El futuro por Stephen Hawking- La ciudad perfecta
En este episodio, Stephen Hawking y su equipo investigan si la ciencia está a punto de hacer de la vida urbana una experiencia no sólo más rica, sino también más divertida. Actualmente más de la mitad de la población mundial vive en ciudades.
Se calcula que en 2050 dos tercios de los habitantes del planeta vivirán en zonas urbanas. ¿Cómo se podrán satisfacer sus demandas?
Se calcula que en 2050 dos tercios de los habitantes del planeta vivirán en zonas urbanas. ¿Cómo se podrán satisfacer sus demandas?
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FunTranscript
00:00100 years ago, 2 out of 10 people lived in an urbanized area.
00:07By 2050, this number will have increased to 7 out of 10.
00:11No one knows what the future holds,
00:14but the reality is that our urban spaces are already cluttered and polluted.
00:20Now, our five scientists will investigate how technology is being used
00:24to design smarter cities
00:27with the hope of sustaining our growing population.
00:37Meeting the future energy needs of our cities in constant expansion
00:41is one of the greatest challenges that humanity faces.
00:47Fossil fuels pollute, renewable energies are not reliable,
00:52and nuclear energy is very controversial.
00:54But is there an alternative?
00:59The answer may be in France,
01:02where about 40,000 runners warm up for the Paris Marathon.
01:08Without knowing it, they will participate in a revolutionary scientific experiment.
01:15The result could mean the beginning of a new era in energy production.
01:21Jim Al-Khalili is there to follow it step by step.
01:29About 20 meters down the streets of Paris is the largest metro station in the world,
01:34Châtelet-les-Halles.
01:37Almost a million people pass through this station every day,
01:41wasting a lot of energy.
01:44And what do we do with it?
01:46Nothing.
01:48It seems a great waste.
01:51What if there was a way to turn all this human activity into electricity?
02:01That is precisely what this British team of engineers is working on.
02:11They turn the sidewalks into an electric power plant.
02:17This innovative technology was conceived by the engineer Lawrence Kemble Cook.
02:22Tell me, what is the fundamental idea, Lawrence?
02:25What is happening here?
02:27The technology turns the weight of the steps into electricity,
02:30so that every time you stand on a sidewalk or walk or jump on it,
02:34it turns that small amount of kinetic energy into electricity.
02:39The weight of the steps presses a flexible plate
02:42that makes a neodymium magnet move inside fixed-copper coils,
02:46which produces a current that can be stored.
02:49The best thing is that, unlike a dynamo,
02:52it does not have mobile mechanical parts that can be damaged.
02:56Each step generates about 10 joules of energy,
02:59with which a 10-watt light bulb could be turned on for just a second.
03:03But Kemble Cook says that many steps can create a lot of energy.
03:07How many are needed to turn it into something really viable?
03:10For us, it's all a matter of scale.
03:13Having a boiler in the kitchen
03:15could not provide us with energy in a significant way.
03:18But when you have 50,000 people going through a station every hour,
03:21there we would already have 50,000 pieces of energy.
03:24It would be by combining them when it would become something tangible
03:27and that could be used to charge the battery,
03:29add to the electrical grid,
03:31and so any product that does not require a lot of power
03:34could use the energy extracted from this product.
03:37Boilers are going to be tested at large and in real time.
03:40They have been installed along the Elysium fields,
03:43about 200 meters from the finish line.
03:46This is the largest installation we have done.
03:49We have put a total of 178 boilers on the ground.
03:51I'm looking forward to seeing how much energy is going to be produced.
03:54I want to see how many people are going to step on them
03:56and what will be the places where more energy is produced
03:58when the platoon starts moving.
04:02Human energy, an ingenious idea.
04:05It is an inexhaustible source that surrounds us.
04:09I imagine it illuminating the streets of the whole city.
04:14But when the marathon was about to begin,
04:16I began to have doubts.
04:19I've been doing the sums, and anywhere I look at it,
04:22I don't see it as viable.
04:24Each footstep on one of these boilers
04:26produces 10 joules of electricity.
04:28So like the streetlights in Paris,
04:30for a single night it requires a trillion joules.
04:33That's a trillion footsteps.
04:39I can understand Jim's skepticism.
04:42This technology could never produce electricity
04:45at a level that could compete with fossil fuels
04:48or nuclear energy.
04:50But it has the potential to radically change
04:52our way of producing energy in the future.
05:01The marathon begins.
05:03During the next few hours, the boilers will receive a beating
05:06when the 33,000 runners approach the finish line.
