0:00:04 > 0:00:08Now on BBC News, it is time to Click.
0:00:08 > 0:00:18This week, the wired world of 360 video. The artistic world of Marina
0:00:18 > 0:00:31Abramovic. And the strange world of quantum computers.
0:00:45 > 0:00:51Imagine a computer that could crack the world's most secure codes in
0:00:51 > 0:00:57minutes. Design extraordinary new medicines. Even pave the way to
0:00:57 > 0:01:03intelligent machines. Big tech companies like Google, IBM and
0:01:03 > 0:01:07Microsoft are all trying to be the first to achieve a breakthrough in
0:01:07 > 0:01:14the field of quantum computing. But we are not quite there yet. At the
0:01:14 > 0:01:19moment, if you want a quantum computer, you need all of this. You
0:01:19 > 0:01:22need your ionising lasers, your cooling lasers, and your processor.
0:01:22 > 0:01:27You need all of this, and currently all this can do is add a zero and
0:01:27 > 0:01:36one. But it does do it in a really cool way. Quantum computers
0:01:36 > 0:01:41harnessed weird and wonderful phenomena seen only at very small
0:01:41 > 0:01:48scales. The data in an ordinary computer is represented as its, each
0:01:48 > 0:01:55of which can either be zero or one. -- bits. A quantum computer,
0:01:55 > 0:02:04instead, users quantum bits or qubits. Now, these qubits can be
0:02:04 > 0:02:09both zero and one at the same time. This is called superposition, and it
0:02:09 > 0:02:15is a key feature of a quantum computer's unique powers. So when a
0:02:15 > 0:02:20quantum computer and one, it is also adding one and a zero, and one and
0:02:20 > 0:02:27one and one, and zero and zero, all at the same time. So numbercrunching
0:02:27 > 0:02:31could in theory done much faster on a quantum computer.There are a few
0:02:31 > 0:02:35really important things that we know they will be to do. If we can ever
0:02:35 > 0:02:38build them. So one thing is searching through a database. So
0:02:38 > 0:02:42lets you have a list of a million items, say, and you want to find a
0:02:42 > 0:02:46particular item on that list. Well, all an ordinary computer can do is
0:02:46 > 0:02:50look through that list one at a time, the first item, the second
0:02:50 > 0:02:53item, and the third item, until eventually you find the item that
0:02:53 > 0:02:58you are looking for. A quantum computer can in some sense look at
0:02:58 > 0:03:01all of those items simultaneously. We know that quantum computers will
0:03:01 > 0:03:04be able to help Artificial Intelligence learn better and learn
0:03:04 > 0:03:06faster. Optimising things and designing things, if you're trying
0:03:06 > 0:03:11to design lets say the shape of a car so that air will flow over it in
0:03:11 > 0:03:14exactly the right way, that as an optimisation problem. It looks like
0:03:14 > 0:03:17quantum computers are going to be extremely good at that.And then
0:03:17 > 0:03:23there is code breaking. If you give an ordinary computer code to break,
0:03:23 > 0:03:26it will try every possible combination, one at a time, but give
0:03:26 > 0:03:30a quantum computer a code to break and it can try all the codes at
0:03:30 > 0:03:36once.This is a huge area of application of quantum computers,
0:03:36 > 0:03:40and it is financially the driving force of putting money in the
0:03:40 > 0:03:43industry and persuading people to build the things. The first
0:03:43 > 0:03:46government which has a functioning quantum computer which can break
0:03:46 > 0:03:50secret messages is going to be at a big advantage, and maybe we want to
0:03:50 > 0:03:54try and hide away the fact that they have got those capabilities.And, if
0:03:54 > 0:04:00superposition wasn't weird enough, a quantum computer's qubits can be
0:04:00 > 0:04:04paired up or entangled, and then can instantaneously affect each other
0:04:04 > 0:04:11from anywhere else in the universe. Well, that's all very well in
0:04:11 > 0:04:16theory, but it is really hard in practice. At Sussex University,
0:04:16 > 0:04:19researchers are preparing for the challenge of scaling up their
0:04:19 > 0:04:24prototype quantum computers to take them from handfuls of qubits on the
0:04:24 > 0:04:30lab bench to an industrial scale.So what you see is an actual working
0:04:30 > 0:04:34quantum computer. As we are filming this, you can literally see an atom
0:04:34 > 0:04:38for example be in one state and another state simultaneously. And
0:04:38 > 0:04:41what you see on this screen is the evidence that that really occurs.
