0:00:01 > 0:00:02in an American air-strike.
0:00:02 > 0:00:03Now it's time for Click.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10This week we are heading to the US and jetting into the future.
0:00:10 > 0:00:11There will be robot holograms, swashbuckling drones,
0:00:11 > 0:00:13and imaginary sea monsters.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17This is absolutely stunning.
0:00:17 > 0:00:22You thought you knew virtual reality, well so did I.
0:00:51 > 0:01:02You thought you knew virtual reality, well so did I.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07Then I came to NASA's jet propulsion laboratory.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10These are genuine images collected by the Mars Rover Curiosity,
0:01:10 > 0:01:28and the Mars orbiter.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34Over there, there is Curiosity.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36Hello, old friend.
0:01:36 > 0:01:43I can actually walk around the Mars Rover.
0:01:44 > 0:01:44Look at this!
0:01:44 > 0:01:47Destination Mars is opening soon as a tourist attraction
0:01:47 > 0:01:49at the Kennedy Space Centre, but it is already a collaborative
0:01:49 > 0:01:51experience that allows scientists to discuss the Red Planet
0:01:52 > 0:01:57while standing on Mars.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59Despite that view being very small at the moment,
0:01:59 > 0:02:04it really does work.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08With the HoloLens, there are no cables and no external sensors.
0:02:08 > 0:02:14This thing knows where it is and which way you are looking
0:02:14 > 0:02:16simply by the sensors that are in the headset,
0:02:16 > 0:02:18and that means there are no restrictions,
0:02:18 > 0:02:22which means I can keep walking over here, and walk all the way
0:02:23 > 0:02:27up this hill.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31Or if I really want, I can just disappear off this way
0:02:31 > 0:02:32and carry on trekking across Mars.
0:02:32 > 0:02:33Excuse me, everybody.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35Carry on about your work.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37I'm still on Mars!
0:02:37 > 0:02:42Ooh, there's a photocopier!
0:02:42 > 0:02:45In theory, that means if you have the data and know
0:02:45 > 0:02:48what the landscape on Mars looks like 100 miles that way,
0:02:48 > 0:02:50I could just keep walking!
0:02:50 > 0:02:53HoloLens is actually an augmented or mixed virtual reality,
0:02:53 > 0:02:55which means real objects and virtual ones can appear
0:02:55 > 0:03:00alongside one another.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03JPL is using it to take plans off the computer screen and think
0:03:03 > 0:03:17about them in 3-D at full scale before anything is actually built.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19We have to build this thing here on the ground,
0:03:19 > 0:03:21and people have to get around it.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24You have to be able to put your arm in and turn
0:03:24 > 0:03:25a screwdriver, for example.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28That is a time-consuming thing to check on a 2-D computer screen
0:03:28 > 0:03:29at a smaller scale.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32We can place pointers on the model, on the hologram, for example
0:03:32 > 0:03:35if we want to talk about that antenna, I can place a pointer
0:03:35 > 0:03:38there and you and I can both see it and everyone participating
0:03:38 > 0:03:43in the session can see it.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46These pointers really do get over the final drawback to the mixed
0:03:46 > 0:03:48reality experience, the fact that you can't actually touch
0:03:48 > 0:03:51the 3-D model.
0:03:51 > 0:03:57I dare you not to imagine this changing our world.
0:03:57 > 0:04:05Wow, wow, wow, wow.
0:04:05 > 0:04:06Mind equals blown.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09This is stunning and I am totally buying into virtual reality.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13But guess what, it gets even better.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17In Salt Lake City, Mark Cieslak has been having the fright of his life.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19In the shadow of Utah's peaks, cutting-edge virtual reality
0:04:19 > 0:04:24is being developed.
0:04:24 > 0:04:32Welcome to the Void, or to be more precise,
0:04:32 > 0:04:37the research and development facility.
