0:00:00 > 0:00:02Newswatch will be here in around ten minutes,
0:00:02 > 0:00:04but first, it's Click.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Projectors have come a long way.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34We first meet Team Lab, the 400-strong digital art collective
0:00:34 > 0:00:38last year in Japan.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40The team of artists programmers, engineers, CG
0:00:40 > 0:00:44animators, mathematicians and the like, love to make an impact and
0:00:45 > 0:00:49here at the Pace London gallery, they're presenting eight of their
0:00:49 > 0:00:53most eye-popping pieces.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55As with the work in Tokyo, the idea here
0:00:55 > 0:00:59combines motion censors and the projectors,
0:00:59 > 0:01:04which means you have a completely interactive piece that
0:01:04 > 0:01:09you can touch and change.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12The whole room has been fully calibrated so the censors can detect
0:01:13 > 0:01:19where everyone in the installation is really, really accurately.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22The artwork, the project, the projections,
0:01:22 > 0:01:24are calculated live.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27This is not prerecorded video.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29The pictures really do react to whatever you do
0:01:29 > 0:01:33while you're in the room.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35So, for example, I can...
0:01:35 > 0:01:38THUMP.
0:01:38 > 0:01:39..kill a butterfly.
0:01:39 > 0:01:46Don't show this at home, kids.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48Don't try this at home, kids.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50This room is called Flowers Bloom On People.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54With no-one in here, it's just a black room but if you sit
0:01:54 > 0:01:56around for a few minute, you'll find that nature
0:01:56 > 0:02:01starts to grow on you.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05Now I would say this is pretty cutting-edge projectector technology
0:02:05 > 0:02:08but Marc Cieslak has assured me he can give this
0:02:08 > 0:02:11a run for his money.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15Go on then, Marc.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19This is a home entertainment concept from Razor, a
0:02:19 > 0:02:21company most famous for manufacturing gaming PCs, covering
0:02:22 > 0:02:26more lights than Blackpool Illuminations.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28The concept makes use of coloured lights and projected
0:02:28 > 0:02:35image, working together in synchronised harmony.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38What we have here is a concept lighting rig, which is key to the
0:02:38 > 0:02:40action on-screen.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42So the lights in this room will change colour
0:02:42 > 0:02:44depending on what's happening but it's only
0:02:44 > 0:02:46part of what's going on.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49So if I just hit this button here, we get the largest
0:02:49 > 0:02:54screen I've ever seen.
0:02:54 > 0:02:59And that giant screen size is thanks to a pretty expensive Forke
0:02:59 > 0:03:05projector.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10The projector is fitted with a 155- degree fish eye lens,
0:03:10 > 0:03:16combined with two depth sensing cameras that scans the rooms for
0:03:16 > 0:03:18objects and furniture, and the system adjusts
0:03:18 > 0:03:24the image to prevent it from becoming distorting.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27So the idea is that by having a screen that
0:03:27 > 0:03:29envelopes, the peripheral vision of the viewer,
0:03:29 > 0:03:31you really feel like you're thrown inside the action,
0:03:31 > 0:03:35and it is surprisingly effective.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38Oh, yeah!
0:03:38 > 0:03:42At the moment, this system remains a concept but Razor has hinted it
0:03:42 > 0:03:46might one day bring it to market.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59Oh, I can see lightings and stuff playing.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01I've been discovering some of the the latest ways
0:04:01 > 0:04:05that the technology is being used to help the visually
0:04:05 > 0:04:05impaired.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08It all starts with a spot of virtual reality.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10OK.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12If you can try it this way.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16You pull it over your eyes.
0:04:16 > 0:04:21It just made me so, it was happiness but it made me cry and I just
0:04:21 > 0:04:25couldn't believe that...
0:04:25 > 0:04:29I'd been without full sight for so many years and then
0:04:29 > 0:04:31all of a sudden I could see
0:04:31 > 0:04:37things that I hadn't seen for 30 years.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39Here at the Beacon Centre, a charity supporting
0:04:40 > 0:04:43those with sight loss, an interesting trial
0:04:43 > 0:04:44is taking place.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46I'm going to start the video...
0:04:46 > 0:04:48It seems some people can see things in
0:04:48 > 0:04:55VR they could never see in the real world or on a screen.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58I've lost Paul McCartney, though. You've lost Paul?
0:04:58 > 0:05:04Yes. Oh, no, he's there now!
0:05:04 > 0:05:07I'd never expected it but when they put the head set on,
0:05:07 > 0:05:09I mean there was giraffes,
0:05:09 > 0:05:12coming up and looking at me!
0:05:12 > 0:05:16What would you say to other people with a similar level of
0:05:16 > 0:05:19vision to you about the experience of being able to do this and the
0:05:19 > 0:05:22emotional side of it?
0:05:22 > 0:05:26Oh, if you've got the chance, you have to have a go.
0:05:26 > 0:05:27There is nothing quite like it.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31I mean I know it's not full sight, because you've got to wear a
0:05:31 > 0:05:34machine, I'm not saying, that but to give you the experience,
0:05:34 > 0:05:39it's just absolutely wonderful.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44There are a wide range of conditions that cause sight loss.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46The nature of which can vary hugely, and even
0:05:47 > 0:05:50for those with similar problems, the benefits of the VR have varied.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53By along with the University of Wolverhampton, experts are trying to
0:05:53 > 0:05:59understand how this is possible at all.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03What we found quite quickly is that people who had central loss,
0:06:03 > 0:06:05macular type conditions, as they are called, are the ones
0:06:05 > 0:06:07who seem to get most benefit.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09Where they still had peripheral vision and whether that
0:06:09 > 0:06:12peripheral vision is so stimulated as to fill in the gaps,
0:06:12 > 0:06:13or, whatever wee don't
0:06:14 > 0:06:16understand yet, is it because it's so close?
