Future Tech is for the curious-minded. It is designed to let Nine Worlds attendees experience the latest innovations and all sorts of geeks, from NASA scientists to brainwave hackers. As well as talks that'll challenge and amuse, expect interactive sessions, including gadget demonstrations, coding workshops, hacktivism, gaming, and socialising.
Everything's in Room 11.
Friday
10.00 - 11.15
Room 11
Virtual Reality and Oculus Rift Demo
Learn about the technology of virtual reality, and have a go at Oculus Rift, with Ian Peters.
Ian Peters, an independent software developer and specialist in cyber security, VR and astrophotography will be giving the definitive guide to virtual reality and bringing an Oculus Rift, a revolutionary headset designed specifically for videogames with an incredibly wide field of view, high resolution display, and ultra-low latency head tracking. He will also have a number of games for everyone to have a go with.
11.45 - 13.00
From Killer Drones, To Cuddly Robot Companions
Talk and robot demo with robotics scientist Emma Byrne.
Emma Byrne holds is a post-doctrial researcher who works in AI and robotics. She is one of the first creators of 'robot scientist' - the first machine to have independently discovered new scientific knowledge. Emma's research interests broadly cover the area of artificial intelligence. Between giving a one robot the intelligence to plan genomics experiments, and giving another a human-like visual system, she spent a number of years working as a science writer. She has publications in Science, the BMJ and other leading academic journals and conferences as well as contributions to press: the Financial Times, Forbes and Global Business Magazine among other outlets.
13.30 - 14.45
Free Is A Lie: how global Internet companies use the free model to spy on us
Talk on privacy and survelliance, with Aral Balkan
It’s 2014. Orwell was 30 years off his prediction for the rise of a surveillance state. He couldn’t foresee that it would be transnational corporations, not just governments, that would help usher in this new era. That instead of coercion, they would use the hegemony of unregulated capitalism to have us exchange our fundamental freedoms for access to modern life in a barter that most of us are neither aware of nor understood fully. He could not foretell a world where our corporeal selves enjoy fundamental freedoms but our digital selves — our simulations — are enslaved in corporate laboratories. Join Aral Balkan, founder of Indietech.org, for a look into what it means to live in a world where our simulations have no rights, what that means for our fundamental freedoms and democracy, and we can do about it.
15.15 - 16.30
How To Get Your Idea Crowdfunded
Everything you need to know, with Kate Russell and Allen Stroud
Kate is a TV producer and presenter who appears weekly on BBC2 and BBC World News, reporting for technology programme, Click. She is also a published author and writes columns for National Geographic Traveller magazine and Web User magazine. Last month she published her first novel, Elite: Mostly Harmless, after successfully raising £17,000 on crowd funding platform, Kickstarter. Allen is a published author and lecturer in creative writing and film and TV production. He also raised funds for his most recent novel and short film, Elite: Lave Revolution, on Kickstarter. Together they will explain everything there is to know about crowd funding and help you structure your own campaign to have the best chance of succeeding.
17.00 - 18.15
Mindpong with Stephen Chan
Stephen Chan celebrates the power of the brain with his latest project, which uses breakthrough electroencephalography (EEG) technology to read brain waves and combines it with game development. Mindpong was a part of The Brain Tumour Charity fundraising campaign and won The Art of Outdoor Digital prize. Stephen is a techincal Innovator working in the field of games, digital, media & interactive technology. He is a co-founder of SquidInkGames and Senior iOS Developer at MCSaatchi.
Saturday
11.45am - 1.00pm
EEG: Brain Hacking and Technology Demo
Presentation by Martin Dinov, who is a computer scientist pursuing a PhD at Imperial College London, working on creating a real-time EEG-based neurofeedback system for improving human attention; and Oliver Rimington, a bioinformatics PhD Student at Cardiff University who also likes to build cognitive enhancement gear. The two are currently working together on various DIY brain hacking and neurotech projects involving tDCS, tACS, TMS and EEG.
1.30pm - 2.45pm
Drone Zone: introduction to open source hardware and the maker movement
Open source hardware: come and see a real live drone, with Anish Mohammed
Anish Mohammed will address questions about how drones could integrate with other services to enhance our everyday life and what are the risks and opportunities to involve them in our daily activities. He will be bringing some drones so come and see a real live demonstration. Anish is part doctor/bioinformatician/cryptographer/hacker and philosopher who is passionate about technology, especially big data, cryptography and security. He also runs DroneZone meetup at London Hackspace for all geeks interested in autonomous vehicles and other forms of robotics.
Sunday
10.00am - 11.15am
Neuroscience of Swearing / Illusions and Brains
10.00 - 10.40am: Neuroscience of Swearing
Science writer Emma Byrne argues that, far from tuning out, we should listen carefully when people swear, because they often do so for good reasons. She's currently working on her book "That's F*c#ing Amazing: The History and Science of Swearing". She's going to be looking at why swearing kills pain; whether apes swear; why calling someone a lazy c-nt can be the quickest way to make friends; she argues that overall swearing could sometimes be good for you. It really is amazing stuff.
10.40am - 11.15am: Illusions and Brains
The human brain is the most powerful information processing device we know, and one of its primary input devices is the eye with its millions of interconnected light receptors. And yet despite this power and complexity, we are constantly misled by even the most simple of optical illusions. Why is this? In this talk, David Corney will demonstrate a number of illusions and argue that our perceptions of them are a predictable response to ambiguous images, and a consequence of our evolution and development. He will also discuss whether it’s possible to learn to avoid seeing illusions, and whether aliens would also see them…
11.45am - 1.00pm
Lateral Search: Alternative Search Engines
Join J. Paul Neeley and Dan Foster-Swith to explore Yossarian - a search engine that helps generate ideas through lateral connections. Its algorithms assist people in the creation of ideas by returning metaphorically related results. This an immensely powerful creative tool for use by anyone looking to generate new ideas or see their problem or topic in a whole new light. With Yossarian's expansive view of the world, the search algorithms help you see more by suggesting connections and links that you probably wouldn't have considered otherwise.
1.30pm - 2.45pm
Gamification of Everything: mapping human psychology to technology
Gamification is the application of digital game elements and game design techniques to business & social challenges. The gamification designer combines game logic with everyday activities, events, services and products to make the world a more playfully challenging place. Speaker Cormac Horan, COO/Product Manager of Gordon Games, is currently working in the field of corporate gamification: his talk looks at the potential power of gamification as a future tool for organisations but also its power to change human behaviour.
