Robots. Holograms.
Clones. Super computers. Space travel. An end to known diseases and
the creation of new, more deadly weapons. As a people born in an era
of fast developing technologies, brought up on tales of science fiction
and living in a present when science fact is, at the very least, keeping
pace with that fiction, it is little wonder that our ideas of the
future are so fantastic.
However, on a recent visit to Earl s Court, London, I discovered,
for the most part, the world of tomorrow will be a little bit more
down to earth. The first indicator that the Tomorrows World
Live Event 2001 ( was going to fall some way short of a new millennial
space age was the venue. While I wasnt expecting Earls
Court 2 to be some sort of pristine laboratory or stainless chromed
space station, I was hoping for something a bit, well, special. What
I was presented with, however, was a large hall divided into sections
by various temporary structures, encircled by overpriced eateries
from whence the majority of the very modern, ever present litter seemed
to spawn.
It was (and presumably still is, albeit in a slightly different configuration)
a practical and accommodating, if a little care worn, space, but it
certainly wasnt new, and neither were all of the displays. For
example, two of the largest displays in the Engineering World section
(curiously one of the smallest areas at the event) were run by the
Royal Navy and Airforce. Disappointingly, despite the former having
recently field-tested their new super carrier and the latter being
one of the partners in the revived Euro-fighter project both were
being represented by less than cutting edge technology. Similarly,
one half of the Cyber World Exhibit was also given over to robots
of the here and now (including three finalists from the last two series
of the British Technogames). At least in that area, however, there
was a greater sense of balance between the worlds of today and tomorrow
with the UK debut of Sonys new robot cat, Aibo, and robotics
displays from all of the university teams associated with the Engineering
and Physical Sciences Research Council.
Satisfying different, though not especially futuristic, each of the
EPSRC designs showcased represents ongoing research into various aspects
of robotic evolution. For example, the micro-robot football
system created by a team from Plymouth University in the south- west
of England is the first step in programming robots to work in teams
(as well as a potential web-cast global cyber-league). The much larger,
but still very basic, robot gorilla, is, according to a spokeswoman
for the team from the University of Salford, represents an attempt
to combine the stability in walking of a quadruped with a manual dexterity
capable of performing complex or delicate tasks. This would make it
the perfect animal for exploration in environments hazardous
to human beings. Among the other robots present were those competing
in this years international championship of Robot Wars which,
though essentially separate from the main show, was being filmed there
live for broadcast in September and took up a full quarter of the
floor space.
The only area within Tomorrows World Live itself with a footprint
to match that given over to the duelling battle-bots was the
Innovate! section, sponsored by Hewlett Packard. This, despite
being the single largest world of technology at the show
(the others being the Engineering, Cyber and Music worlds, the
Future of Transport, an area devoted to health care, and the
BBC Live Lab) was devoted to the smallest and the most
trivial (and mundane) innovations on display. Things like smarter
bicycle outrider lights, head-hugging straps that stick on to the
back of your phone and real builders bricks that fit together
like Lego. Real cottage industry/small business stuff, hoping to sell
a few of the display models and get some commercial interest; Tomorrows
World classics that you are probably never going to hear of again.
Also on sale in various areas throughout the show were revolutionary
speakers and amplifiers (put to the test by a series of live bands
in Music World), CD albums from the band behind Modulus; a compact,
multi-media performance forum (think laser-light rock concert in a
hi-tech wig-wam), computer design equipment, engineering packages,
vibrating cushions and brushes and the environmentally friendly, energy
saving house of the future from Integer. Unfortunately, almost everything
that you could buy was either pointless, irrelevant or too expensive
and the things that you really would have liked to take home were
not for sale.
Things like the concept cars by Volvo, Honda and the Italian designers
Pinnafarrina, on display in the transport section alongside an intelligent
bus, new tube trains, the new Concorde tyres and proposed traffic
legislation designed to cut down on the number of cars in London.
Of all the various worlds within Tomorrows World
Live the Future of Transport proved the most interesting, because
it demonstrated the new technologies and ideas that are most likely
to affect the most people in everyday situations. However I felt that
it was at the same time robbed of itsfuture status
by that same, wide-spread practicality; that it was so tangible and
so near to completion that almost all of the technologies and vehicles
on display could be implemented immediately. It was too down to earth
to be special, especially when compared to the Nova RLV. Easily missed
among the cluster of brighter, animated and interactive stands at
the edge of the transport section stood a seemingly inactive plain
white plastic rocket. Even easier to miss were the two poor souls
who went with it, lost in the crowd trying to hand out leaflets on
possibly the most impressive and important pieces of technology represented
at the show. Designed by Starchaser Industries in partnership with
physicists at the University of Salford, the Nova Re-useable Launch
Vehicle is the first spaceship in the world to leave the atmosphere
with all of the components assembled for launch, and to return the
same way; in one piece. It is, as the name implies, re-useable. The
only things that you cant use again are the same consumables,
such as the oxygen and fuel. What this means is that we are on the
verge of having affordable commercial space-flight, that according
to the manufacturers, could be taking pairs of tourists briefly into
orbit as soon as 2006.
This, to me, is what Tomorrows world is all about;
something that is still far enough away to still be in the realm of
the fantastic, but yet now close enough to reality to inspire excitement
and anticipation of its arrival. Looking back now, it is perhaps rather
unsurprising that, after learning of this soft-peddled symbol of the
future, everything else at Tomorrows World Live 2001, events,
exhibits and entertainments alike paled in comparison, yet to
be honest, objective and fair, there was nothing wrong with any of
these other things. With a few noted exceptions all that I saw did
indeed represent something new and innovative and no less important
than the Nova rocket to the right specialist or an open and enquiring
mind. Equally, there is little on which I can fault the execution
of the event, other than to say that the vast majority of competitions
and activities were aimed solely at children and that by mid-to-late
morning the three-hundred people more than recommended capacity meant
that the quues could last an eternity. However, while this may be
annoying, I suppose that it is not to be unexpected.
At £10-15 per person, I would say on the strength of this one,
that Tomorrows World Live events are quite good value
for money if you have a full day to spend there (they are even better
value if you can get in free with a school), but be warned; should
you find that one thing that fits your vision of the future (like
me and my rocket-ship) you might start to lose interest in the more
everyday practicalities that tomorrow may bring.( Tomorrows
World, for those who dont know, is the BBCs principal
prime-time science and technology show, focussing on new innovations/inventions,
often while they are still in development.
© Nathan Davies 2001
www.starchaser.co.uk
salford
cloudbass
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