What Will the Future Be Like
Mobile phones that read your mind? Video games that can cure cancer? Wearable robots that give you the strength of Ironman? David Pogue predicts which technologies will transform daily life for you - and your grandkids. These advancements are already taking shape in laboratories around the world - and gadgets that once were purely science fiction are on the verge of becoming as common as the iPhones and Androids Pogue reviews every day.
Humanoid Robots - When you think of the future, you think of robots. But before robots can be on hand to rush into burning buildings or even do our laundry, roboticists have to solve a major engineering problem: how do you make a machine walk on two legs without falling over?
Mind-reading Machines - Imagine a video game with no joystick, no camera, no keypad - just you, your thoughts, and a device that reads those thoughts and translates them onto the screen. Such mind-reading devices already exist and are on the market. How do they work? And how far can this go?
Augmented Reality - Augmented reality has gone beyond smart phones and goggles and video games. Today, engineers are developing devices that can project three-dimensional virtual images of objects and even people into the real world. What electronic innovations remain before the Star Trek ""Holodeck"" becomes a reality? And what will our further immersion in a digital universe mean for us as people?
Profile: Adrien Treuille - Is it possible that in the future, the combined efforts of half a million video gamers could help cure a disease? That's the idea behind computer scientist Adrien Treuille's groundbreaking games, including FoldIt.
Producer: Terri Randall
Production Year: 2012
Copyright Year: 2012
Director: Terri Randall
Host: David Pogue
Discs: 1
Subtitles: Y
Subtitle Language: English (SDH)
DVI: Y
Audio Format: Stereo
Aspect Ratio: 16x9 Widescreen