05:12But how much energy will they produce?
05:15Until then, the boilers had been tested
05:18in shopping malls, schools and festivals,
05:21but never at this scale.
05:28When the runners in the lead approach the finish line,
05:31the energy produced will be measured.
05:33A very tense moment for Lorenz.
05:36The runners are still passing over the boilers
05:39and producing energy.
05:41How much energy has been produced already?
05:43During this last hour, the boilers have produced
05:45a total of 90,000 joules,
05:47which is enough to illuminate a normal street
05:49for about two hours.
05:52When the last runners cross the finish line,
05:54the countdown ends.
05:56Almost 500 square meters of boilers
05:58ended up generating 4.7 kilowatts of electricity,
06:02enough to charge almost 2,000 mobile phones,
06:05drive 24 kilometers with an electric car
06:08or light 50 LED streetlights.
06:12Now, what is the next step?
06:14Our goal is to take this to many places in the city
06:16through infrastructures,
06:18through transport and through new buildings.
06:23Subway stations, trains, airports.
06:26In spaces like these,
06:28the potential of human activity as a source of energy is evident.
06:33This is a clear example of how PAYBEN works very well.
06:35Right now we are at the Charles de Gaulle subway station,
06:37where thousands of people pass by every hour.
06:39We would like to plant our product on the platforms
06:41and in these corridors so crowded.
06:43Well, if we do the math,
06:45each person produces only a small amount of energy,
06:47so what scale would we be talking about?
06:49It would not be enough to supply energy to the entire station,
06:52but it is a source of free energy
06:54that could be available and that would be added to the power grid.
06:58Thousands of people pass through this station every day,
07:01generating more than 500 kilowatts per week,
07:04enough to light 10 medium-sized houses in one day.
07:08These power generators are in production
07:12and will be installed in various train stations
07:14before the end of the year.
07:20In a very short time,
07:22hundreds of thousands of people around the world
07:24could produce energy just by walking.
07:27In the future,
07:29supplying energy to cities
07:31will consist of a combination of technology,
07:33ingenuity and imagination.
07:35And why not?
07:37Part of the solution could be human energy.
07:39Creating electricity from human activity
07:42is the definitive renewable energy.
07:44But satisfying people's needs
07:47will be a huge problem for cities in the future.
07:50By 2050,
07:52the planet could have reached
07:5410 billion inhabitants.
07:56Imagine the supermarket line.
07:59Shopping will have to be faster and more efficient.
08:03Can robots help us?
08:08By 2025,
08:10there will be about 30 megacities in the world,
08:12each with more than 10 million inhabitants.
08:16With so many people claiming products and services,
08:19could technology help us
08:21to keep up with what we buy today?
08:24In Boston,
08:26a manufacturing machine
08:28made up of robots
08:30is being built to meet our consumer demands.
08:32Chris Eliasmith is about to test
08:34the theory that robots
08:36do everything better than us.
08:38Going shopping is a nuisance,
08:40but could a robot do it faster?
08:42So, here's a simple test.
08:44I'm going to take a dozen products, for example,
08:46and I'm going to take them to the box.
08:48Let's see how long it takes.
08:50An average person spends about two and a half hours a week
08:52buying food.
08:54Throughout the year,
08:56they add up to a total of 15 days
08:58buying exclusively,
09:00and in today's world,
09:02it's a waste of our precious time.
09:04One less.
09:06Let's see. Ice cream, ice cream, ice cream.
09:08Here it is.
09:12Let's see how long it took.
09:1418 minutes.
09:16That's a long time.
09:18And if we could avoid all this
09:20by simply pressing a button,
09:22that would be fantastic.
09:24Kiva Systems could make it happen.
09:26They're currently designing,
09:28building, and training
09:30a whole bunch of workers
09:32to do the shopping for us.
09:38These are robots.
09:40Hundreds of them.
09:42Mick Mounds is its creator
09:44and the executive director of the company.
09:4610 or 12 years ago,
09:48I was working in e-commerce
09:50on a food delivery project
09:52in the Bay Area,
09:54and we didn't know how to pack and distribute
09:56in an economical way.
09:58How to put a can of soup or a tube of toothpaste
10:00in a bag and send it home?
10:02So we invented this.
10:04Traditionally, the products were moved
10:06through the distribution center
10:08with the help of conveyor belts and lifting carts.
10:10Thanks to the idea of Kiva,
10:12the products are placed in portable storage units.
10:14When an order arrives,
10:16a robot is sent to pick up the products.