0:04:41 > 0:04:47That really the atom is very strange and counterintuitive state. So
0:04:47 > 0:04:50quantum computers have been on the waiver a long time, the Holy Grail
0:04:50 > 0:04:54of science. And with that, it actually seemed nearly impossible to
0:04:54 > 0:05:00build them. So people felt maybe it is just never possible to build such
0:05:00 > 0:05:05a machine. The reason why it is so hard is because to control quantum
0:05:05 > 0:05:11effects in such a way, allowing us to build a large-scale quantum
0:05:11 > 0:05:15computer, is tremendously hard. Quantum effects like if an atom can
0:05:15 > 0:05:20be an two different places at the same time, or entanglement, which
0:05:20 > 0:05:26Einstein referred to as spooky, is so hard to control.At the moment
0:05:26 > 0:05:30these prototypes offer a glimpse of how these computers might work in
0:05:30 > 0:05:35the future. How will we use them when we have them? What does a
0:05:35 > 0:05:42quantum computer programme looked like?The basic building blocks of a
0:05:42 > 0:05:45quantum computer programme are really very alien to us. They are
0:05:45 > 0:05:48things like superposition and entanglement. Those are the right
0:05:48 > 0:05:53high-level concepts to put into our quantum computer programmes, but it
0:05:53 > 0:05:57is very hard for the human brain to understand what entanglement is and
0:05:57 > 0:06:01what its consequences are. Thinking of qubits connected by pieces of
0:06:01 > 0:06:05string actually works extremely well to help us design and predict
0:06:05 > 0:06:09quantum programmes and predict what they will do. So perhaps a high
0:06:09 > 0:06:13level quantum programme manager of the future could look like I'm not,
0:06:13 > 0:06:17or could look like children's game of untangling fishing lines and see
0:06:17 > 0:06:25who has which fish -- a knot. You imagine going up and down and coiled
0:06:25 > 0:06:31around, and the pattern of how those strings interact has a bearing on
0:06:31 > 0:06:35your quantum programme.I do feel the programmers have a little bit of
0:06:35 > 0:06:39time to sort their software out, though, because the hardware is also
0:06:39 > 0:06:43still a work in progress. I have gone underground to see Oxford
0:06:43 > 0:06:46University's quantum computer. The lab is a wizard's paradise of
0:06:46 > 0:06:55lasers, vacuum chambers, and traps for atom sized particles. It is an
0:06:55 > 0:07:01ion trap. In the lab, they have achieved a world record level of
0:07:01 > 0:07:04control over their quantum bits. They can even show off by making a
0:07:04 > 0:07:15single qubit low in Morse code. Click. What will your quantum
0:07:15 > 0:07:20computer look like? It won't be the size?So ideally it looks incredibly
0:07:20 > 0:07:24boring and incredibly small. So takes an optic cable, two metres by
0:07:24 > 0:07:28one metre high, we think we can get this down to something the size of a
0:07:28 > 0:07:32shoebox in the next five years.Once you have everything in the right
0:07:32 > 0:07:35place.Once we have everything the right place, machine down,
0:07:35 > 0:07:39optimised, and rather than made by physicists, made by engineers.
0:07:39 > 0:07:44Rather having knobs, when you have enough people twisting them.You are
0:07:44 > 0:07:49not looking to put more and more qubits into the same box, are you?
