Augmented Reality Technobabble

Greetings. I'm the Vlogster and this is Technobabble.

Get ready for more tech than you can shake a USB stick at.

On today's show, we are going a little bit Star Wars.

Do you like my Princess Leia look? Check it.

Right, coming up, today -

Maya finds another version of herself in an augmented world.

I'm a penguin! Woo!

Aoife has some Easter eggs just in time for Christmas.

Chocolate not included. Though, do feel free to bring your own.

And Laila has some "Why didn't I think of that?" tech hacks.

Who else is constantly putting in their headphones

the wrong way around?

But, first, here's my boy Jake

with the lowdown on games for your phone.

Today, I've a few games which you can download to your phone

and play whilst on the move.

Pop The Lock - this game is all about reflexes and timing.

Simply tap the screen when the red line hits the yellow dot.

Make sure you click on the outside of the padlock

so you have enough space so you can actually see what you are doing.

The next game I have for you is called Fruit Attacks.

This is a fast-paced puzzle game.

I got hooked on it straight away.

It led to me going downstairs, going in the fridge, getting food

out of the fridge, coming back upstairs and playing it in my room.

Whilst eating all the food.

You can bend and curve your shot

but the closer you let the fruits get to you before you shoot,

the more points you score.

Down The Mountain is a fast-paced arcade game which involves you

and your character getting from the top of the mountain

to the bottom of the mountain whilst avoiding obstacles

such as sticky jam sandwiches, exploding blocks and spikes.

What are you waiting for? Download a few and see what do you think.

Game on, Jake. Thanks.

Right, just need to get one slightly awkward thing out of the way.

Do not download games or apps without permission from your parents

and steer clear of any in-app purchases.

Otherwise, Jabba the Hutt might come around and sit on you.

Right, I'm in the mood for a question.

That means finding out what my messaging app is called this week.

Babble-In. Well, I've had worse.

Let's see who's babbling today.

How will augmented reality change in the future?

Now, there is a question, Hannah. A question I can't answer.

Let's call in the reinforcements.

-Hey, lovely Maya.

-Vlogster, you surprised me.

-Hello.

OK, Vlogster, what have you got for me?

One of our babblers would like to know how you humans will be

using augmented reality in the future.

OK, cool, I would love to check that out.

I'm sending Maya off to meet a bunch of UK developers

that specialise in augmented reality.

Helping her is techspert Kieran Sawyer

who knows all about this extra-dimensional technology.

Thinking about it, you've got virtual reality,

which I know a little bit about.

You get something, you put it into the virtual world, it walks around,

touches things, does things, but augmented - don't have a clue.

It is essentially the opposite.

So, we are bringing this virtual content into the real word.

-So it appears in front of you every day.

-How does it actually work?

-OK.

So, what you have is a device

which we have taught to look for something.

When it recognises that thing,

it will create that content and show that content in front of you

-so it brings it all to life in the real world.

-Can you show me?

Yeah, definitely. So, we have an iPad here,

which is taught to look for this box.

Oh, my gosh, it's turned into a cartoon.

And it's opening. There's a box...

The box on the table is not doing anything but this box...

A car has flown out of it. This is insane. How is it doing this?

So, what it's doing is it's looking at this

and it's recognising the box.

When it recognises the box, it shows this content.

So, if you don't like that colour, you could change it.

Wow. So, I'm literally editing this box. But not in real life.

I'm so confused.

You can move... Wow. And how does the technology work behind this?

Essentially, we've got a device that has an app on,

and we're looking for something.

We've taught the device what to look for and

when it recognises it, it starts to make the magic come alive.

I've showed you a really simple version which involved the car.

Now, I've got something really cutting edge. What do you think?

Yeah, let's go and have a look.

So, this is putting you into augmented reality.

-It's live and not many people have done it.

-How is that happening?

We've got a camera there with infrared sensors.

When you move around, that tracks your body.

All those movements that you do then appear here in real time.

-OK, so, that is me and my favourite dress.

-That is you right there.

Right, while Maya's busy,

the tablet is programmed to recognise the big picture of a wooden door

and when the tablet sees the door,

it puts digital Maya in a scene with it.

-What I can do is start throwing some stuff at you.

-Wow.

-What did you just throw?

-Pies.

-Pies at me?

-Yeah.

-I want to be something else.

-Something else?

I'm a penguin! Whoo!

-Shall we turn you back to yourself again?

-Yeah.

-Back to normality.

-From here, spitting image.

-Perfect.

Hi, Maya 2, covered in spiders.

So, what is AR actually used for right now?

Might be using it for learning things, like at school.

So, at the moment, it might be that you'll learn about volcanoes.

Volcanoes are quite difficult to understand

because you can't go up and see one, it's a bit dangerous.

But what we could do is create a 3-D version that then could

explode in front of you, show how they explode, cut them apart,

you can look inside the volcanoes and see exactly how it works.

How will it change in the future?

In the future, I don't think we'll need devices at all.

We're going to be able to walk around and just see AR.

It will be part of everyday life and we'll probably struggle to

tell the difference between what is AR and what's not AR, actually.

That is insane, Kieran.

I'm still trying to get my mind around it right now.

-Talk about jumping out of the screen at you.

-You're not wrong, Maya.

But there's more. This is HoloLens,

a smart glasses headset that mixes reality with holograms.

There's no screen or mouse, just holograms created by gestures,

apps controlled by your voice and navigating with glances.

This much-anticipated bit of kit could transform the everyday way

we interact with the world,

from making your TV massive to doing spells like Harry Potter

and even playing golf on Mars.