0:04:37 > 0:04:45Just inside here is one possible future for virtual reality
0:04:45 > 0:04:49technology.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52The Void is a virtual reality experience that takes place
0:04:52 > 0:04:53inside specially constructed sets.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55Kitting up requires a backpack, chest rig, and headset.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58What you see inside the headset, you feel and touch in
0:04:58 > 0:05:07the real world.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09Its creators call this setup hyperreality.
0:05:09 > 0:05:18OK, so I'm in a temple.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21I look up and I can see the stars, some ruins around me,
0:05:21 > 0:05:24and if I reach out and touch the walls and feel them,
0:05:24 > 0:05:35I can feel a throne in front of me.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38I think myself and my other two cofounders really wanted to create
0:05:38 > 0:05:47a holodeck, we are all Star Trek geeks.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49Magic and illusion design, film production and television
0:05:49 > 0:05:53production were in our background.
0:05:53 > 0:05:54I can see flames rising up.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56As I get closer to them, it gets hotter.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59Sensors trigger heaters, which makes me think the stone bowl
0:05:59 > 0:06:01in front of me has erupted in flames.
0:06:01 > 0:06:09Over here I can see a torch.
0:06:09 > 0:06:09Oh!
0:06:09 > 0:06:11I can feel it is well.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14I take it out of the hole in the wall, and I'm holding
0:06:14 > 0:06:28in my hand what seems to be some kind of Aztec torch.
0:06:28 > 0:06:34OK, so the headset again is prompting me to look for things
0:06:34 > 0:06:35inside the environment.
0:06:35 > 0:06:54To look around for clues as to where I have to go next.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56The ability to explore wirelessly massively changes virtual reality.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58One of the limiting factors of high-end virtual reality
0:06:58 > 0:07:01in the home is that the headset still needs to be tethered
0:07:01 > 0:07:04to a computer, which limits how far you can move from the computer.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07The guys here have thought about that and cheated a little bit,
0:07:07 > 0:07:09because the headset is still tethered to a computer,
0:07:09 > 0:07:11but the computer lives in this backpack.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15The rest of this rig is capable of doing a bunch of other things.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17It is equipped with pads which trigger a physical feeling
0:07:17 > 0:07:21when things are activated.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28The door has just shattered in front of me, and across my chest it felt
0:07:28 > 0:07:33as if the rocks from that door smashed into me.
0:07:34 > 0:07:39The current generation of this kit does have its limitations.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42There are definitely limits, going upstairs or climbing
0:07:42 > 0:07:45are challenges that we will have to face later.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52It turns out the team at the Void can't just rely on technology
0:07:52 > 0:08:02to create this experience.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06I have been in illusion design and creation for over a decade,
0:08:06 > 0:08:08and it turns out that magic and virtual reality belong together.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10So you can take things like misdirection and psychological
0:08:11 > 0:08:13cues and place them together.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16Something touches you...
0:08:16 > 0:08:18Oh!
0:08:18 > 0:08:20Cobwebs, there are spiders everywhere!
0:08:20 > 0:08:25We can't see the headset view for the next bit as it is a bit
0:08:25 > 0:08:31scary for this time of day.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35As I stepped into what I thought was a huge cavern, I was attacked
0:08:35 > 0:08:39by a giant sea monster.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41This is the effect it had on me.
0:08:41 > 0:08:42It's moving!
0:08:42 > 0:08:44Ah!
0:08:48 > 0:08:57Off camera, fans blast cold air at me, simulating a monstrous roar.
0:08:58 > 0:08:58That was awful!
0:08:58 > 0:09:07I'm back in the real world, that was intense.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10The team here have collaborated with the moviemakers behind
0:09:10 > 0:09:12the new Ghostbusters film, creating an attraction
0:09:12 > 0:09:21for Madame Tussaud's in New York.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23But their ultimate goal is to create their own experienced
0:09:23 > 0:09:26centres, a bit like VR arcades, providing a host
0:09:26 > 0:09:29of different virtual destructions.
0:09:31 > 0:09:32Wow!