0:07:49 > 0:07:54What we want to do is build some devices which contain five or ten
0:07:54 > 0:07:58qubits, but build many of these devices. So it's the same as if you
0:07:58 > 0:08:01have a supercomputer. Nowadays you don't have one big computer, you
0:08:01 > 0:08:06have lots of small computers, and data centres thrumming with lots of
0:08:06 > 0:08:09different machines. That is what we envisage these things are.It does
0:08:09 > 0:08:13seem like it is not the most efficient design, if you're plugging
0:08:13 > 0:08:16lots of these things together with optic fibre rather than making a
0:08:16 > 0:08:21quantum computer that has 50 qubits in one place.Yes, the most
0:08:21 > 0:08:24efficient device we could ever build would have all the qubits being able
0:08:24 > 0:08:29to talk to every other qubit. That is ideally the place where you want
0:08:29 > 0:08:33to be. But you always get to the point where you can't put any more
0:08:33 > 0:08:37qubits in the device. At that point, we want to have a network we can
0:08:37 > 0:08:41build-up. So once you have got as big as you can with these
0:08:41 > 0:08:44techniques, you can then network and together to build and bigger
0:08:44 > 0:08:47networks.The huge potential of quantum imputing has attracted big
0:08:47 > 0:08:50tech players. Google told us it will have something big to announce in
0:08:50 > 0:08:59March 2018. IBM has a 20 qubits quantum computer that researchers
0:08:59 > 0:09:03can programme over the internet. Both these companies are trying to
0:09:03 > 0:09:10build reliable quantum computers of around 50 qubits. Now, at this point
0:09:10 > 0:09:13they will achieve something called quantum supremacy, which sounds
0:09:13 > 0:09:19world changing, but it might not be. Why I don't like the phrase is that
0:09:19 > 0:09:22when you cross that boundary, nothing instantaneously magical
0:09:22 > 0:09:25happens. It is just the point at which you can't predict what the
0:09:25 > 0:09:29machine would do. It is the point that the machine might be useful for
0:09:29 > 0:09:33something, but to be honest, we haven't worked out anything that,
0:09:33 > 0:09:40say, a 60 qubit wanton computer could usefully do. So it is into the
0:09:40 > 0:09:44uncharted territory, very exciting, but it is not at the point where the
0:09:44 > 0:09:47quantum hardware is supreme. You should not throw away your phone or
0:09:47 > 0:09:52your desktop and have a quantum computer instead.So with more tech
0:09:52 > 0:09:56companies getting serious about quantum computing, there is now a
0:09:56 > 0:10:00place for them to show off their ideas. It is the quantum
0:10:00 > 0:10:07technologies fair in London, and we have been along to see what is on
0:10:07 > 0:10:11the quantum horizon. When it comes to quantum computer, a lot of the
0:10:11 > 0:10:15research seems to be happening in academia but I wanted to find out
0:10:15 > 0:10:19how much of it is being taken away from the lab bench for applications
0:10:19 > 0:10:22in the real world. Every stall at this fare is using the same tech
0:10:22 > 0:10:25used in quantum computing. The principles of trapping, manipulating
0:10:25 > 0:10:30and measuring tiny atom sized particles. But the practical
0:10:30 > 0:10:34applications here are creative, and potentially life changing, from
0:10:34 > 0:10:38diamonds used in heart disease sensing to capturing individual
0:10:38 > 0:10:42virus particles.They are really designed to be able to measure very,
0:10:42 > 0:10:48very sensitively, at very small lengths, so it is ideal for things
0:10:48 > 0:10:52like nano particles, like viruses, and indeed for measuring chemical
0:10:52 > 0:10:57signatures, as well. Use the mouse to move that scaled back and forth,
0:10:57 > 0:11:00it should be fairly obvious when it flashes really bright. There you go,
0:11:00 > 0:11:05that's it. When it Wiggles around, that is when you have got a particle
0:11:05 > 0:11:08trapped in your resonator.The ultimate aim is that viruses could
0:11:08 > 0:11:13be picked up using this diagnostic tool. But the main focus now for
0:11:13 > 0:11:17most people here is on overcoming the engineering challenge of making
