last vacation?
39:35Very good.
39:38So, if I draw a shape in my mind,
39:41the scanner should capture the activity
39:44of the different regions of the brain that perform that task,
39:48and then assign that signal a particular letter,
39:51in this case, the H.
39:57This looks like...
39:58Good, good.
39:59The H.
40:00Responds very well.
40:01Very...
40:02That's good.
40:03And the last letter is also correct,
40:05so one, two, three, four, five letters out of seven.
40:09Very good, Jim.
40:10I'd say you've been to Hawaii.
40:12She's right.
40:13Extraordinary.
40:14A computer has just read my mind.
40:19Well, how have I done?
40:20You've done a very good job.
40:22Come here.
40:23I'm going to show you the results.
40:25Here we have the first options in the first row.
40:28In the second, we have the second options,
40:30and so on.
40:31The first character is an H, the first option.
40:34Here you can see that the second letter
40:36has been decoded as a B instead of an A,
40:38but the A is the second option that we've been given.
40:41The other two letters have also been correct.
40:43Here the same thing happens again.
40:45The second option is the good one,
40:47and the last one is also the correct one.
40:49In short, in five of the seven cases,
40:51the correct one has been indicated as the first option.
40:54So there will be another program that determines
40:56that for those results to make sense,
40:58it will be the word Hawaii.
40:59Yes.
41:00That is incredible.
41:01It has read my mind.
41:02Yes, and you've done a great job.
41:04And when do you think we'll be able to
41:06have this technology more easily?
41:08We will try to transfer this system to mobile technology
41:11and we can expect it to be ready
41:13in the next five to ten years.
41:20And will there come a time when someone
41:22sits in front of a computer
41:24and instead of having a keyboard,
41:26he puts on a helmet and sends direct orders thinking ...
41:29Well, that could be an option
41:31for someone who has no other possibilities.
41:33Right now, technology has advanced to this point
41:35and we will try to improve it
41:37and see how far we can go.
41:39Even so, this is already completely amazing.
41:42The digital domain is substantially changing
41:45our way of seeing the world.
41:47There may always be a barrier
41:49between the virtual and the real,
41:51but in the future,
41:53it is possible that we will not be able
41:55to distinguish which world we are in at all.
41:57The distinction between what really is
41:59and what is not,
42:01may eventually become irrelevant.
42:04And since we have not yet invented
42:06time travel,
42:08we have run out of our own.
42:11Thank you for your attention.