10:18So why don't we have all the robots
10:20stand out here,
10:22just out here,
10:24into the highway,
10:26and they can come from wherever they want
10:28and line themselves up on the highway.
10:30I've always wanted to be in charge
10:32of my own robot army.
10:34There we go.
10:36Release the hounds.
10:38They're going the wrong way.
10:40It's my fault.
10:42There are four of them moving at the same time.
10:44Why don't they collide with each other?
10:46Well, what happens is that each robot
10:48is in a wireless network
10:50and communicates with the host
10:52and moves through a system of stickers
10:54that we've put down on the ground.
10:56The host assigns them a mission
10:58and tells them to travel through certain stickers
11:00at a specific time.
11:02It would be the work of some kind of aerial controller.
11:04Each sticker is a different barcode
11:06in two dimensions
11:08that identifies its location in the corridor
11:10as a reference of coordinates.
11:12The central computer sends the information
11:14to each robot in the warehouse
11:16and updates it
11:18as new orders arrive.
11:20This means that the route of each
11:22of the 500 robots located on the ground
11:24can change constantly
11:26to avoid collision.
11:32When they all move at the same time,
11:34it's like seeing a colony of robotic ants.
11:40So, these guys are adorable,
11:42but I'd like to know what makes them move.
11:44Let's call this guy up.
11:46So, we have two motors
11:48that make it move forward
11:50and a third motor
11:52that uses to rotate the lift plate
11:54that's on top of it.
11:56It does it as if it were a jackhammer.
11:58That's an ingenious design.
12:00This version of the robot in particular
12:02is designed to support a load
12:04of about 1,300 kilos
12:06and, well, it also carries the weight
12:08of the computer on board.
12:10Of course.
12:12It helps it coordinate
12:14as a Wi-Fi radio
12:16that communicates with the host
12:18and talks to the camera
12:20so it can see the floor
12:22and see the loads it's picking up.
12:24You'll see it's full of cables
12:26for the different sensors,
12:28for the lights and for the indicators.
12:30Wow, look at that.
12:32It's got more eyes than a spider.
12:34Robots like these will undoubtedly
12:36need to be fast enough
12:38to truly revolutionize commerce
12:40and deliver the order
12:42on the very day it's made.
12:46It's time to put the robots to the test.
12:48How long will it take
12:50to prepare an order
12:52and get it to me?
12:54You absolutely have to have
12:56an order today.
12:58The first thing is
13:00some ice cream.
13:02So, some ice cream.
13:04So, what we're going to do now
13:06is put your order on this table
13:08and assign it to this pick-up point
13:10and, well, look at the robots.
13:12Yeah, they've started spinning.
13:14Nice.
13:16They're looking for the containers
13:18where the products you ordered are.
13:20Yeah, they're in there.
13:22It's a brand new concept
13:24of finishing an order.
13:26It's done in real time.
13:28I think they're bringing
13:30the five things at the same time.
13:32If we find a container
13:34that includes two or three
13:36of the things you've ordered,
13:38we use that one,
13:40and that reduces the weight
13:42that the robot has to bear.
13:44The first one is here, right?
13:46Yeah, just 30 seconds
13:48after you've pressed
13:50the order button on the web,
13:52the product can go
13:54from the warehouse
13:56to the customer's hands.
13:58Excellent.
14:00The world's largest consumer
14:02has purchased Kiva
14:04for no less than $800 million.
14:06In 2023,
14:08almost a quarter of all products
14:10are expected to be sold
14:12over the internet
14:14because of the speed
14:16of delivery.
14:18Opportunities to interact
14:20with the world
14:22without having to physically
14:24be in a specific place
14:26increase rapidly.
14:28How many times have you wished
14:30to have a double share
14:32with your workload?
14:34To be able to create
14:36a digital and realistic
14:38substitute is an ambitious dream,
14:40but a new technology
14:42shows us that it may not
14:44be as unattainable
14:46as it may seem.
14:48When I was younger,
14:50the advancement of technology
14:52pointed to a future
14:54where we could enjoy
14:56the more things we are able
14:58to do, the more we are busy.
15:00Our cities are full of machines
15:02that increase our possibilities,
15:04but what if we could
15:06be in two places at once?
15:08Now, Daniel Kraft
15:10is going to be in charge
15:12of investigating how we can
15:14visually duplicate ourselves.
15:16So the question is,
15:18how convincing can an avatar be?
15:20In Japan,
15:22the scientist of robotics
15:24has created his own double robot
15:26and hopes that it will be able
15:28to teach him to do the double of hours.