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Is it because there are still sight receptive cells in the
0:06:19 > 0:06:21centre of the vision, so that when they're
0:06:21 > 0:06:22stimulated enough, that they
0:06:22 > 0:06:25will fire and therefore create the vision?
0:06:25 > 0:06:26Is it the curvature of the lens?
0:06:26 > 0:06:30There's a whole host of things we're still trying to explore to
0:06:30 > 0:06:34understand how it works.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39If I could use that when my daughter's doing her school plays or
0:06:39 > 0:06:42she's singing in the choir, I could never pick out
0:06:42 > 0:06:45who she was or what she was doing, or be able to see
0:06:45 > 0:06:51what you are seeing and that could really be quite life changing.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56But, however clear the virtual world may seem, finding ways to ease
0:06:56 > 0:07:01day-to-day tasks is a real priority.
0:07:01 > 0:07:02Diversion to the left.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05Temporary footway in road.
0:07:05 > 0:07:06Five to 10 metres.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10There are eye beacons built in here that connect this to the mobile
0:07:10 > 0:07:12app, so if somebody is approaching and they
0:07:12 > 0:07:17have the app installed in their phone, they will receive
0:07:17 > 0:07:20an alert to let them know about the roadworks and how best
0:07:20 > 0:07:21to approach them.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24And for someone like Louise with two young kids, this smart
0:07:24 > 0:07:27street furniture could make all the difference.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31Because it tells you which way to go, so it can still in my pocket
0:07:31 > 0:07:34I can have their hands, one in each, and I can
0:07:34 > 0:07:38hear the voiceover, so it will say something
0:07:38 > 0:07:41like the pedestrian crossing is coming on the left.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43It's there for three days or however long.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46So if I do the school run the same day, I know exactly
0:07:47 > 0:07:49where it's going to be, I have done that walk yesterday.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53Also this week, big claims from a company that say their smart
0:07:53 > 0:07:58glasses can give the legally blind 20/20 vision.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01As well as being able to stream content, they've captured the
0:08:01 > 0:08:03user's surroundings, converting them into a form,
0:08:03 > 0:08:05they say, is easier to identify for those
0:08:05 > 0:08:08with limited vision.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11Sadly we couldn't put a pair to the test just yet, and it's early
0:08:12 > 0:08:15days for much of what is being trialled here but the possibilities
0:08:15 > 0:08:19are certainly looking good.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25That was Lara.
0:08:25 > 0:08:30Now, virtual reality has been grabbing all the headlines
0:08:30 > 0:08:34in recent years but don't forget augmented reality.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36Now this is the idea of projecting computer
0:08:36 > 0:08:39generated images on top of the real world.
0:08:39 > 0:08:45A bit like this but in a pair of glasses.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47Well a small band of augmented reality pioneers have
0:08:47 > 0:08:50been really pushing the technology.
0:08:50 > 0:08:55Here's Marc again with some pretty classy eyewear.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00These augmented reality glasses are basically
0:09:00 > 0:09:01a wearable computer.
0:09:01 > 0:09:07For the last couple of years, augmented reality
0:09:07 > 0:09:09specs have been used primarily in an industrial setting
0:09:09 > 0:09:10or in the workplace.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13These have been competed by a company called ODG, and they've
0:09:13 > 0:09:17been designed far more with the consumer in mind.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20They feel a lot closer to normal glasses,
0:09:20 > 0:09:25so to get the best out of them, I want to move around.
0:09:25 > 0:09:31So, I stand up, at the moment, there's a 360-degree video playing.
0:09:31 > 0:09:38If I look around, I get a different viewpoint here.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42I see a robot in front of me and what looks like some kind
0:09:42 > 0:09:44of futuristic hospital, and there's a guy over here,
0:09:44 > 0:09:47who seems very unhappy and another guy who looks seems
0:09:47 > 0:09:49to be shooting at him.
0:09:49 > 0:09:50The images move seemlessly with my head.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54If I look around I can see planet earth in front of me.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56But this is the cool bit, it moves.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00I can walk inside it and see from outside of the planet, and
0:10:00 > 0:10:03appreciate it from this angle, and if I stand here, yep, a Space
0:10:03 > 0:10:10Station that's orbiting the earth as well.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Now, the glasses know where they are, spacially, as there are a
0:10:13 > 0:10:15couple of cameras on front of them.
0:10:15 > 0:10:20All of the processing is happening on the head set itself.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24The ODGR-8 glasses will cost around ?800
0:10:24 > 0:10:28but they are basically a wearable computer there.
0:10:28 > 0:10:34Are some cheaper, lower tech AR options out there, though.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37There are lots of low-cost virtual reality headsets that make use of
0:10:37 > 0:10:38smartphones.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42This is a low-cost augmented reality headset that uses a phone.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45Phones slot inside it here.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49Put an AR app in it and the images on the screen
0:10:49 > 0:10:51is reflected right here.
0:10:51 > 0:10:58So, let's give it a go.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02So, when the headset's on, I can look down the screen
0:11:02 > 0:11:04and I scan see graphics reflected from the phone
0:11:04 > 0:11:06just in the headset.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08Now, it has another trick up its sleeve as well.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10You can attach peripherals on to it.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14I can see my hands in front of me and use them to cast flames.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17Take that, Mr Crocodile.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21That's it for the short cut of Click for this
0:11:21 > 0:11:26week from Transcending Boundaries at the Pace London gallery.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28The full lengths of the programme is up on
0:11:28 > 0:11:32iPlayer for you to you watch now and there's loads of photos from all
0:11:32 > 0:11:34of this week's items on BBC Click.
0:11:34 > 0:11:35Thanks for watching.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38See you soon.