:00:00. > :00:00.And the man who bought BHS for ?1 said that the retailer could have
:00:00. > :00:00.conceived of his plans had been given more time.
:00:00. > :00:13.Now it is time for Click. This week - running blind
:00:14. > :00:15.in the Desert, literally. And fab, fun, flexi fairy
:00:16. > :00:38.lights for your phone. For many, the ultimate test
:00:39. > :00:48.of human endurance. A physically
:00:49. > :00:57.and mentally draining feat that quite literally
:00:58. > :01:01.changes your body. Now imagine doing one four times
:01:02. > :01:12.in four days, in a desert. This is the Ultramarathon,
:01:13. > :01:18.a 150-mile-long race through the Namibian desert, in some of the most
:01:19. > :01:21.difficult conditions on the planet. And if you can't see,
:01:22. > :01:25.you need a guide. And in this case,
:01:26. > :01:28.the guide was a smartphone. You are experiencing
:01:29. > :01:36.sensory deprivation. I had headphones in with the app,
:01:37. > :01:39.so I couldn't really hear anything. All you've got is the feeling under
:01:40. > :01:42.foot, you're never too sure Running through uncertain desert
:01:43. > :01:46.terrain is what Simon Wheatcroft has spent
:01:47. > :01:49.much of the past week doing. Simon has a degenerative eye disease
:01:50. > :01:53.that has left him blind since he was 17 years old,
:01:54. > :01:56.but he has never let himself be After proposing to his
:01:57. > :02:03.girlfriend halfway up Simon took up running in the field
:02:04. > :02:06.behind his house. He then moved to the path
:02:07. > :02:14.and then the road, memorising a range
:02:15. > :02:16.of objects, distances The things that you can't memorise
:02:17. > :02:21.are the things that are moving. They probably don't
:02:22. > :02:23.realise that you're blind, because you just wouldn't imagine,
:02:24. > :02:26.if you were running towards me, What I try to do to sort of deal
:02:27. > :02:33.with that is a lot of people are not willing to run as close
:02:34. > :02:35.to the road as I am, so I am literally running
:02:36. > :02:37.the curbs down. If you make a mistake,
:02:38. > :02:40.you are running into the cars. A lot of people aren't
:02:41. > :02:42.willing to be that close. To avoid people, I run the line that
:02:43. > :02:46.other people aren't willing to run. I have been hit by a van
:02:47. > :02:50.and stuff, but I carry on running. Stuff happens.
:02:51. > :02:52.Get up, carry on running. His amazing feat has been made
:02:53. > :02:56.possible by technology that helps him to keep his
:02:57. > :02:59.amazing feet exactly Originally using a run-tracking
:03:00. > :03:03.app called Runkeeper, the team here at the IBM
:03:04. > :03:06.Bluemix Garage have helped to develop and adapt it specifically
:03:07. > :03:11.for Simon's desert needs. The difficulty with the desert
:03:12. > :03:16.is there is not a normal path. You can't just go along
:03:17. > :03:19.the street with Google Maps, There's also no mobile
:03:20. > :03:25.network in the desert, to make it work without mobile
:03:26. > :03:30.network, just running on a GPS and help him not to get
:03:31. > :03:33.off track and guide him If you go too far to the right,
:03:34. > :03:44.it's a high-pitched beep, and to the
:03:45. > :03:47.left it is a lower-pitched beep. the further left or right
:03:48. > :03:55.you get off track. It beeps like crazy, because you're
:03:56. > :04:00.too far from the desert. BEEPING
:04:01. > :04:02.We're too far from the desert! We're too far to the left
:04:03. > :04:06.of the desert now. Not right, because that would be
:04:07. > :04:08.a high-pitched beep. We're too far to the left
:04:09. > :04:12.of the desert. Simon actually trialled
:04:13. > :04:14.the app earlier this year Except, Simon being Simon,
:04:15. > :04:20.he went to Boston, ran Because, well...