15:30The robot is very realistic,
15:32but it suffers from what
15:34robotics experts call
15:36a disturbing valley.
15:38It is almost convincing,
15:40but something is missing.
15:42I am heading to the other end
15:44of the planet, Los Angeles,
15:46where the world of entertainment
15:48serves as an inspiration
15:50for what could be a better solution.
15:52In California, a team of scientists
15:54believes that if we want to duplicate ourselves,
15:56it is possible that robots are not the best option.
15:58They are working on a definitive way
16:00to duplicate ourselves digitally
16:02thanks to photorealism.
16:04This team has been investigating
16:06how light is reflected on the skin.
16:08The purpose of resorting to
16:10these innovative technologies
16:12of digitization and representation
16:14is to develop convincing virtual people.
16:16One of the many projects
16:18led by Paul Debebek.
16:20Let's go get it.
16:22Paul, what are you doing here?
16:24Well, we are in the graphics laboratory
16:26of the Institute of Creative Technologies,
16:28and this is the room
16:30where we are setting up our light stage
16:32to welcome real people,
16:34digitize them,
16:36and create characters in a virtual world
16:38that are very similar to them.
16:40It is very difficult to get to the level
16:42of capturing each pore of the skin,
16:44each wrinkle,
16:46or the translucency of the skin,
16:48and also to capture the dynamics of the face
16:50when changing expression to expression.
16:52We have been using digital photography
16:54to capture people's expressions for a long time.
16:56What is needed for this system
16:58that is different from it?
17:00Well, a digital photograph is flat.
17:02It is an image in two dimensions
17:04from a specific point of view
17:06with a fixed light and a single facial expression.
17:08We need to record a digital model
17:10of each person from all possible points of view,
17:12under any lighting,
17:14and with any kind of facial expression.
17:16Wow!
17:22It's like being in a star field.
17:24You are surrounded by
17:26about 6,000 LEDs right now.
17:30For this configuration,
17:32we have seven high-resolution sports cameras
17:34pointing towards you.
17:36The key advance lies in the understanding
17:38that light is not only reflected
17:40on the surface of the skin,
17:42but can also penetrate the epidermis,
17:44depending on the intensity of the light
17:46and the tone of the skin.
17:48The dome is programmed
17:50to illuminate the subject from any direction
17:52in a range of different color temperatures.
17:54But that's not all.
17:56The skin behaves differently
17:58when it stretches,
18:00and Paul's system also takes this into account.
18:02What do I have to do now?
18:04Well, now we are going to ask you
18:06to make a series of facial expressions.
18:08You will have to hold each of them for about two seconds.
18:10What will happen then is that the cameras
18:12will take about 16 photos during those two seconds
18:14and the lights will reproduce special lighting conditions
18:16and the shine of your skin will be collected.
18:18Its transluminescence
18:20and how the light is reflected on you
18:22from all directions.
18:24All that is what we will use
18:26to reconstruct your face in 3D.
18:28Great, let's do it.
18:30I have to admit that I'm a little concerned
18:32that my face is going to be examined
18:34in such a mathematical way.
18:36Daniel, let's go for the first expression.
18:38Let's start with a neutral one,
18:40which is a very common compliment.
18:42Eyes closed, let's go.
18:44Okay, now let's go to the next one.
18:46Neutral, eyes open.
18:50Okay, good.
18:52Would you like to make one of your own?
18:54Do you make one that is very yours
18:56and that we can capture?
18:58Inquisitive gaze.
19:02All right, have a seat over here
19:04and let's take a look
19:06at what we've captured with our device.
19:08This is the neutral one with the eyes closed
19:10and you can see that it has been illuminated
19:12in different ways.
19:14So the flashes have gone off
19:16and the different angles have been captured?
19:18That's right.
19:20The light has been collected
19:22by reflecting on your face
19:24and here we also have your face
19:26of perplexity and interest.
19:28In this image you can see
19:30the first superficial reflection
19:32on your skin.
19:34All the light is focused on you
19:36and your three-dimensional model
19:38so that your digital version
19:40can also have every bit of this detail.
19:42So we're going to be able to see
19:44a 3D version of me?
19:46Of course, while we're here
19:48having fun with these images
19:50our technical artist J-Bus
19:52has been processing all the information
19:54to create your final 3D model.
19:56It's almost ready.
19:58The 3D model is a scan
20:00that simply provides the shape
20:02and contour of the face.
20:04This is our 3D model.
20:06As you can see
20:08your face has been reconstructed
20:10in a three-dimensional network.