0:11:17 > 0:11:23large, bulky systems a lot, lot smaller. Heavy industry all the way
0:11:23 > 0:11:29through to defence and security, transport, and air technologies. It
0:11:29 > 0:11:33is incredible to see how many stalls here our research in so many
0:11:33 > 0:11:37different areas when it comes to quantum technology. And they are all
0:11:37 > 0:11:42working together with an open source mentality, along with a lot of
0:11:42 > 0:11:45investment. The British government spent £270 million over the last
0:11:45 > 0:11:49five years on quantum technology research.The collaborative element,
0:11:49 > 0:11:55especially the number of things that NPL is involved in, because we have
0:11:55 > 0:11:59a lot of the core technology and science, and we are just looking at
0:11:59 > 0:12:03what are the actual applications in the UK business world.From afar, a
0:12:03 > 0:12:07lot of the applications here still looked like complex machinery, but
0:12:07 > 0:12:11Anne Curtis has been looking at its potentials in an important area,
0:12:11 > 0:12:17far, far away.So one of the main applications we can use the quantum
0:12:17 > 0:12:20technologies is quantum sensors and what we are doing in this experiment
0:12:20 > 0:12:24is we want to sense greenhouse gases and measure how much there is, how
0:12:24 > 0:12:28that is changing over time. And one good way to monitor large-scale
0:12:28 > 0:12:32systems is from space. To put something properly on a satellite,
0:12:32 > 0:12:36it has to go through all the space qualifying test, so every item in
0:12:36 > 0:12:40they would have to be space qualifying. Most of the fibre
0:12:40 > 0:12:45technology isn't so good in space due to radiation effects. But there
0:12:45 > 0:12:48is no reason why this couldn't be miniaturised and put up in the
0:12:48 > 0:12:53space, it is just the next stage of funding.It is so hard to be here
0:12:53 > 0:12:56today and not feel excited about wanton technologies. At one thing
0:12:56 > 0:12:59everybody has said to me is that their particular real-world
0:12:59 > 0:13:04applications are a few years in the future still. So, when it comes to
0:13:04 > 0:13:11quantum computing, it is still very much a case of watch this space.
0:13:11 > 0:13:17Hello, and welcome to the week in Tech. It was the week that the
0:13:17 > 0:13:21Federal Communications commission in America voted to repeal rules on net
0:13:21 > 0:13:25neutrality, which had stopped internet service providers from
0:13:25 > 0:13:30offering different speeds and priorities for users online. An
0:13:30 > 0:13:33elongated asteroid was being checked for signs of alien technology, and
0:13:33 > 0:13:37here on Earth, the faces of 2 billion people can be compared in a
0:13:37 > 0:13:42matter of seconds with a minority report style system from China. It
0:13:42 > 0:13:46was also the week that Netflix was caught up in a creepy viewing
0:13:46 > 0:13:50controversy after revealing on Twitter that 53 subscribers watched
0:13:50 > 0:13:57the holiday film a Christmas Prints every day for ten days. It
0:13:57 > 0:14:01represented overall trends are not specific individuals. The city of
0:14:01 > 0:14:05San Francisco has banned the use of delivery robots on most of its
0:14:05 > 0:14:08sidewalks, stating not all innovation is all that great for
0:14:08 > 0:14:12society. Meanwhile, Dutch police say it may not have been such a good
0:14:12 > 0:14:16idea to use beagles to catch drones after all. Who could have guessed as
0:14:16 > 0:14:20Maxine here on Click on the birds were trained to catch the drones
0:14:20 > 0:14:25from the sky but the cost of keeping them was too high, and they didn't
0:14:25 > 0:14:28always do what they were told. And finally, if you are missing Harry
0:14:28 > 0:14:31Potter, don't despair. Artificial Intelligence may have a solution for
0:14:31 > 0:14:36you. A new chapter has been created for a book called Harry Potter and
0:14:36 > 0:14:40what looked like a poor job of a large pile of ash. Its plot twists
0:14:40 > 0:14:43include Harry dipping Hermione in hot sauce and Ron turning into
0:14:43 > 0:14:50spiders and trying to eat Hermione's family.
