Future Tech track is showcasing the best from the (9) worlds of emerging technologies and invites everyone to explore different future scenarios and learn from the pioneers in tech: real scientists and independent practitioners, hackers and inventors! The programme includes talks, live demos and workshops and aims to spark a debate and connect like-minded folks from all backgrounds.
Friday
Neurohacking - 1.30pm - 2.45pm, County C&D
In this session we shall cover accessible end-user, neurohacking and garage neuroscience topics which include quantifying your own self and measuring brain activity at home, common brain-computer interfaces and their uses, and finally: bringing it all together in a unified neurosocial network possibly spanning across millions of brains in the near future. Can this technology boost your performance or improve memory? Can we have direct access to the subconsciousness, or create a collective self by binding numerous brain-computer interfaces together across the Internet? If free will is an illusion, can we at least gain some real control over our psyche using the latest neurogadgetry?
Panel, speakers tbc
The Magic of Mind Reading: talk and workshop with Stuart Nolan - 3.15pm - 4.30pm, Room 11
Stuart Nolan is a Research Magician with a few tricks up his sleeve: his background is in cell biology, interactive media, experience design, programming, technology development, academic research, and playful & performative facilitation. Stuart’s performances combine the ancient arts of conjuring and illusion with a manipulation of the mind based on cutting edge science and psychology. Join him in exploring existing research in cold data reading and mindreading robotics, and learn some mindreading techniques that could immediately be applied to your line of work or study in this immersive workshop.
with Stuart Nolan
A Satellite In Your Pocket: talk and social for space app superheroes - 5.00pm - 6.15pm, Room 11
Society’s fragility is revealed when disasters strike and chaos reigns. We can utilise borderless technologies to deliver resilience, working smarter to recover life as usual: the ultimate expression of ‘society beyond borders’. Satellites have been one of the last remaining technologies that only governments can afford to have. That's about to change. Developers are invited to play in Inmarsat's satellite sandbox and create apps for disaster relief and humanitarian response. Possibly the coolest toy you've ever been given!
Mike Holdsworth is currently the Aero Technical Specialist for the Global Government unit at Inmarsat. He still finds it weird that he earns a living based on a 1945 proposal by Arthur C. Clarke for Geostationary Satellite Communications.
Talk by Mike Holdsworth, followed by social
Saturday
Imagining the Future (& Breakfast): when the future and breakfast are already now - 9.00am - 9.45am, Room 11
In this session, we'll think about current trends in technology, and what we can learn about what's to come. Now that we're living in the year of "the future" from the Back to the Future trilogy, and years beyond the original launch date of Skynet, how certain can we be of what will come next? We'll canter through current and future tech trends, from wearables to 3D printing to AI and deep learning. Come start the day with a taste of the Future (we will be serving breakfast too)!
Andy Piper is widely known as a Social Bridgebuilder and speaker, and in his day job works at Twitter.
Talk and discussion with Andy Piper.
Quantified Self, Lifelogging and Longevity: the future of our past - 10.00am - 11.15am, Room 11
We live our lives through digital services and connected devices, and we generate data at an unprecedented volume. The footsteps we leave behind, in the digital snow of our lives, fundamentally define who we are. This also comes with far-reaching implications regarding ownership, privacy and longevity. This talk will give you some principles by which to make an informed decision whom to entrust your digital memories to, and offer practical advice to digital content creators about how to address these issues responsibly.
Talk by Paz, a designer and a self-confessed lifelogger interested in the Quantified Self movement. He has been on a personal journey collecting vast amounts of personal data, not only to learn about himself, but as a modern form of journalling.
Design of Complex Mechanical Puzzles: and a cryptic treasure hunt - 11.45am - 1.00pm, Room 11
A tour through the use of 3D CAD and 3D printing as used by Pyro Puzzles, and how they employ cryptography to construct cryptic treasure hunts. You will see the entre design process and witness the details being 3D-printed simultaneously. This process is needed to test the designs for fit, form and function prior to committing the considerable funds needed to produce metal prototypes. A example treasure hunt around the hotel will start at the end of the presentation!
Talk by Stephen Miller
Sunday
Colonies In Space: humanity’s guide to leaving the Earth - 10.00am - 11.15am, Room 11
In the late 1970s, a study group under Gerard O'Neill in Princeton concluded that a planetary surface is not necessarily the best place for a civilisation to flourish. Further work produced designs for space colonies 20 miles long, and if space activity had progressed as planned, they could have been under construction today. Building these new homes for mankind would also help solve our energy crisis here on Earth and reduce the threat of global warming. Join Jerry Stone, the founder of the Sir Arthur Clarke Awards and president of The Mars Society UK, and find out how these colonies will be constructed and how living in space could be the greatest benefit to the Earth.
Talk by Jerry Stone
Being an Iron Man: human enhancement today, and the technology behind it - 1.30pm - 2.45pm, Room 11
A popular transhuman figure, Tony Stark, complete with chest-implanted electromagnet keeping a piece of shrapnel from piercing his heart, builds a suit of metal armour: an exoskeleton which responds perfectly to his every move and that’s equipped with an artificial intelligence which perfectly matches and predicts his requirements.
Exoskeleton devices - for instance, for military, rehabilitative, and disability support - are often compared to Iron Man, and we can see here another facet of how popular media might be deployed to affect our expectations. Join Matthew Steven Hayler and explore the subject of human enhancement and how it’s placed in the popular culture – where the real life and fiction intersect.
Talk by Matthew Steven Hayler