Tech Convention Technobabble

ACCORDION MUSIC PLAYS Bienvenue, Technobabble.

Je suis le Vlogster.

Oh, excuse me, viewers. I'm just recording our French show.

I'm very multi-lingual, don't you know? Bear with me.

HE SPEAKS IN FRENCH

So, here's what's coming up on today's international show.

My American buddy, Rita, reports from...

ELVIS PRESLEY IMPRESSION: Las Vegas, baby. The world's biggest tech show.

-A-huh-huh.

-This is my new best friend, Buddy. I'm keeping him.

Our Australian mate, Elly.

She's back and she's hanging out with celebs.

This app is just ridiculous.

Plus, me Irish mucker, Aoife's

here to combine games with browsing, to be sure.

A free in-browser game can be a great way to pass the time.

But first, let's start with a face from a bit closer to home.

Here's new boy Will with a lowdown on creating games.

Everyone loves playing games. One of the best things about them

is that you can also make games yourself.

First you want to think of an idea for the game.

My advice - keep it simple. Some of the greatest games are.

I made a game, Dodgerblock, which in essence is just dropping blocks

It doesn't get simpler than that.

Write your ideas down, write drawings - whatever works for you.

Once you've got the idea, the next step is to start making your game.

For this you need some gaming software.

I use Gamemaker but there's loads of other ones out there.

If you get stuck, there are loads of tutorials out there

but the best way to learn is to just try new things out.

After you've chosen your software you need to start making

a prototype for your game.

This doesn't need fancy graphics, but it'll show you what the game is like

when playing it which will give you new ideas on what to do next.

After you've played around with your game idea, expand your prototype.

This is where you add more levels,

if it's a side-scroller type of game like Angry Birds or supermeboy.

Or, if it only has one level, then you make it get harder

so it's always more interesting, you could increase the speed,

make objects harder to collect and so on.

The choice is yours. After you've done that

and the game feels more playable,

it's now time to make the graphics look great.

Add some music and sound effects.

Then all that's left to do is to share with your friends

and family and you can get them playing as well.

Thank you, Willie.

Oh, no. It's messaging time. Come on, then. Give me the bad news.

What name have we gone with today?

Snapagram. Urgh.

Oh, I suppose we've had worse. Right.

Let's have a question.

Vlogster, what technology should I look out for in 2016?

Oh, Sam! Great question and I know just who to call...

Now, where did I write down that phone number...?

I know, I know.

I did warn him about that time machine.

I cannot believe it.

I suppose you can only give so much advice, Rita.

You know you're right, Vlogster. You just have to live and learn I guess.

Talking about learning, I'm getting a tad rusty.

I need a system update on all things tech-tastic.

You know, it's funny you should say that, Vlogster.

You'll never guess where I am...

Well, I never.

Vegas, baby.

MUSIC: Viva Las Vegas by Elvis Presley

This place is a tech lover's dream come true,

and we have a VIP pass to check it out.

The Consumer Electronics Show, held in Vegas, every January, is

the world's largest showcase of new technology.

Over 170,000 people visit each year to see exhibitors from more

than 150 countries.

They're so cute.

Come here, boy!

ROBOT: Hi, Rita! Come over here.

It's a pleasure to meet you.

It's a pleasure to meet you too, Mechanoid.

Chris, this guy is amazing. Tell me all about it.

What we wanted to do was take this amazing building system

and then add electronic teachings to it.

So they can learn about electrical engineering, they can learn

about programming and really begin to experiment on a bigger scale.

So, tell me, how does this robot work?

It's a really neat system. So we've got our basic nuts

and bolts system, holding it together.

And then we have our smart modules here which actually

not only act as motors but they also act as sensors.

So when I press this red button...

the robot's actually going to record everything that I do to him.

Hi, I'm Mechanoid!

And then that's recorded into memory.

ROBOT: "Hi, I'm Mechanoid!"

And how can I program the robot to do what I want it to do?

All you have to do is grab the little control bubbles here

and it'll actually record everything that you do.

Do you want to try it?

Sure.

All right...

-You're a natural.

-I'm a natural! Thank you so much for showing me.

-This guy is amazing. Thanks.

-Thanks so much for coming by.

-Thank you.

Vlogster, I think I've found you the perfect pet.

From hi-tec sports to supersize TVs, the latest cars,

to cooking gadgets, CES has been running for almost 50 years.

This right here is a smart fitness watch.

It helps me stay in shape and keep track of all of my exercises.

You're never going to guess who I ran into today...

It's Ricky from Newsround!

I'm here. I'm having the time of my life.

-It is so cool here.

-It is.

What has been your favourite thing?

Well, my mind has been blown several times but robots

and drones happen to be the best thing so far.

I had a robot that carried my bags.

I saw an alarm clock which wakes you up with a smell.

How cool would that be?

I've seen a really cool robot that you can dance with.

It's been fantastic. I've had the time of my life.

But, do you know what? I'm quite tired now.

If that's the case, we will let you go.

We still have a lot more to explore.

Hello. This is my new best friend, Buddy. I'm keeping him.

The show covers the same space as 400 basketball courts.

It's spread over 15 miles of floor

and helps to launch some 20,000 new products.

This is extreme reality.

It uses the camera, like, on your phone or laptop

so that you can play awesome games with your body.

This has got to be the most exciting thing I've seen all day.

We all know virtual reality is super cool

but this mixes VR with a flight simulator.

That means that it feels like you're flying through space

and fighting bad guys in real-time. It is crazy cool.

Thanks, Rita. Oh, you've done me proud.

Ah, Vegas. The place where tech dreams do come true.

Right, what's next? Some continent hopping, I reckon.

Elly, let's be having you and your celebrity apps, my Aussie cobber.