20:12So it's not the photos yet
20:14but the reconstruction itself.
20:16Exactly.
20:18If we add the information
20:20provided by the photos
20:22we have a representation of you
20:24with your skin colour and your shine
20:26and in different light conditions
20:28than the light conditions
20:30in which we photographed you.
20:32Well, what have you done there?
20:34We've taken all the information
20:36and from it I've been able to reconstruct
20:38your face with a precision
20:40of one-tenth of a millimetre
20:42so that you don't lose any wrinkles
20:44or marks from the shots on your face
20:46and make it look real.
20:48One-tenth of a millimetre?
20:50How? To escape something?
20:52Well, that's crucial
20:54to create a realistic digital character
20:56that moves in a credible way
20:58and transmits the emotions
21:00in an extraordinary way.
21:02But in order to create a convincing avatar
21:04and thus avoid the disturbing valley
21:06it's essential that it moves naturally.
21:08Paul has been experimenting
21:10with a highly developed character
21:12created by his researcher Ari Shapiro.
21:14People from all over the world
21:16have asked me,
21:18is this you? You talk like you, you're the same.
21:20Have you shaved your head?
21:22People know me and have identified me
21:24through my other self.
21:26We started the process just like you
21:28in the same place where you've been.
21:30We had Ari sitting there for half an hour
21:32and we asked her to make 30 different facial expressions.
21:34Here you can see a few
21:36and then we went further
21:38and we related them to each other
21:40so that it was possible to switch from one expression to another.
21:42Here you can see the change from expression to expression
21:44and also how the shape and textures of the skin
21:46are changing.
21:48Here we have the wrinkles, the folds
21:50and all the aspects of the process
21:52that we want to come through.
21:54This visualisation of her face
21:56is showing a facial animation technique
21:58where the face of Ari is moving
22:00according to the facial expression
22:02and the facial animation is doing the same thing.
22:04It detects which facial expression
22:06is analysing each part of his face.
22:08And as you can do different facial expressions
22:10with different parts of the face
22:12we can mix the scanned images
22:14to get the same expression.
22:16The last clip here is of Ari
22:18actually saying a dialogue.
22:20Lip sync is the first version
22:22that we did, so the lip sync
22:24is not perfect in this example
22:26but you can get a better idea
22:28of how the digital Ari is.
22:38The script would not be very good
22:40but the improvements keep coming.
22:42The face that we are going to see now
22:44shows us how convincing
22:46a digital avatar can be.
22:48It is not real, her face is completely digital.
22:54The next phase of the process
22:56goes a step further.
22:58In this configuration,
23:00a single click can get
23:02the digital actor to move.
23:08You've seen how the Light Stage X works,
23:10the one we use to scan people's faces
23:12but now I'm going to show you the Light Stage 6.
23:16The Light Stage 6 is massive.
23:18It's 8 metres in diameter
23:20and it's designed to illuminate
23:22the entire face of a person.
23:24It has 931 bulbs in the dome
23:26and 180 on the floor.
23:28Each one has 6 LEDs
23:30and a total of 6,666 points of light
23:32surrounding you.
23:34It's big enough to have
23:36an optimal point of 2 metres
23:38so we can project all the light
23:40on the body,
23:42quickly launch flashes
23:44and record with ultra-fast cameras
23:46from different angles.
23:48It's not just a motion capture.
23:50You can take the cameras
23:52and place them wherever you want
23:54and the cinematographers and directors
23:56can use the Light Stage
23:58to change almost every aspect of the performance.
24:02How far do you think this could go?
24:04Well, the most exciting thing
24:06is the possibility of combining
24:08these so realistic digital representations
24:10with artificial intelligence algorithms
24:12which will make up
24:14the brains of teachers,
24:16teachers, co-workers
24:18and digital actors
24:20who can say and do things
24:22that have not been programmed
24:24in a specific way.
24:26I think we will have very interesting results
24:28in the next 10 to 15 years.
24:30It's something tremendously fascinating
24:32that will change the world.
24:34It's already doing it.
24:36Let's think about it for a moment.
24:38A digital version of ourselves
24:40would be very, very useful.
24:42Much of what we do today
24:44we do in a virtual world.
24:46We are getting rid of the disturbing valley.
24:48Yes, I like the idea.
24:50Interactive tutors
24:52could be very useful
24:54in massive and open online courses
24:56also called COMA.
24:58And in the entertainment industry
25:00it would be very exciting.
25:02We would have digital actors
25:04who would never age
25:06and who could do impossible feats.
25:08Our future idols
25:10could not even be real.