That is out of this world.

Hmm. Nearly 7% funny there, Maya.

American thrill-seekers are working on combining virtual

and augmented reality to make real-world video games.

Like a cross between Laser Quest and a games console,

this could be the theme park of the future, letting you take down fantasy

monsters and interact with physical objects in a truly immersive world.

-Bring it on. When can I have a go?

-Not now, that's for sure,

there's tech for the taking.

But, first, what is R2-D2 short for?

Because he's got little legs!

Ha-ha! Laila, save me.

Hi, guys. So, today, I'm going to share with you some super awesome

life hacks that hopefully should make your life that much easier.

Who else is constantly putting in their headphones

the wrong way around?

Select one of the earpieces, it doesn't matter which one,

I prefer the left because it is easier to remember.

What you want to do is

create a very small knot.

You don't want it too loose

because it will unravel

but you don't want it too tight

because you're going to ruin your headphones and you don't want that.

If you have friends like mine,

then they're probably constantly borrowing your things.

Get your friends to hold whatever it is they are borrowing from you

and simply snap a picture.

And that is it.

You will never forget who borrowed what and when.

Here is a study hack that beats all study hacks.

And I think you will agree.

To create this easy readable attachment,

here is what you will need.

A trouser hanger, a laptop,

and your assignment or notes.

Attach one of the clips to your laptop,

then clip your notes in the other.

Voila! Everything you need to complete your homework

within easy reach.

Laila, always a pleasure, never a chore.

OK, question time. Accessing Babble-In.

Here, Vlogster, could we build a real lightsaber?

AS DARTH VADER: The force is strong with this one.

Great question, Eugene.

I've always wanted a lightsaber.

Powerful enough to cut through reinforced steel,

Stormtroopers and cute little kittens.

Ooh, maybe not kittens.

Accessing databanks.

A Star Wars fan in the US of A claims to have built something close

to a lightsaber using a powerful blue laser

and two strong lithium-ion batteries.

This DIY version can burn through paper,

cardboard tubes and even a plastic ping-pong ball. But there is a flaw.

Unlike a classic lightsaber, which has a short easy-to-handle beam,

this home-made laser never stops unless something gets in the way,

and that means in the throes of battle,

the slightest slip from your laser lightsaber could

take out your enemies, friends,

or that unsuspecting person waiting for the bus.

Back to the drawing board.

And staying in America,

a defence firm has developed the metal vapour torch.

It looks just like an ordinary torch but at the push of a button,

fires out a fiery blade powerful enough to slice through solid metal.

This jet of flame is created by a chemical reaction

between copper oxide, magnesium and aluminium particles.

Sadly, the torch's effect only lasts a few seconds.

Useless if you're mid-duel with a Sith Lord who won't hesitate

to finish you off as you fumble to find a refill.

There is a "new hope", though, because techsperts at Harvard

and MIT universities have made an unusual discovery.

Light is made from tiny particles called photons.

Most of the time, photons weigh nothing and don't like to play.

If you shoot one laser beam at another, the photons in them

just pass right through each other without so much as a high five.

But in an extremely cold vacuum chamber,

researchers got photons to join together, making completely

new hardened molecules that behaved very differently.

These photons pushed against and deflected each other,

just like a Jedi lightsaber.

Well, there you go.

Coming soon, possibly, in a galaxy not so far, far away.

Next up, it's Aoife, with an early Christmas present - Easter eggs.

Ooh, by the way, Aoife...

AS DARTH VADER: I am your father.

HE BREATHES HEAVILY

Easter eggs in games are fun little secret that players

must search high and low for to find

and you'd be surprised at how many games have them tucked away.

Chocolate not included, though do feel free to bring your own.

Lego Jurassic World is one such game and one of its secrets is

quite literally buried within the raptor dig site.

If you look to the right of the screen,

you will see a man find a licence plate and then throw it away.

But if you are up on your movie trivia,

you will recognise Outatime as the iconic

plate from the DeLorean in the Back To The Future films.

So, you two, um, dig up dinosaurs?

There are loads of Easter eggs in Super Mario Maker

and most of those can be found right there in the title screen

when you first start the game.

For instance, you can touch the M in Mario to make it flip upside down

and hear his nemesis Wario laughing.

Or you can give the R a tickle and summon his best dinosaur pal Yoshi.

We all love Star Wars, right? And we all love Jar Jar Binks, right?

Well, no, actually, he's not exactly everyone's favourite

character since his disastrous introduction in The Phantom Menace.

Though we're not entirely safe from his shrieking in Disney Infinity 3.0

an unlikely hero rises up to take revenge on behalf of our eardrums.

During the Rise Against The Empire Play Set,

you can enter Jabba the Hutt's palace on Tatooine.

Once inside, head over to the left,

and you will see a familiar face frozen in carbonite.

See, we knew Jabba the Hutt wasn't such a bad guy after all.

Thanking you, Aoife. So, just time for another babble buster.

And my third favourite letter of the alphabet, A.

A for artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence or AI is the intelligence

exhibited by machines or software.

The phrase was first coined in 1955

by American computer scientist John McCarthy.

He was interested in the engineering

and science of making intelligent machines.

60 years later, some people believe that in the near future,

machines will become so clever that they will take over the world.

Near future? Erm, hello! I'm already here!

That's it for today. May the force be with you.

Next time on Technobabble,

Frankie finds out how technology is

helping to train Team GB's top athletes,

Rita takes us behind the scenes and Google HQ,

and Ellie is back and she's got her geek on.