0:09:32 > 0:09:35Tell me that was incredible as it looked, because it looked
0:09:35 > 0:09:38incredible.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41It was incredible, a little bit scary as well,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43but a terrific experience.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46I suppose this is what VR has lacked so far, it looks brilliant
0:09:46 > 0:09:48because you can look and listen all around,
0:09:48 > 0:09:50but you can't actually feel the environment.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53I have tried a lot of VR games and experiences,
0:09:53 > 0:09:55and I think I might have trained my brain to know
0:09:55 > 0:09:58that they are completely false, there is nothing in the room
0:09:58 > 0:09:59that is real.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01When I see a wall I can't touch it.
0:10:01 > 0:10:09So at first it was a bit unnerving when I went into the Void
0:10:09 > 0:10:15and I could touch the surfaces, and when I sat in the throne
0:10:15 > 0:10:16it was really there.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19It really helps to sell the idea that you are in these spaces.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21Is this the future for VR?
0:10:21 > 0:10:23I think it is one possible future for entertainment VR.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26The idea of a lot of people going into one massive space
0:10:26 > 0:10:30and all playing games together at the same time is not a new idea,
0:10:30 > 0:10:32we used to have videogames arcades in the 80s.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35I think interactive videogame arcade might be a thing in the next decade.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38Pretty good. Absolutely.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44Hello, and welcome to the Week in Tech.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47This was the week that Google's Deep Mind team teamed up
0:10:47 > 0:10:49with the Moorfield Eye Hospital, to try to detect the onset
0:10:49 > 0:10:53of blindness.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56A million anonymous eye scans are being analysed for early signs
0:10:56 > 0:11:02of disease humans might miss.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07I will have to go in a minute, that will be the self driving robot
0:11:07 > 0:11:10delivering my lunch.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12Just Eat have joined forces with Starship Technologies
0:11:12 > 0:11:18to autonomously deliver food orders in London.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20The robots will be watched over remotely by humans,
0:11:20 > 0:11:24who can take control at any time.
0:11:24 > 0:11:25Hopefully they are not hungry.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28Ever thought hamsters on a hamster wheel are not really achieving much?
0:11:28 > 0:11:30No, me neither, but here is a solution anyway.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33The hamster-powered hamster drawing machine lets the energetic creature
0:11:33 > 0:11:34effectively take a selfie.
0:11:34 > 0:11:39This artist's nifty use of open source software has made it possible
0:11:39 > 0:11:49to translate the efforts of the hamster into a work of art.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52Finally, an engineer in Cambridge has spent four years and ?40,000
0:11:52 > 0:11:54filling his living room with one massive game of Tetris.
0:11:54 > 0:11:59Initially, James Newman just wanted to see how a transistor works,
0:11:59 > 0:12:02but he said he got carried away and now he has 40,000 transistors
0:12:02 > 0:12:15and 10,000 LED lights.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24Where does it go?
0:12:24 > 0:12:27There?
0:12:27 > 0:12:31Today, I am getting to take a big one off my bucket list.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34I am at Stanford University in Silicon Valley, and I am facing
0:12:34 > 0:12:44down a drone that can really look after itself.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50This is research that will help drones to fly smarter and avoid
0:12:50 > 0:12:59obstacles, be they natural or man-made.
0:12:59 > 0:13:05Honestly, I'm still more afraid of it than it is of me.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09So, the system knows where I am because I'm covered in reflective
0:13:09 > 0:13:13markers on my arm, my glove, my helmet and on the foil.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16So, you see the nice little wireframe depiction of me
0:13:16 > 0:13:21on the screen.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24It is sampling the entire world that it concerns itself with.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28It tries to connect a path through this world
0:13:28 > 0:13:29that is free of obstacles.
0:13:29 > 0:13:37But these obstacles might move and intersect with a path,
0:13:37 > 0:13:40it has to replan, and all of this is very computationally expensive.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43It could take days or months to compute, but we have to do it
0:13:43 > 0:13:50in a matter of a few milliseconds.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53How many times have you been hit by the drone and how many times did
0:13:53 > 0:13:54you hit it?