25:12The way we interact with the digital world
25:14is something that we will create in the future.
25:16In an intelligent city
25:18a house will be equipped
25:20with devices so intuitive
25:22that it will hardly be an effort
25:24to interact with them.
25:26When the typewriter was invented
25:28many doors were opened
25:30around our way of interacting
25:32with machines.
25:34Almost 150 years later
25:36touchscreens have done the same
25:38with the digital world
25:40but with certain limitations.
25:42To be able to interact with the physical world
25:44and to have those smart houses and offices
25:46that have been promised to us for years
25:48in Pittsburgh
25:50researchers at Carnegie Mellon
25:52are taking interactive technology
25:54a little further.
25:56Karin Bondar is there
25:58to learn more about the inventions
26:00that will make the current interface
26:02of any object disappear.
26:04I think it's here.
26:08Hi Robert.
26:10Hi.
26:12What do we have here?
26:14Well, basically it's an expansion project
26:16of the multi-touch interaction
26:18beyond pressing here, pressing here, pressing here, right?
26:20Essentially what we've done
26:22is create a way for the touch screen
26:24to recognize different parts of your hand
26:26so you can touch it with your fingers
26:28like you normally do.
26:30Yes, that's the most common way, the traditional way.
26:32Now try it with your knuckles.
26:34You can also press with your nail.
26:36And how does this work?
26:38It creates a signature.
26:40So hear this.
26:44These all sound different.
26:46And that's what we've used
26:48for the screen to know what you're doing.
26:50The screen has a sensor
26:52that allows it to detect
26:54different types of vibration
26:56which can be used
26:58to activate different functions.
27:00We've gone from using one finger
27:02in one way to using the same finger
27:04in three different ways.
27:06So it's a big step forward
27:08but we're also working
27:10on ways to use all of your hands
27:12to introduce information.
27:14So I'm going to show you
27:16another project we're working on.
27:18Imagine holding something
27:20like this eraser with your hand.
27:22So hold it like this
27:24and oh!
27:26Oh wow!
27:28The actual eraser
27:30is on the screen
27:32and I'm using all of my fingers.
27:34The screen detects combinations
27:36of touch points
27:38to allow us to interact
27:40with it as naturally
27:42as we would with real objects.
27:44Researchers have gone even further.
27:46They're transforming the way
27:48the screen interacts.
27:50The WorkKit project
27:52transforms any surface
27:54into a digital interface.
27:58Chris!
28:00Hi, welcome.
28:02Yeah, what we've done here
28:04is transform the wall
28:06into a touch screen.
28:08Walls transformed
28:10into touch screens?
28:12How can a wall become
28:14touch sensitive?
28:16This is WorkKit
28:18and what we have here
28:20is a projector
28:22and what we have here
28:24is a projector
28:26and what we have here
28:28is a projector
28:30and then we have an infrared camera
28:32that looks at that pattern
28:34and it looks to see
28:36if it's 3D or not.
28:38So what it does with this
28:40combination of projector and camera
28:42is create touch sensitive surfaces
28:44in any part of the world,
28:46on tables, doors, walls,
28:48everything can become a touch screen.
28:50Like the one you had
28:52next to the door.
28:54Exactly.
28:56The depth camera
28:58just pretend that your hand
29:00is like a paint brush
29:02and you draw a sensor
29:04on the door.
29:06Okay.
29:08Now, where do you want
29:10your sensors to be?
29:12Okay.
29:14Exactly.
29:16If you stand right in front
29:18of the door.
29:20There they are.
29:22So you can say,
29:24okay, you're busy.
29:26The system then calculates
29:28which button I pressed
29:30and the projector lights it up.
29:32And that's only really one very small
29:34sample of the kind of applications
29:36that we could create in the world.
29:38The most impressive
29:40thing about this technology
29:42is how it will transform our day to day.
29:44We will have a digital world
29:46within reach of our hands
29:48wherever we are,
29:50in the office, in school, or at home.
29:52What we have here
29:54is a recipe kit.
29:56And it's showing us the recipe
29:58for how to make a banana bread.
30:00It's showing us all the ingredients
30:02we need, sugar, bananas, eggs, etc.
30:04So what you need to do now
30:06is take that cup of water.
30:08You just put the things
30:10where they tell you.
30:12Yeah.
30:14And now it's going to check
30:16that the ingredients are added.
30:18That's why it's green
30:20when you put it on top.
30:22I'm going to try to put just one.
30:24The system will tell you
30:26when you've put the wrong amount.
30:28Did you need one more egg?