:04:21. > :04:31.Yeah, no idea. Developing such a specialised app
:04:32. > :04:33.is not without a unique I had the idea, because he had
:04:34. > :04:47.his cute dog, Ascot, with him at our office,
:04:48. > :04:50.and I ask him, "Is Ascot And he said, "No, no,
:04:51. > :04:54.it's the desert and the dog is not running with me
:04:55. > :04:56.that far and that wrong, And I said, "OK, cool,
:04:57. > :05:00.how about we do this app with the dog barking
:05:01. > :05:07.if you get off track? But then he said he might be
:05:08. > :05:10.scared to hallucinate because of the heat
:05:11. > :05:12.and everything, so, yeah... Personally, if I started
:05:13. > :05:14.hallucinating that dogs were chasing But, anyway, this app has
:05:15. > :05:18.been a key component in allowing Simon to achieve his
:05:19. > :05:21.dream of competing alone, without the aid of a guide -
:05:22. > :05:25.or this lovely fella. When I was in the open-plain desert,
:05:26. > :05:32.it worked fantastically. I got that real sense
:05:33. > :05:34.of independence, it was the first chance I had to
:05:35. > :05:37.run alone. There was one point where
:05:38. > :05:40.I was running into a station and I just started to cry,
:05:41. > :05:42.because I couldn't believe that, for the first
:05:43. > :05:45.time in my life, I could It was thanks to this app and these
:05:46. > :05:51.beeps that were guiding me Simon made it almost
:05:52. > :06:00.100 miles into the race before having to pull out due
:06:01. > :06:03.to the terrain and extreme heat. But, if anything, that
:06:04. > :06:05.disappointment has made him even more determined
:06:06. > :06:06.to succeed next time. As I finished, I was going to put
:06:07. > :06:16.on Facebook that "I tried, I failed, I'm going back" -
:06:17. > :06:19.but I deleted that bit because I thought, "If she finds
:06:20. > :06:21.out through Facebook, So when I landed last
:06:22. > :06:25.night and we went out for dinner, she said,
:06:26. > :06:27."You're going back, aren't you?" Otherwise you wouldn't be taking me
:06:28. > :06:31.out for such a nice meal! Wow.
:06:32. > :06:33.Simon, shake my hand. This is such a great story.
:06:34. > :06:35.Thank you so much. My pleasure.
:06:36. > :06:37.Good luck for next year. That time of year when you know
:06:38. > :06:47.summertime's on its way. But, for many, that also means
:06:48. > :06:52.the start of allergy season and, with allergies on the rise,
:06:53. > :06:55.over 30% of people are suffering So I've been taking a look
:06:56. > :06:59.at some of the latest Whilst much of our time may be spent
:07:00. > :07:03.in environments we can't control, Sensio AIR hopes to improve
:07:04. > :07:12.matters in your own home. This allergen- and air-particle
:07:13. > :07:14.analyser closely tracks the quality of the air around you and,
:07:15. > :07:18.at the same time, you can input any symptoms that you're
:07:19. > :07:21.having into the app, which means that it'll
:07:22. > :07:24.match up any data on how you're feeling with what's
:07:25. > :07:26.going on in the surrounding
:07:27. > :07:31.environment. Its sensors aim to identify allergy
:07:32. > :07:34.triggers like dustmites or pollen, potential irritants such as acetone
:07:35. > :07:36.or formaldehyde, plus mould spores, They work in conjunction
:07:37. > :07:51.with harmful gases, temperatures, humidity, and these factors
:07:52. > :07:59.have a direct impact on the way this
:08:00. > :08:01.interacts with you and causes your We are able to tell you exactly what
:08:02. > :08:10.was in the environment during your symptoms, and all these data
:08:11. > :08:14.that we are exchanging today allows us to really personalise our
:08:15. > :08:16.unique algorithms. The settings of
:08:17. > :08:19.your home, if you have a home automation, or by giving new direct
:08:20. > :08:22.advice on how to improve the air at home, whether it is by hoovering