0:13:54 > 0:13:56How many drones have you been through?
0:13:56 > 0:13:57More than I would like.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00I think of it as like training a semi-wild animal, you don't know
0:14:00 > 0:14:02quite what it is going to do.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05It bites once in a while, but it has been going better
0:14:05 > 0:14:13recently, so we will say ten times.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16Let's say ten.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18I am so Luke Skywalker right now.
0:14:18 > 0:14:23My bad, probably...
0:14:31 > 0:14:34That is one of the most exhilarating things I have done today.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38The point of this is to arm drones with the ability to avoid things,
0:14:38 > 0:14:44pigeons, people, random fencers.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48But on a large level we will also need to be able to monitor drones
0:14:48 > 0:14:51as they go about their daily business, and that is
0:14:51 > 0:14:53what Kate Russell has been looking at.
0:14:55 > 0:15:02Los Angeles International airport, the seventh busiest in the world.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04Last weekend it handled a record 1.2 million passengers going home
0:15:04 > 0:15:10for Independence Day celebrations.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13It is not just people and aeroplanes that air traffic control have
0:15:13 > 0:15:16to worry about.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19Last year, there were 39 near collisions between drones
0:15:19 > 0:15:23and aeroplanes in Los Angeles, and almost 250 incidences
0:15:23 > 0:15:29across the US.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32It's something we are all trying to wrap our arms around.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34There is technology out there that we are entertaining,
0:15:34 > 0:15:37it is difficult to understand exactly how we can get our arms
0:15:37 > 0:15:39around that activity, especially in an airport as complex
0:15:39 > 0:15:48as Los Angeles.
0:15:48 > 0:15:55One system being trialled links official data streams and other
0:15:55 > 0:15:57useful information such as weather forecasts so that drone operators
0:15:57 > 0:16:00can fly more safely.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04All you have to do is fire up an app, so you can receive traffic
0:16:04 > 0:16:17alerts and know what hazards might be in the area you're in.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21As well as helping drones fly more safely, it also helps airports
0:16:21 > 0:16:23like Los Angeles know who is in their airspace.
0:16:23 > 0:16:33I got an exclusive look behind the scenes.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35You can clearly see the areas that show where operators
0:16:35 > 0:16:47are discouraged from flying.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50The three representations up here, if you click on any of them,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53will give you information such as altitude, numbers to call,
0:16:53 > 0:16:55who they are, when they made the request and the type
0:16:55 > 0:16:57of device they are flying.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00We can quickly establish a dialogue with a drone operator and suggest
0:17:00 > 0:17:10that they bring down their drone.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13This system is only a pilot, but it is clear that airports
0:17:13 > 0:17:16across the world are going to have to figure out how they manage
0:17:16 > 0:17:18air-traffic control of drones as they become more common.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21As difficult as it is, the skies are only
0:17:21 > 0:17:34going to get busier.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37Last month, the rules for drones were relaxed in America
0:17:37 > 0:17:38as the Federal Aviation Administration announced that
0:17:38 > 0:17:41operators can freely fly drones in daylight hours at altitudes
0:17:41 > 0:17:42under 400 feet.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44NASA is best known for putting expensive rockets into space.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47But the second letter in NASA stands for Aeronautics, and they are trying
0:17:47 > 0:17:49to get into the increasingly busy airwaves.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52You can get on better with managing the traffic and a team
0:17:52 > 0:17:53of researchers here at NASA.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56They are figuring out how to structure a broad platform to let
0:17:56 > 0:18:16drones exist with stakeholders.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18It is about large-scale visual line of sight and beyond that.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20Technologies on trial include live data bases,
0:18:20 > 0:18:22dynamic geo-fencing and sensors so drones don't crash
0:18:22 > 0:18:24into buildings, aircraft or each other.