30:30Now let's see what the next step is.
30:32The only thing left is to mix it all
30:34and put it in the pan for 25 minutes.
30:36Let's do it.
30:38Technologies like this
30:40that save us work
30:42will help us enjoy more time
30:44to relax, 25 minutes in particular.
30:46Now I'm going to show you
30:48something we'll have in the living room.
30:50I'm going to take this little table
30:52and I can change the orientation
30:54of these interfaces too.
30:56We can also have a volume control
30:58in the armrest on the sofa.
31:00Okay.
31:02Yep, just like that.
31:04So I'll add another,
31:06we can put another control
31:08right here, which would come in handy.
31:10And now, boom, we have a remote control
31:12for the television.
31:14So if you sit down, you can have a go.
31:16Okay. Oh, my goodness.
31:18Ah, and up it goes.
31:20There we go.
31:22Okay, so now I'm going to try
31:24to move this forward.
31:26Mm-hmm.
31:28It's ridiculous that I'm touching the table
31:30and I'm doing this.
31:32Okay, now the volume.
31:34Okay.
31:36This is going to be
31:38the delights of the lowest.
31:40When I put this technology
31:42on my house, I'll put on 10 kilos
31:44at least.
31:46Okay, so if you're going to do this
31:48on your house, you're going to think
31:50it could be used.
31:52If you think about how you can make
31:54any surface on the house feel sensitive
31:56to touch, as we've done right now
31:58with the sofa and the table
32:00or how we did with the door
32:02and the blind, then you can kind of
32:04look at these powerful
32:06computer experiences as ubiquitous
32:08like air or light.
32:10At the end, we're going to get rid
32:12of all the keyboards
32:14and get into the light.
32:16And so what we've been doing
32:18is we've been creating
32:20smaller and smaller versions of this.
32:22This is going to be a light bulb.
32:24And we're going to be using a depth sensor
32:26and we're going to be using the same technologies
32:28that we've used on a much smaller device
32:30and we're just projecting light
32:32into any area where maybe
32:34in 10 or 15 years,
32:36this will be as ubiquitous
32:38in our way of lighting
32:40as light bulbs have been
32:42the tactile surfaces.
32:44Chris hopes that its use is fully extended in 2025.
32:50Thanks to visionaries like Chris, in the near future we will be able to interact with technology
32:55wherever, whenever and however we want.
32:57A new digital era has begun.
33:02New York is one of my favorite cities, famous for its dazzling skyline.
33:08Eight million people live there.
33:11But while they go out to have fun, some ungrateful guests join the party.
33:1532 million rats.
33:18The city has been trying for years to catch these destructive rodents and carriers of
33:22diseases, but so far their efforts to control the plague have been in vain.
33:29Now scientists are trying to control the problem without killing a single rat.
33:40Sati Prasad is in the Great Apple to investigate her extraordinary idea.
33:50The truth is that it is incredible how rats take over the city when night falls.
33:55I've been here for just a little while and I've seen dozens of them.
33:59They drink water from that puddle and get into the garbage bags that are stuck to the
34:02wall to eat from there.
34:04This place is crawling with rats.
34:09They're just running out in front of me.
34:14It's like they're so used to living in the city with people, they know that where there
34:19are people, there is food.
34:25The new strategy of the city's administrators is funded by the National Institutes of Health
34:31and has cost 1,100 million dollars.
34:33Scientists are going to test a novel and radical experiment to control the fertility of rats
34:38and it's going to take place on the subway, where the problem prevails.
34:45Dr. Loretta Mayer is in charge of the project.
34:48I don't know, every time a train passes, there's a smell of rats decomposing, very, very unpleasant.
34:54Do you think it's the poison that's killing them?
34:56Yes, that's it.
34:58But the poison is not something productive.
35:00We've been poisoning them for decades.
35:03Yes.
35:04And we still have rats.
35:05Loretta is convinced that killing rats does not work after discovering a crucial aspect
35:10by observing their behavior.
35:12Families, just as it happens with ours, prevent other families from moving to their flat.
35:20If we kill all the rats, other rats will be able to move here and it is possible that
35:25we will end up having even more rats than in the beginning.
35:29So the problem was not being solved?
35:30No, it was not being solved.
35:32The problem is reproduction.
35:34But how do you control the fertility of rats?
35:38As has happened with so many others, Loretta's discovery occurred unexpectedly.
35:45About 20 years ago, she studied rodents and noticed, by chance, that women who worked
35:49in plastic factories had problems getting pregnant.