:08:23. > :08:26.your carpet, or by washing your cat, or by simply closing the windows
:08:27. > :08:29.when it is allergy season. They are not the only
:08:30. > :08:30.company hoping to This device is pitching itself
:08:31. > :08:43.as a smart personal air purifier. And surprisingly,
:08:44. > :08:44.indoor quality can be substantially worse
:08:45. > :08:46.than that of outdoors. Or for a place to simply keep track
:08:47. > :08:49.of your symptoms, then this app could help,
:08:50. > :08:52.whilst at the same time you will be Input your symptoms
:08:53. > :08:58.to their Britain Breathing app and they will match them up
:08:59. > :09:01.to time- and location-based The aim is to better
:09:02. > :09:07.understand common triggers and potentially learn why
:09:08. > :09:11.allergies are increasing. are environmental,
:09:12. > :09:15.though. If yours is a food allergy
:09:16. > :09:16.or intolerance, then this app could
:09:17. > :09:18.come in handy. Tell Spoon Guru the foods
:09:19. > :09:21.you can't eat, or about any special diets, and it will help come
:09:22. > :09:23.up with ideas and recipes for what
:09:24. > :09:25.you can eat. For the purposes of testing the app,
:09:26. > :09:28.I have told it that I am intolerant to gluten and
:09:29. > :09:30.shellfish so that we can see what it
:09:31. > :09:35.thinksI can and cannot eat. This is the best bit from me,
:09:36. > :09:37.you can I was impressed by just how
:09:38. > :09:49.many products It also came up with these clear,
:09:50. > :09:56.easy-to-read ingredient lists and nutritional graphs,
:09:57. > :09:59.which are handy for speed or if you struggle with the small
:10:00. > :10:01.print on labels. The next stage could be devices
:10:02. > :10:05.like this prototype. The Nima aims to test solid foods
:10:06. > :10:08.or liquids for gluten. A small amount is placed
:10:09. > :10:11.in this tube, where it is the device will tell you whether it
:10:12. > :10:21.is safe to consume or not. Hello, and welcome
:10:22. > :10:26.to The Week in Tech. InstaGram revealed a minimalist
:10:27. > :10:28.new logo that induced a rainbow of
:10:29. > :10:32.responses. Samsung also announced a micro
:10:33. > :10:34.SD that is even more massive than the most
:10:35. > :10:37.massive-ist one before it. And NASA treated us all to this
:10:38. > :10:43.spectacular astronomical event - that tiny little
:10:44. > :10:45.dot there is Mercury passing between us
:10:46. > :10:47.and the sun. It was also the week that engineers
:10:48. > :10:49.at Google unveiled a set of 13 emojis that they say
:10:50. > :10:52.better represent women in the world
:10:53. > :10:56.of work. The designs, which include doctors,
:10:57. > :10:59.scientists and bussinesswomen have been presented to the
:11:00. > :11:02.Unicode Consortium, that is the body charged with the incredibly
:11:03. > :11:04.21st-century job of approving and
:11:05. > :11:06.standardising emojis. And it has been
:11:07. > :11:08.a great week for tech
:11:09. > :11:09.billionaire Elon Musk. First, his company SpaceX
:11:10. > :11:17.stuck another landing had its first public test
:11:18. > :11:21.success. Hyperloop 1 ran this impressive,
:11:22. > :11:23.albeit short, testable We visited Hyperloop
:11:24. > :11:30.HQ back in January, and it is pretty cool
:11:31. > :11:31.to And finally, in what some
:11:32. > :11:35.are calling a major breakthrough, a robotic arm has
:11:36. > :11:39.finally figured out how to spin a The robotic arm developed
:11:40. > :11:48.by researchers at the University of Washington uses a combination
:11:49. > :11:51.of delicate hand-like hardware and computer simulation in order to work
:11:52. > :11:54.out how to complete the task. By learning from its
:11:55. > :11:56.mistakes, the arm can gradually get better at handling
:11:57. > :11:58.and manipulating objects. I never thought I would
:11:59. > :12:01.see the day when a robot could spin coffee
:12:02. > :12:02.beans like a real human.