0:14:50 > 0:14:55Earlier this year we looked at some of the 360 cameras which have taken
0:14:55 > 0:15:01off in 2017. Daniel films with the new kid on the block, the 360 --
0:15:01 > 0:15:06Insta1 in Berlin. He was impressed, easy-to-use, lots of features,
0:15:06 > 0:15:10including this bullet time mode, a bit like the film the matrix, where
0:15:10 > 0:15:15you can get a picture of your sort from all angles. But one of -- but
0:15:15 > 0:15:19what have the more established names in photography got to offer us? With
0:15:19 > 0:15:22Christmas around the corner we sent Daniel to a suitably festive place
0:15:22 > 0:15:29to put two 360 cameras through their paces. The ancient city of Bath
0:15:29 > 0:15:32hosts a very traditional Christmas market, one that I want to catch in
0:15:32 > 0:15:38the round. I've got to make cameras for the job. One is from Kodak. The
0:15:38 > 0:15:44other is Nikon's. They look similar, with two ultra- wide-angle lenses
0:15:44 > 0:15:47capturing everything before the two images are stitched together in
0:15:47 > 0:15:52Camara. Look closer, and you will see the Kodak sporting two different
0:15:52 > 0:15:59lenses, one smaller than the other, superwide 235 degrees lens. It also
0:15:59 > 0:16:02has the tiniest of it controlled in the world, and a slightly higher
0:16:02 > 0:16:09price tagged them the Nikon. Our producer has the Kodak, while I am
0:16:09 > 0:16:13putting the Nikon through its paces. Now, we don't just want to test
0:16:13 > 0:16:16these cameras out in daylight when all the conditions are absolutely
0:16:16 > 0:16:22perfect. With these cameras we want to test them out to see what they
0:16:22 > 0:16:26are like as it starts to get dark. Will the bright lights be a problem,
0:16:26 > 0:16:30and will we see all of the details? Time to go for a wander and see
0:16:30 > 0:16:37who's 360 is best. Dive in, ladies. Don't let me get in your way. In no
0:16:37 > 0:16:41time at all I found the vested with the stand. Not just whine, but
0:16:41 > 0:16:46flavoured vodka here. The Nikon is not put off by those flashing
0:16:46 > 0:16:51lights. But the image is a little dark, so we will brighten it for you
0:16:51 > 0:16:55in postproduction. There you go. Now you can see the other problem. The
0:16:55 > 0:16:58image stitching means I've almost lost my head before touching the
0:16:58 > 0:17:04job. -- touching a drop. The Kodak's which is brighter than the Nikon,
0:17:04 > 0:17:08but we found the quality from that wide-angle lens was softer than the
0:17:08 > 0:17:12smaller lens on the other side of the device of course, you are best
0:17:12 > 0:17:16off with a stick attached to both of these cameras, otherwise your hands
0:17:16 > 0:17:23get in the way. To make the test pharaoh we decided to see how these
0:17:23 > 0:17:27cameras fared back to back. Or front in front. All back to front. Well,
0:17:27 > 0:17:33it is difficult to tell, to be honest. We shot them side by side.
0:17:33 > 0:17:42Look at this. We found a 360 Globe for a 360 camera. And it is the
0:17:42 > 0:17:46Nikon showing off more natural colours, benefiting from a more
0:17:46 > 0:17:49accurate wide balance. Although some might prefer the warmer Kodak
0:17:49 > 0:17:59results. It is very Christmassy. At the chilly side a shop, the Kodak
0:17:59 > 0:18:02warmed things up, while the nickel and kept things natural and crisp.
0:18:02 > 0:18:07Both cameras struggled to stitched their shots to go perfectly. This is
0:18:07 > 0:18:11the raw footage was no touching up. The Nikon has done a reasonable job.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15The stitching point is more visible on the Kodak, partly because of the
0:18:15 > 0:18:20different qualities of those two lenses. On the upside, it is Kodak
0:18:20 > 0:18:23that offers the ability to play with how the images are stitched together
0:18:23 > 0:18:28in its free software, something the Nikon's more basic offering lacks.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31For sheer fun, the Kodak also offers greater flexibility when playing
0:18:31 > 0:18:37back what you shot. This is little planet mode. If you want to do it on
0:18:37 > 0:18:41the Nikon you will need some third-party 360 software which may
0:18:41 > 0:18:46need additional cost. -- mean additional cost. Finally, beating
0:18:46 > 0:18:52everybody forgets when they use a camera, sound.It is very odd being
0:18:52 > 0:18:58filmed.We are being filmed as well, it is 360.And goodness me.You can
0:18:58 > 0:19:03tell she has had too much cider, it is moving around a bit.I'm just
0:19:03 > 0:19:08called! We reckon both do a great job, but the nickel is slightly
0:19:08 > 0:19:11clearer. Although the Kodak offers the possibility of attaching an
0:19:11 > 0:19:14external microphone. So which camera will enthusiasts be hoping Santa
0:19:14 > 0:19:20brings them this year? We believe the Kodak edges it for easier
0:19:20 > 0:19:24postproduction, while the Nikon has a better shot. But if you are hoping
0:19:24 > 0:19:28for a trouble-free, cinematic seamless result for under £400, you
0:19:28 > 0:19:42may have to wait until something else takes off. At least for now.