Hey, cool people!

Today I've got some fun celebrity apps for you to try.

Let's start off with Celebrity Face Mania.

In this app you have to piece together celebrities' faces.

And I'm not sure if it's meant to be,

but this app is actually really funny because you have to flick

through different celebrities' eyes, noses and mouths

to make up the original celebrities' face.

I don't think this game is very difficult.

It's mostly just very amusing. But that's why I think it's very fun.

To start off with you can unlock around 20 celebrities

and it's available for free for Android devices.

If you don't have an Android device though,

I would highly recommend Celebrity Face Maker.

This app is just ridiculous - in a good way that is. Watch this.

You're able to put a celebrity's face onto your face.

And you can do this with pictures in your library,

or take a photo of yourself.

And it's so weird but it's so funny.

You can even next to different celebrities faces together

and the app comes with 25 free faces which is plenty.

But you can purchase more, if you'd like.

Next, I'm recommending Find Justin Bieber.

What you have to do is find Justin Bieber in a crowd

of Justin Biebers and the app will basically show you

a picture of Justin and you have to find his matching image.

The first time I was playing this game I didn't find it very

challenging, but now I'm a Belieber that

if you play more difficult levels is largely quite hard

because the pictures will randomly change places.

-So have fun with those and keep smiling.

-Thanks, Elly.

I knew a celebrity once. True story.

And, as usual, my showbiz babblers,

don't download apps without permission.

If my BFF, Beyonce, has to ask first,

then I expect you lot do the same.

OK, Snapagram.

I'm ready for another question.

Vlogster, how will we holiday in the future?

A well travelled question there, Emily.

You babblers... Always skiving and thinking about holidays.

Go on, then, let's have a look.

Tech-perts think that your future getaway might begin at home -

Slipping on a virtual reality headset

and feeling vibrations through a haptic smartphone.

You'll be able to experience the sights, sounds, smells,

and feel of your dream destination.

Say, walking through a bustling Moroccan market,

sniffing wafts of exotic spices and touching the silk scarves on sale.

Oh!

These virtual tasters might become

so real that you don't need to leave home at all,

exploring somewhere new in the world every day.

And no forgotten underpants.

Ever wondered where Nemo got to?

Well, you might find him,

while you eat at the underwater Ithaa restaurant in the Maldives.

With all glass windows from floor-to-ceiling,

your fellow diners could be sharks, stingrays and turtles.

And in Dubai you could even sleep with the fishes, if you

check into the planned Water Discus Hotel, ten metres under the sea,

in a glass lift. But no need to hold your breath,

all rooms will have below ocean views including passing mermaids.

Hmm. The mermaids sound a bit fishy to me,

but I bet they'll be chish and fips for tea.

Fancy somewhere further afield?

In the next few years,

passenger space ships will start taking tourists into space.

Although at £165,000, the ticket prices are out of this world too.

For a third of the cost, and if you're not afraid of heights,

you can go to 19 miles above Earth in a special balloon, where,

for a couple of hours, you can admire the curvature of the Earth.

If that sounds a bit rushed,

how about a more down to earth hotel stay?

On the moon.

British architects and NASA scientists are making plans

to build a habitable moon base,

using 3-D printers and lunar soil.

Soil!? I thought the moon was made of cheese. Happy holidays.

With all this talk of exotic places,

I'm beginning to think it's time to think I took a break myself.

Skeggy, Brid, Cleethorpes... Hmm. Difficult decision.

While I mull over my next glamorous getaway,

here's Aoife with some browser games.

If you find yourself about a game that you want to play

and ten minutes to spare,

a free in-browser game can be a great way to pass the time.

Ultimate Dodge Ball is pretty basic but it's a good way to

while away a few minutes of downtime.

The basics are your opponent will try and match your movements

and hit you with the ball, just as you move and aim for them.

It's also made a lot harder by the fact that there's a guy

hiding in the corner throwing a few extra things at you to dodge.

Hey, no fair.

Agario is an in-browser game that you'll likely keep coming back to.

It's such a simple idea and the average game lasts

about 30 seconds to a minute.

You start off as a little coloured dot and as you move around using the

mouse, you'll eat up any coloured dot smaller than you.

The problem is, there

are a lot of other, bigger, players out there trying to hunt you down.

If you want to chill out after a long day, how about a nice,

relaxing game of virtual ping-pong?

Cube Slam Is quite like Pong, one of the earliest video games ever made.

Except it comes with some upbeat chiptune music

and a variety of cool player ops.

Playing against one of the computer- controlled bears can be really

challenging but you can invite a friend to play against you instead.

But be prepared. It can get really competitive.

QWOP, so-called because it uses the keyboard buttons Q, W, O

and P, is a game where you control four parts of an

athlete's legs, thighs, and calves

and sent him sprinting down a racetrack.

The problem is it's quite hard not to get turned upside down

within the first metre.

It's a very silly game. But one that's very, very fun.

Thanks, lovely Aofia.

So, just before we go, we have time for what

I like to refer to as the highlight of the show.

It's the Babblebuster.

T is for twoosh

A twoosh or twitter swoosh is a tweet that is exactly

140 characters long -

the maximum amount of letters, numbers and symbols allowed.

No more, no less.

President of the USA Barrack Obama once claimed that he was

the twoosh master, after a online question and answer session.

Right, I'm off.

I'm going to make me some Paella.

Adios, amigos. Hasta pronto.

Next time on Technobabble.

Marcus and Frankie chew the fat about their favourite future tech.

This is video chat for your pets.

Jake is back and he's feeling the love.

Come here...

and Nicky and Sammy are answering your questions.

-I would definitely be a monkey.

-Yeah, I thought as much.