:12:03. > :12:07.Incredible. their head in a mobile
:12:08. > :12:10.phone these days, don't they? it is the platform
:12:11. > :12:14.to be on. And in developing nations,
:12:15. > :12:17.many have skipped the PC altogether and gone straight to cheaper, $100
:12:18. > :12:19.smartphones, to do their work and
:12:20. > :12:20.shop online. So what if you wanted
:12:21. > :12:23.to make your own mobile app? and how much it
:12:24. > :12:26.would cost? mobile developers
:12:27. > :12:29.are not easy to find. Both in places like London,
:12:30. > :12:34.and in areas that are more remote In a moment, I will
:12:35. > :12:37.talk to someone who is hoping to open up mobile apps
:12:38. > :12:43.to anyone with a good idea. But first, Dan watched children
:12:44. > :12:45.young as six build their own mobile apps
:12:46. > :12:48.in his final report from Malawi in Africa.
:12:49. > :12:58.Three, two, one. Go!
:12:59. > :13:00.We think this is the first mobile app-building
:13:01. > :13:02.contest for children to be held in Africa.
:13:03. > :13:05.And it has been made possible because these kids have
:13:06. > :13:12.spent just a few hours the day before learning how to use a mobile
:13:13. > :13:14.phone app that builds mobile phone apps.
:13:15. > :13:16.All you have to do is to decide what to create.
:13:17. > :13:27.of things. different types
:13:28. > :13:30.It might be an app about Malawi, and app about mhub, or an
:13:31. > :13:33.The SnapApp builder works on smartphones, but it
:13:34. > :13:39.This app is supposed to help raise awareness for those who do not know
:13:40. > :13:43.I will also add a page where they can help, so I
:13:44. > :13:47.can maybe tie in a link to Unicef, and they can help donate money to
:13:48. > :13:48.these girls who do not have education.
:13:49. > :13:50.This year, for the first time in Africa,
:13:51. > :13:58.smartphones will outsell more basic feature phones.
:13:59. > :14:00.Yet creating just a basic mobile app to work on that smartphone could
:14:01. > :14:04.set you back $2000 to $3000 in development costs.
:14:05. > :14:08.And that is if you can find a developer.
:14:09. > :14:11.This new breed of apps could change that, and
:14:12. > :14:15.they are getting support from some big names,
:14:16. > :14:23.with providing food and water than tech.
:14:24. > :14:27.What we're doing today is we are asking the children to
:14:28. > :14:29.think for themselves and come up with innovative ideas
:14:30. > :14:31.that will help other children.
:14:32. > :14:33.Sometimes adults are not always best placed to think
:14:34. > :14:36.about what the needs really are. Children think outside the box.
:14:37. > :14:38.For those who are still put off doing it
:14:39. > :14:41.themselves, the staff at the mhub, the technology
:14:42. > :14:45.service so they can create one for anyone who walks in.
:14:46. > :14:53.It is easy enough now to create apps.
:14:54. > :14:55.I have built mobile appls in 27 hours.
:14:56. > :14:58.And I can have something that is a good
:14:59. > :15:04.Snap says that in nine months users in 197
:15:05. > :15:07.countries have created 4000 apps which are all now available online.
:15:08. > :15:09.In a few weeks, e-commerce services will
:15:10. > :15:14.allow buying at the touch of a screen.
