:00:30. > :00:32.For many, the ultimate test of human endurance.
:00:33. > :00:41.A physically and mentally draining feat that
:00:42. > :00:54.Now, imagine doing one four times in four days, in a desert.
:00:55. > :01:07.This is the Ultramarathon, a 150 mile long race through the
:01:08. > :01:10.Namibian desert in some of the most difficult conditions on the planet.
:01:11. > :01:16.And in this case, the guide was a smart phone.
:01:17. > :01:27.You are experiencing sensory deprivation.
:01:28. > :01:29.I had headphones in, so I couldn't really hear anything.
:01:30. > :01:32.All you've got is the feeling under foot, you're never too sure
:01:33. > :01:36.Running through uncertain desert terrain is what Simon has spent
:01:37. > :01:41.He has a degenerative eye disease that has left him blind since age
:01:42. > :01:45.17, but he has never let himself be defined by his lack of sight.
:01:46. > :01:52.After proposing to his girlfriend halfway up a cliff face, he took
:01:53. > :02:09.up running in a field behind his house.
:02:10. > :02:11.He moved to the path and onto the road,
:02:12. > :02:14.using a range of objects, distances and undulations to guide
:02:15. > :02:19.I do want to be one of those people...
:02:20. > :02:21.The things that you memorise, those are amazing.
:02:22. > :02:24.You would not imagine, if you were running towards me,
:02:25. > :02:29.If you make a mistake, you are running into the cars.
:02:30. > :02:32.A lot of people aren't willing to be that close.
:02:33. > :02:39.Yes, I have been hit by a van and stuff, but I carry on running.
:02:40. > :02:44.His amazing feat has been made possible by technology
:02:45. > :02:50.which allows his feet to stay where they should be running.
:02:51. > :02:54.He originally used a run tracking up.
:02:55. > :02:56.The team here have helped to develop and adapt it specifically
:02:57. > :03:04.The difficulty with the desert is that there is not a normal path.
:03:05. > :03:08.You can't just go along the street with Google Maps.
:03:09. > :03:16.There is no mobile network in the desert, so it was very important
:03:17. > :03:21.to make it work without mobile network, just running on a GPS.
:03:22. > :03:24.It helps him not to get off track and guide him
:03:25. > :03:37.If you go too far to the right, it's a high-pitched beep, and to the
:03:38. > :03:48.It increases in frequency the further left or right you get off
:03:49. > :03:51.What happens if we hit start right now?
:03:52. > :04:06.We're too far to the left of the desert?
:04:07. > :04:16.This app has been a key component in allowing Simon to achieve his
:04:17. > :04:18.dream of competing without a guide or this lovely fella.
:04:19. > :04:21.When I was in the open plan desert, it worked fantastically.
:04:22. > :04:25.I had a real sense of independence, it was the first chance I had to
:04:26. > :04:37.There was one point where I just started to cry because I couldn't
:04:38. > :04:41.believe that, for the first time in my life, I could do this alone.
:04:42. > :04:44.All thanks to this app and these beeps that were getting me
:04:45. > :04:48.He made it almost 100 miles into the race
:04:49. > :04:51.before having to pull out because of the terrain and extreme heat.
:04:52. > :04:53.If anything, the disappointment has made him
:04:54. > :05:27.As you know, we love a good world first on this programme,
:05:28. > :05:38.Last year, we filmed and edited an entire programme using
:05:39. > :05:43.But mobiles can be really useful for journalists, helping them report
:05:44. > :05:48.LJ Rich has been to the Mobile Journalism Conference in Dublin to
:05:49. > :05:50.check out the latest tools of the trade.
:05:51. > :05:52.It is not everyday you see mobile journalists sitting still,
:05:53. > :05:54.but here are around 700 of them transfixed
:05:55. > :05:58.a convention for those who want to improve their
:05:59. > :06:01.The exhibition in the next room shows off the next generation
:06:02. > :06:04.of mobile gadgetry soon to be snapped up by these early adopters.
:06:05. > :06:07.This prosumer accessory ecosystem centres around one fact -
:06:08. > :06:09.many of the latest smartphones can shoot at extremely high resolution
:06:10. > :06:12.but can't yield a polished result without a bit of help.
:06:13. > :06:27.Simple things that elevate smartphone footage include lighting.
:06:28. > :06:30.These flexible LED mats are easy to control, though pricey unless
:06:31. > :06:33.Any kind of steady light source improves your video.
:06:34. > :06:35.Even battery-powered fairy lights are better than nothing.