0:19:42 > 0:19:47This is Acute art, a virtual reality arts platform and a gallery without
0:19:47 > 0:19:51walls. And it is about to launch with the VR works by some of the
0:19:51 > 0:20:02world's leading contemporary artists. Amongst these works is won
0:20:02 > 0:20:05by Marina Abramovitch, these self-confessed grandmother of
0:20:05 > 0:20:08performance arts who pushes her body to the limits to challenge and move
0:20:08 > 0:20:24people. Well, there is Marina. In a tank of water. Well, she seems to
0:20:24 > 0:20:34want to talk to me, but the water is rising up her body.Immersive
0:20:34 > 0:20:41player, in real life, where someone rescues another person, or offers
0:20:41 > 0:20:52aid of any kind, there is a transfer of energy. Approach the water.I
0:20:52 > 0:21:04think she wants me to touch the glass.Make contact.Oh. Oh, OK,
0:21:04 > 0:21:08right. Now I am somewhere very cold and everything seems to be going
0:21:08 > 0:21:13wrong. As always, with VR, you really get a sense of scale. But ice
0:21:13 > 0:21:19shelf looks absolutely enormous. And it is crashing down right in front
0:21:19 > 0:21:24of me. This work is an expression of Marina's fear that humans will not
0:21:24 > 0:21:27survive the consequences of climate change if we don't change our
0:21:27 > 0:21:41behaviour. I'm being covered in spray. And now there is a note.I
0:21:41 > 0:21:46will walk instead of drive. I will reuse what I can. I will reduce the
0:21:46 > 0:21:53wayside cause.Marina wants to leave the participants with a feeling they
0:21:53 > 0:21:57should do something good for the planet.We have to save this planet
0:21:57 > 0:22:05that we are living on. I want to create a little contract with the
0:22:05 > 0:22:09planet Earth, and give my word honour that I will do something to
0:22:09 > 0:22:17save it. -- literal contract. SCREAMING.You are pretty well-known
0:22:17 > 0:22:21for pushing your body further than most people would want to push their
0:22:21 > 0:22:28bodies. Here, you appear virtually in a tank of water, but I get the
0:22:28 > 0:22:31sense that you still need some pretty real stuff to make it seem as
0:22:31 > 0:22:36real as possible?You know, actually, to do this, I have to
0:22:36 > 0:22:41really be in the water. We did it in a swimming pool, with two divers
0:22:41 > 0:22:49holding my legs. So I can really go in and see can feel like I would
0:22:49 > 0:22:53actually die if I didn't have any more air to breathe. It is funny
0:22:53 > 0:22:57that you have to do something which is virtual, but you still have to do
0:22:57 > 0:23:01it physically.Before, you said you don't think your performances can be
0:23:01 > 0:23:05captured adequately with photos or videos because you need to be there,
0:23:05 > 0:23:13you need the experiences, it is about actually physically being
0:23:13 > 0:23:17there. I wonder if virtual reality is close enough to being the, and
0:23:17 > 0:23:22that is why you chose it, because it is almost being there?It is very
0:23:22 > 0:23:25important, the energy dialogue between the audience and the
0:23:25 > 0:23:30performer. And the only thing that can catch it, before it was video
0:23:30 > 0:23:34with sound and movement, but virtual reality is really another step
0:23:34 > 0:23:37further, because you can go around the objects, you can interact, you
0:23:37 > 0:23:42can do this. But still, I think it is a question of how much energy and
0:23:42 > 0:23:46charisma can actually transfer from the real performance into the
0:23:46 > 0:23:57virtual body.The rather mesmerising Marina Abramovic. We will hear more
0:23:57 > 0:24:01from Marina in next week's programme, which is the Christmas
0:24:01 > 0:24:05show, so expect tons of sensible journalism and no fun whatsoever.
0:24:05 > 0:24:11Maybe. In the meantime, you can follow us on Facebook and on
0:24:11 > 0:24:16Twitter, where we live at the BBC click. Thanks for watching, and we
0:24:16 > 0:24:25will see you next week for Christmas.