:15:15. > :15:20.For these children today, it is all about winning a smartphone. But the
:15:21. > :15:26.real prize will be the communities and transformed by the app which are
:15:27. > :15:35.now becoming commonplace. Dan reporting on the first
:15:36. > :15:37.competition of its kind, Since then, many more
:15:38. > :15:41.app-building contests have I'm joined by Asaf Kindler,
:15:42. > :15:47.who you saw in that film. You are the boss of SnapApp,
:15:48. > :15:50.one of a growing band What has happened
:15:51. > :15:53.since that first competition? We have seen competitions
:15:54. > :15:56.happening all over the world, from Africa to Latin America,
:15:57. > :15:59.India, and also the US. It is the impact on the people,
:16:00. > :16:03.the people building an app. The kind
:16:04. > :16:06.of app you can build is simplistic, the equivalent of a mobile website
:16:07. > :16:09.where you can share information You can't build the next
:16:10. > :16:16.Angry Birds using an app builder. At this stage, no,
:16:17. > :16:18.but what you can build now is both on the builder of the app
:16:19. > :16:35.and the user. With these type of app-builders,
:16:36. > :16:38.you can build about 80% of the things you want to, and
:16:39. > :16:41.the 20% left, the innovative part, could be later integrated into the
:16:42. > :16:44.builder as we see them coming out. Asaf, thank you for your time.
:16:45. > :16:47.Best of luck with it all. As you know, we love a good
:16:48. > :16:53.world-first on this programme, Last year, we filmed
:16:54. > :16:57.and edited an entire programme using just mobile phones and tablets.
:16:58. > :17:04.These days, everyone is at it. But mobiles can be really useful
:17:05. > :17:05.for journalists, helping them report
:17:06. > :17:08.more quickly from more places. LJ Rich has been to the Mobile
:17:09. > :17:11.Journalism Conference in Dublin to check out the latest
:17:12. > :17:16.tools of the trade. It's not everyday you see mobile
:17:17. > :17:19.journalists sitting still, but here are around 700
:17:20. > :17:23.of them transfixed a convention
:17:24. > :17:28.for those who want to improve their The exhibition in the next room
:17:29. > :17:36.shows off the next generation of mobile gadgetry soon to be
:17:37. > :17:40.snapped up by these early adopters. This prosumer accessory
:17:41. > :17:45.ecosystem centres around one fact - many of the latest smartphones can
:17:46. > :17:49.shoot at extremely high resolution but can't yield a polished result
:17:50. > :17:54.without a bit of help. Simple things that elevate
:17:55. > :18:01.smartphone footage include lighting. These flexible LED mats are easy
:18:02. > :18:04.to control, though pricey unless Any kind of steady
:18:05. > :18:09.light source improves your video. Even battery-powered fairy lights
:18:10. > :18:14.are better than nothing. Simply holding a smartphone steady
:18:15. > :18:19.makes footage look good, and many holders are on display to
:18:20. > :18:22.give broadcasters a helping hand. Some solutions are more cumbersome
:18:23. > :18:26.than others. Padcaster turns your iPad
:18:27. > :18:30.into a mobile production studio, essentially a frame that connects
:18:31. > :18:34.various accessories to your tablet, including lenses,
:18:35. > :18:38.lights and microphones. Another holder has also caught
:18:39. > :18:41.my eye, or should that be ear? A one-handed mobile grip
:18:42. > :18:46.with an integrated microphone input. Getting decent sound so you can play
:18:47. > :18:50.it back is a problem, and a lot of manufacturers are trying to address
:18:51. > :18:52.that, including IK Multimedia, which means you can plug things
:18:53. > :19:01.like radio microphones straight in. This works with any smartphone,
:19:02. > :19:04.although sound records Mobiles just don't
:19:05. > :19:09.like recording more than one channel As most broadcasters record both the
:19:10. > :19:15.person speaking and background noise One company attempting to address
:19:16. > :19:21.this is Sennheiser, who's betting on 360 video and VR
:19:22. > :19:28.becoming more popular. This is their third prototype
:19:29. > :19:31.of a fully 360-degree sound mic not The processing is done afterwards
:19:32. > :19:36.from mono and stereo through to fully immersive 3D sound
:19:37. > :19:39.depending on your preference. The company told me it
:19:40. > :19:47.will probably cost around ?1500. More affordable is this app, Mavis,
:19:48. > :19:51.which puts a pro-camera experience inside an iPhone,
:19:52. > :19:56.including the complexity a pro camera offers, which may be
:19:57. > :20:00.off-putting to novice users. Far from a simple point-and-shoot,
:20:01. > :20:04.the app gives access to manual controls like white
:20:05. > :20:06.balance, focus-pulling Being able to tweak settings can
:20:07. > :20:12.make for arty and therefore polished shots for those who fancy
:20:13. > :20:15.climbing up the learning curve. but cheap compared to
:20:16. > :20:19.a new manual camera. There is currently no
:20:20. > :20:22.single solution to filming broadcast-quality footage
:20:23. > :20:25.with a mobile phone, although if the appetite
:20:26. > :20:28.for digital storytelling continues to spread, it won't be long before
:20:29. > :20:30.smartphone manufacturers themselves want a piece of the prosumer
:20:31. > :20:38.accessory action. I wonder whether you spotted
:20:39. > :20:41.the fact that that entire report Good.