35:53They had been exposed to high levels of a chemical substance called diepoxyde of vinyl
35:58cyclohexane.
36:00I was desperately looking for a compound that would naturally speed up the loss of
36:05ovules in the ovary.
36:07She then wondered if that substance would have the same effect on rats and the tests
36:11began.
36:12If Loretta's hypothesis is correct, the consequences could be very great.
36:17Rats reach sexual maturity between 8 and 12 weeks of life and have about six layers
36:22a year, or even more.
36:25Four sexually active females could give birth to the incredible number of 1,750,000 offspring
36:31in just nine months.
36:33But could a substance that prevents human reproduction effectively control the fertility
36:38of rats?
36:39The answer will be found in some tests on the New York subway.
36:47At the head of the crusade to control the problem of New York with rats is Dr. Loretta
36:52Meyer, who has discovered that a chemical substance called diepoxyde of vinyl cyclohexane
36:58can slow down the growth of ovarian follicles.
37:01His idea is to use it to prevent rats from reproducing so quickly but without killing
37:07any of them.
37:08A test will be carried out on the subway in the city, but will rats fall into the trap?
37:14If they ingest it, the effect is similar to the menopausal transition of women and greatly
37:18reduces the reproductive life of rats.
37:22For this test, doses of the substance, too small to affect human health, have been added
37:28to some foods, which will be, hopefully, ingested by female rats.
37:32Loretta, you're about to try this experiment.
37:35You're going to try your system on real rats in New York.
37:38Exactly.
37:39We're going to start by looking at their behavior in the first place and their habits.
37:44We're going to be looking at their population density.
37:47We're going to do some estimations and, obviously, we're going to offer them different
37:50nutrients to see which ones they prefer.
37:53And, finally, we're going to see how effective our concept has been in reducing the number
37:58of rats.
38:01Loretta will be able to control the absorption of the compound because the moustaches of
38:04the rats that have bitten will shine green under ultraviolet rays.
38:10The test in a real situation has already begun and will take about three or four months.
38:16In the meantime, I decided to meet with a rat hunter.
38:23I wanted to be able to compare Loretta's results with other more traditional methods.
38:28Go ahead.
38:30Oh, it really stinks.
38:33What is that smell?
38:34It's the smell of urine and the feces of the rats.
38:37It's evident that the rats have been here for a long time.
38:40The bad thing about traps is that the rats end up detecting them.
38:43Yeah.
38:44We catch a few, but the rest of them realize that they don't have to come close.
38:48When the traps don't work, Rudy uses the poison.
38:51But the poison is not effective either.
38:57They have a food source right here next door.
38:59We're right in a supermarket and the containers are in the back.
39:02Yeah, and the trash.
39:03It's clear that if we put the poison in there, with fresh melons, grapes, and things like
39:07that, we have nothing to do.
39:09During a period of about three months, Rudy places numerous traps and hundreds of kilos
39:13of poison without affecting the rat population considerably.
39:17Every year, only in the United States, millions of kilos of poison are used for rats, and
39:22more than 10,000 children are exposed to it.
39:2590% of the poisoning takes place in our homes.
39:30What's really clear is that the poison doesn't work.
39:32It doesn't control the rats.
39:34What we need is a smarter solution, and that's what Loretta is working on.
39:41Almost three months later, we finally checked the results.
39:4467% of the rats in the tested area had ingested the compound.
39:50The impact of this could be extraordinary.
39:52With that percentage, a rat population of about 15 million would be reduced to 15,000
39:57in just eight months.
40:00Do you think this strategy that you've used could be used in other countries to control
40:06the population of other animals that pose a threat to people?
40:11Yes.
40:12In any case in which animals and humans collide.
40:15The idea of fertility, the idea of reproduction, directly attacks the core of the problem.
40:22It's not about shooting them or poisoning them.
40:26It's about reducing their population in a more humane way and allowing us to coexist
40:30in a better world.
40:33In 2015, Loretta will carry out more studies in Chicago and Boston.
40:40Controlling the reproduction of another species can generate controversy.
40:44But the situations in which Loretta's compound could be used are very diverse.
40:49Not just in our cities, but also in agriculture.
40:53In Indonesia, only rats and other rodents cause enough rice to be lost to feed more
40:59than 30 million people for a whole year.
41:02With our cities in constant expansion, many of us will live closer to each other.
41:08We will demand better services, better communication, greater ease of buying,
41:13and innovative and radical entertainment.
41:16And as we've seen, science will always be able to offer us more than we ever dreamed
41:21it would be possible.
41:23Thank you for your attention.