One step closer to teleportation : Carles Ribot at TEDxBarcelona

Buenas tardes. Good afternoon. I'm here to talk about teleportation, but I'm not good at it, I'm not going to disappear and reappear in the cafeteria. I don't know how to do that trick. But I'm here to explain a little how technology can help us to experience what it's like to be somewhere else. Teleportation can be understood as the ability to disappear and reappear somewhere else at will. The human being has always fantasized about this concept, in literature, in science fiction – Here you have a few scenes I've selected. It has been a recurring theme, a theme repeated worldwide, in the audiovisual industry: comics, cartoons, the world of video games. Although it appears to be an illusion at the scientific level, it is advancing into what is teleportation. For now just atoms, maybe soon even trucks. But, for the time being, we'll have to wait. As this is evolving, we'll have to trust, as I mentioned before, in technology. A very simple formula, let's take the video game industry then add a few audiovisual effects from the digital audiovisual realm, and we get to live this experience. Let's begin with the world of video games. A little bit of history, the first video games in the 50's were like a little hit that has evolved along with technology. Even now, the world of controllers is evolving more and more. These devices allow us to interact with the video game content and experience the feeling of being immersed in the video game. We are looking at the "Occulus", "head mounted display" glasses, that lets you step into the story itself, or, for example, in the case of "MIO", an armband controller that let's us interact with the video game content. So in the video game world, that's the trend in controllers. Moreover, in the digital video world, we are witnessing a continuous evolution especially in the video format: 3D animations etc., etc. According to IAVE, 1 in 4 hours of web surfing, we dedicate to watching videos. That's why there are so many types of videos. But in the end, we only have basic interaction with its content. We don't get to experience beyond watch, stop, back, forward. Is there nothing else? Does it have to be so boring? They've recommended that I include animals in the presentation to make it more dynamic, more fun. (Laughter) Yes, something new does exists! A new format, which is what I am here to present: the 360 degree video, not a classification, but rather a format. Let's take a look. The 360-video is based on the 360 panoramic photography. Taken quickly, covering an entire scene with different pictures till you get a single panoramic image. Well, like what Google does with "Street View", we make the image interactive and decide where we look, the same with panoramic photography. But with this 360-video – I'll give a quick demo. A prototype – these are 6 cameras connected to each other, allowing us to see a single image that covers the entire range. Like I said, it's like panoramic photography, but using a next step. We can take pictures, but what if, instead of using photographic cameras, we use video cameras, like I've shown. It's what you see here right now. In the lobby we have a sample you can interact with and see for yourself. We see the same thing as in a panoramic picture but with movement. So with the controllers that we saw earlier: "Occulus", "MIO", etc., etc., and the format of the video 360, we can transmit the idea or the concept of being somewhere without actually being there. The future of the audiovisual world is to offer this kind of content so that the person that is visualizing and enjoying it has that experience, or maybe offer relevant content for the consumer. Once again we see the Occulus, in this case interacting with Kinect. Other controllers that work in the world of videogames – Here the boy moves his body and interacts from within the scene. For example, today after finishing this session, we can go home, sit on the couch and visit a museum in Berlin thanks to robotics. For example, thanks to the "Occulus", we could be playing sports while visiting a park, or be, again, with the "Occulus" on a roller coaster and feel the adrenaline while going down the tracks. Please go up a bit, because this is important, interesting and fun. Woman: "It's a picture in here". Voice: "Tell me what you feel when you take it off." Woman: "Oh, I can't believe it, how beautiful." (Laughter) If technology can excite, win the hearts of those we never would have thought, we must be doing something right. This is the end of our journey today, as far as teleportation goes. Thank you.