:20:42. > :20:50.Now, can a machine make art? The first annual robot art
:20:51. > :20:51.competition aims to discover
:20:52. > :20:53.if they can. Teams from
:20:54. > :21:03.around the world have entered and have one simple task - to create
:21:04. > :21:06.the next robotic Rubens - and I'm The founder
:21:07. > :21:09.of the competition is Andrew Conru. We know robots can perfectly
:21:10. > :21:11.recreate an image What is the point
:21:12. > :21:17.of a robot art competition? First, it is very difficult to get a
:21:18. > :21:21.robot to paint something perfectly. An inkjet printer can create
:21:22. > :21:26.something stunningly precise, but when it comes to using
:21:27. > :21:30.a physical brush and paint, it is a lot more tricky
:21:31. > :21:34.and there is a lot more nuance. The idea behind it is trying to see
:21:35. > :21:37.what is the process between an
:21:38. > :21:43.artist's creation and the execution. and artificial intelligence
:21:44. > :21:48.behind that, is the core. I'm sure there will be those
:21:49. > :21:51.around who say is this art if it is entirely created
:21:52. > :21:55.by a machine? The key part is whether or not
:21:56. > :21:58.the artwork itself creates something
:21:59. > :22:02.that gives an emotional response. If you look at when cameras
:22:03. > :22:06.came around, we went from people who were painting portraits to
:22:07. > :22:10.basically taking a photo. We have photos now worth hundreds
:22:11. > :22:13.of thousands of dollars because they are able to capture something
:22:14. > :22:15.that is inspiring and gives
:22:16. > :22:19.an emotional feedback response. There are different teams and robots
:22:20. > :22:23.using different pieces of software. Can you give us
:22:24. > :22:26.an idea how they work? How are the robots creating
:22:27. > :22:31.these images? We have 15 teams
:22:32. > :22:35.from seven countries, and each of them have taken a different approach
:22:36. > :22:41.on how to create an artwork. Perhaps the majority of them start
:22:42. > :22:44.with some sort of photograph that Then the software tends to parse
:22:45. > :22:54.the image, find different regions it wants to have for different
:22:55. > :23:06.colours, figures out what layers it needs to do first,
:23:07. > :23:08.then sends those commands to the robot arm that will try to
:23:09. > :23:11.paint them in sequence. It is a whole spectrum in terms
:23:12. > :23:14.of complete automatic software to something that is more teamwork with
:23:15. > :23:16.a human designer. Where do you go from here?
:23:17. > :23:19.What is next for the competition? We have been loose
:23:20. > :23:22.on the rules this year. Our goal was to have every robot
:23:23. > :23:25.have a physical brush and dip it But we realised art has evolved
:23:26. > :23:37.in which there is anywhere from an inkjet printer
:23:38. > :23:39.to a plotter system all the way to what was
:23:40. > :23:43.originally intended with a brush. in terms of what constitutes
:23:44. > :23:53.the execution side of the artwork. In future years,
:23:54. > :23:56.we will be more stringent and try to keep all of the teams
:23:57. > :23:59.using a similar type of materials. We will bring you the results
:24:00. > :24:02.of the competition Follow us on Twitter
:24:03. > :24:35.for more fun during the week. And they serve persons and me would
:24:36. > :24:37.not remain jailed just how warm things were last