:06:36. > :06:37.Simply holding a smartphone steady makes footage look good,
:06:38. > :06:40.and many holders are on display to give broadcasters a helping hand.
:06:41. > :06:44.Some solutions are more cumbersome than others.
:06:45. > :06:46.Padcaster turns your iPad into a mobile production studio,
:06:47. > :06:51.essentially a frame that connects various accessories to your tablet,
:06:52. > :06:56.including lenses, lights and microphones.
:06:57. > :06:59.Another holder has also caught my eye, or should that be ear?
:07:00. > :07:02.A one-handed mobile grip with an integrated microphone input.
:07:03. > :07:06.Getting decent sound so you can play it back is a problem, and a lot of
:07:07. > :07:08.manufacturers are trying to address that, including IK Multimedia,
:07:09. > :07:18.which means you can plug things like radio microphones straight in.
:07:19. > :07:21.This works with any smartphone, although sound records
:07:22. > :07:24.Mobiles just don't like recording more than one channel
:07:25. > :07:33.As most broadcasters record both the person speaking and background noise
:07:34. > :07:38.One company attempting to address this is Sennheiser,
:07:39. > :07:43.who's betting on 360 video and VR becoming more popular.
:07:44. > :07:46.This is their third prototype of a fully 360-degree sound mic not
:07:47. > :07:58.The processing is done afterwards, from mono and stereo through to
:07:59. > :08:03.fully immersive 3D sound depending on your preference.
:08:04. > :08:06.More affordable is this app, Mavis, which puts a pro-camera experience
:08:07. > :08:07.inside an iPhone, including the complexity
:08:08. > :08:14.a pro camera offers, which may be off-putting to novice users.
:08:15. > :08:16.Far from a simple point-and-shoot, the app gives access to manual
:08:17. > :08:19.controls like white balance, focus pulling and exposure adjustment.
:08:20. > :08:22.Being able to tweak settings can make for arty and therefore
:08:23. > :08:28.polished shots for those who fancy climbing up the learning curve.
:08:29. > :08:31.It is expensive for an app, but cheap compared to
:08:32. > :08:33.There is currently no single solution to filming
:08:34. > :08:35.broadcast quality footage with a mobile phone,
:08:36. > :08:37.although if the appetite for digital storytelling continues
:08:38. > :08:40.to spread, it won't be long before smartphone manufacturers themselves
:08:41. > :08:52.want a piece of the prosumer accessory action.
:08:53. > :08:55.I wonder whether you spotted the fact that that entire report
:08:56. > :09:04.The first annual robot art competition aims to discover
:09:05. > :09:08.Teams from around the world have entered
:09:09. > :09:11.and have one simple task - to create the next robotic Rubens - and I'm
:09:12. > :09:21.The founder of the competition is Andrew Conru.
:09:22. > :09:23.We know robots can perfectly recreate an image
:09:24. > :09:28.What is the point of a robot art competition?
:09:29. > :09:31.First, it is very difficult to get a robot to paint something perfectly.
:09:32. > :09:33.An inkjet printer can create something stunningly precise,
:09:34. > :09:36.but when it comes to using a physical brush and paint,
:09:37. > :09:55.it is a lot more tricky and there is a lot more nuance.
:09:56. > :09:58.The idea behind it is trying to see what is the process between an
:09:59. > :10:02.Getting the robots to do this, and artificial intelligence
:10:03. > :10:09.There are different teams and robots using different pieces of software.
:10:10. > :10:11.Can you give us an idea how they work?
:10:12. > :10:16.How are the robots creating these images?
:10:17. > :10:19.We have 15 teams from seven countries, and each of
:10:20. > :10:22.them have taken a different approach on how to create an artwork.
:10:23. > :10:26.Perhaps the majority of them start with some sort of photograph that
:10:27. > :10:34.Then the software tends to parse the image, find different regions
:10:35. > :10:37.it wants to have different colours, figures out what layers it needs to
:10:38. > :10:41.do first, then sends those commands to the robot arm that will try to
:10:42. > :10:59.It is a whole spectrum in terms of complete automatic software to
:11:00. > :11:01.something that is more teamwork with a human designer.
:11:02. > :11:07.Our goal was to have every robot have a physical brush and dip it
:11:08. > :11:12.But we realised art has evolved in which there is anywhere
:11:13. > :11:16.from an inkjet printer to a plotter system all the way to what was
:11:17. > :11:23.We have been flexible this year in terms of what constitutes
:11:24. > :11:26.In future years, we will be more stringent
:11:27. > :11:30.and try to keep all of the teams using a similar type of materials.
:11:31. > :11:45.The full length version is on iPlayer right now.