Killer robots and replicants? That’s not the future…

Wednesday 17 December

What does the future hold for us? We’ve had many a director’s vision of the future thrust upon us – take Ridley Scott’s Bladerunner and James Cameron’s The Terminator. If they’re to be believed what we’ve got to look forward to is a world of apocalyptic doom that’s overrun with cybernetic organisms and replicants out to kill us all. Well, I recently went to Oxford and Cambridge to check out some emerging technologies, and let me tell you this, there wasn’t a robot that looked like Arnie in sight.

First up, I went to P2i’s laboratories in Oxford to get a hands-on with the Ion-Mask. No, that’s nothing to do with the Alexandre Dumas’ novel, The Man in the Iron Mask (and even less to do with the horrific 1998 film interpretation starring Leonardo Di Caprio). Ion-Mask is a new technology that will coat pretty much anything with an ‘invisible’ layer of ionized plasma to make it completely water-proof. I can hear umbrella manufacturers weeping already.

Next up I had a go on Microsoft’s new touchscreen computer system, SecondLight, in Cambridge. It really opens up a new dimension of interactivity with the user. You feel as if you a literally reaching in and pulling out information. Think early stages Minority Report. It’s only a research tool at the moment, but give it a few years and it could be used in gaming, hospitals… the possibilities are endless.

Finally I checked out the Musion Eyeliner – a Hi-Def holographic video projection system that creates the illusion of 3D moving images on a live stage. Trust us when we say it’s going to revolutionise the way magicians work. But don’t just take my word for it, watch the video above and see them in action for yourselves…