0:18:24 > 0:18:43Largely, there will be flexibility for operators based
0:18:43 > 0:18:44on their business needs.
0:18:44 > 0:18:58Whether they are doing deliveries, surveillance or search and rescue.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00Technologies are still in their infancy with a lot
0:19:00 > 0:19:02of lessons to be learnt.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04The drone market is exploding, promising to double year on year.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07Whatever platform is adopted, it will have to be the ultimate
0:19:07 > 0:19:10exercise in rapid scaling to keep up with the demand.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12Back in Los Angeles, I am looking at something very sexy.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15It is sales data, some of the sexiest I've ever seen.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17The more information feels like a physical object,
0:19:17 > 0:19:25the more your brain goes to work and can easily understand it.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29I am in the company of a man who has devoted his life to developing user
0:19:29 > 0:19:32interfaces which turn data into visual things that our visual
0:19:32 > 0:20:03brains can understand and analyse.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05The more information feels like a physical object,
0:20:05 > 0:20:14the more your brain goes to work and can easily understand it.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17The human visual system is amazingly good at seeing patterns.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20We want to build large-scale interfaces to let people do that.
0:20:20 > 0:20:21We are inside the data right now?
0:20:21 > 0:20:22Inside someone's spending habits.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24I've been in worse places.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26This technology is already being used by large companies
0:20:26 > 0:20:29to visualise information on data that is usually impossible to get.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31The screens and animation are controlled by the wand,
0:20:31 > 0:20:43which can spin, zoom and fly through it.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46We can pull ourselves up to get a conference in view of the city.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49It is very reminiscent of kind of interfaces featured in the movie
0:20:49 > 0:20:52that has become a touchstone for this kind of thing,
0:20:52 > 0:20:52Minority Report.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54There is good reason for that.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56John is the man who designed the user interfaces
0:20:56 > 0:21:17in Minority Report.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20I had been at MIT for many years and I was building
0:21:20 > 0:21:21interfaces like this.
0:21:21 > 0:21:22The production designer for Minority Report visited,
0:21:22 > 0:21:24he said, I think this solves Stephen Spielberg's problem.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27I moved out to Los Angeles, spent a year designing
0:21:27 > 0:21:45the technical, architectural designs.
0:21:45 > 0:21:46For those who don't need the full experience,
0:21:46 > 0:21:48here is something a little more average.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51This is John's office collaboration tool, which allows many people
0:21:51 > 0:21:55to show and discuss their work on the big screen or on the wall.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59It allows anyone to use any device, the screens will appear on the wall.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01You've got tablets, laptops, those screens are being passed
0:22:01 > 0:22:14on to these walls.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17Then, anyone can grab a screen and move it somewhere else.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20When I say anyone, not just in this room, anyone in any
0:22:20 > 0:22:38office that is connected.
0:22:38 > 0:22:39Hello, New York!
0:22:39 > 0:22:41There, he's pinching at one of our images and taking
0:22:41 > 0:22:42it to New York.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45Out go one-person meetings, and in comes a free-for-all
0:22:45 > 0:22:47where anyone can show anyone anything, video feeds from the web
0:22:47 > 0:23:13or live footage from the office.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16The future is not just about sharing screens, it is also
0:23:16 > 0:23:17about sharing processing power.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19John's newest project is an operating system that
0:23:19 > 0:23:21would allow different computer programmes to interact with each
0:23:21 > 0:23:24other by moving the devices they are running on closer together.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26The data is now flowing through the signals
0:23:26 > 0:23:27in our analysis module.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29It means any programme can talk to the other programme,
0:23:29 > 0:23:42just like people.
0:23:42 > 0:23:42Compatibility?
0:23:42 > 0:23:45That is a rude word when it comes to technology.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47It will be a brighter future, if it happens.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50For years, Minority Report has been to go to vision of the future,
0:23:50 > 0:23:58almost a cliche.
0:23:58 > 0:23:59And yet, it is actually happening now.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03That is it for this week, we will see you next week.