All language subtitles for Chris McCausland Seeing Into The Future 2025

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Come through, Chris.
Yeah, cheers, mate.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome
to the stage Chris McCausland!

CHEERING

I suppose people will know me
as a stand-up comedian.

And, of course,
Strictly Come Dancing,

you know, where I...

I was all right, weren't I?

CHEERING

What people mightn't know about me
is, before getting into comedy,

going back well over 20 years,

my background's in computers,

and I've got a degree in
software engineering.

And I am a geek!

Since losing my sight,
technology has been a game-changer

in opening up the world to me,

helping me to navigate the everyday.

Can you tell me which T-shirt
this is, please?

But there is amazing technology
out there

that I am yet to experience.

So, I'm heading to America,
land of the tech giant,

to get my hands on some of
the latest technology

that will be changing things
for everyone.

From trying out
a self-driving car...

Oh, this is bananas.

..to finding out how AI can bring me
a whole new level of independence.

What album's this one?

This is David Bowie's
album.

The possibilities of
the future are exciting.

This was considered, I thought,
impossible technology.

Wow. I mean, so this is
the future, really, isn't it?

But can I really put
my full trust in tech?

Proceeding on San Francisco
bicycle route 86.

Oh, we're on a bicycle route.

And am I ready to put
more dependence on technology?

The problem with these is,

the last thing you need is
a blind man who can walk faster.

We are about to find out.

I could do with a coffee,
I tell you that.

Let's grab a coffee.

I have a degenerative eye condition.

I wasn't born blind -
I used to be able to see -

but over the first 25 years
of my life,

my sight deteriorated.

People say, "When did you go blind"?
and it's difficult to say,

because you stop being able to do
different things at different times.

I'm 48 now, so I've, you know...

It's hard to put a date on it,

but I've been blind since about 25.

For a while, I had a guide dog,

and I also used to use
a white stick,

but I wasn't very good at that.

I always have to trust
somebody to navigate me around,

if I'm walking somewhere.

Up, through the door.

I always have to trust that somebody
is giving me the correct information

if I ask them to read me something.

What have we got?
What do you fancy?

Got sandwiches, rolls,
shepherd's pie.

What sort of thing do you fancy?
Oh...

See, I love an omelette
and I love a shepherd's pie,

but I'm not sure I want to be
eating one on camera.

It just becomes part of life,
doesn't it?

And I suppose really,
what I'm doing is I'm shifting

some of that dependence and
trust over to technology.

Going back 20, 30 years,

somebody like myself would've had
to use specialist technology

specifically designed
to provide accessibility.

And then, the iPhone came out,

with a feature of
the operating system

that reads the things out to you.

Speech on. Just press record.

See, I mean,
this is the newest iPhone.

It's still on there today.
It's still called Voiceover.

So, you would touch an icon
to activate it. Yeah.

Yeah? I would swipe through them.

Month Cal, Google Maps,
Seeing AI, Aira Explorer.

These are all the apps I've got,
but, er... ChatGPT Voice.

ChatGPT...
..ChatGPT, Perplexity...

These are all AI apps.

..Instagram, four new items...
Instagram.

I very rarely go on there.
..Utilities folder...

You know, if I want...
It speaks very fast.

It does, so I've sped that up.

When you buy it, you know,

this is the speed it comes at
in the box, yeah?

Seeing AI,
Aira Explorer, X, Instagram,

four new items...
Yeah? Yeah.

"Instagram,
four new items..."

And you very quickly get
used to that,

and it starts to drive you mad.

So...
..action, voices, speech volume...

..so you speed it up.
50, 60, 60, 70%.

Yeah? Yeah.
Some people have it very fast.

PHONE SPEAKING RAPIDLY
Yeah?

Let's dial it down a bit.

A phone with a glass screen
and no buttons.

It seems so fundamentally
exclusionary to someone who's blind,

but it is - it became the most
accessible tool I've ever used.

It allows you to do your texts,
your emails, read the news,

access the train times,
buy your train tickets,

buy things online.

Everything that everybody else
can do conveniently through

the phone is accessible to me.

A lot of the things that people
identify with blindness -

like having a white stick -

technology has replaced
a lot of them, for me,

in that I don't have to go to
the shop to get a pint of milk

and a loaf of bread,
because I can have one brought

to the house in 30 minutes.

Apple made those first steps,

but Google soon released
its own version called TalkBack.

Now it's not just smartphones
that have accessibility features

built in, but loads
of consumer tech,

like TVs, and even games consoles.

It's a leveller, and that's
the biggest game-changer.

The fact that I do everything now
the same as everybody else is

what is exciting about it,

because before things
like the smartphone,

"just like everybody else"
was not possible.

Mainstream technology is for
everybody, in a lot of cases,

and that's what's exciting.

It feels like we are invited
into the club, you know,

the doors have been opened.

The smartphone really
started something for me,

and now, technology is only
getting better and better,

offering greater levels of
access and autonomy.

Since then we've seen
a boom in technology,

from development of
new software and apps,

to the rise of gadgets
like smartwatches.

Artificial intelligence is now
driving another push

in technological advancement -

which for some is frightening,

but for me is very exciting.

You all right, mate?
You good? OK, yeah.

There are technological innovations
happening all over the world,

but we are heading to America,

home to many of the world's
biggest tech companies,

and some of the most exciting
gadgets on the planet.

We are going to San Francisco.

We're going to go check out
the latest in, erm,

what is on the horizon,

in terms of AI and
self-driving cars.

They've actually got them!

I'm excited about the trip.

I'll be more excited when I'm at
the other end of this flight.

I don't like the turbulence.
I can't relax.

I can't sleep, because I can't see
how normal the stewards look

in the cabin, you know,
how much they're not bothered by it.

In my head, everybody's panicking.

The bay area of San Francisco is
an area that's long been associated

with cutting-edge technology,

from the humble computer mouse

to the very latest
in artificial intelligence.

Primitive forms of AI have
been around since the 1950s,

but in the last few years,
it's exploded.

KNOCK ON DOOR
DOOR OPENS

Hey, mate.
Hello, how are you doing?

Yeah, come in.

Like millions of users
around the world,

AI assistance has become
part of my daily life.

What's the weather like?

It looks pretty nice out
there.

Erm, the sky seems clear,
and it looks bright and sunny.

Seems like a lovely day.
Not raining?

No, no rain in sight,
from what I can tell.

It looks like a beautiful,
dry day out there.

It's certainly becoming a thing
I'm using more and more,

you know, each day.

The amazing thing is,
this is as bad as it's going to be.

It's already incredible.

So, for a lot of things
that I would, you know,

I would ask my wife or my daughter,
"What does this look like?

"Can you describe it to me?"

Whereas now, I can use AI,

and I can get a lot of
that information.

So, for example, if you can't see -

you know, unless you can feel
that something is a specific item

of clothing, often you have
to ask people,

or you have to mark them
in some way, you know?

I've spent a lifetime cutting labels
on things so that I know the one

with the cut-off label at an
angle is the blue one.

With AI, just have it open
and just show,

"Is this the blue one?"
"No, it's green."

Can you tell me which T-shirt
this is, please?

Just describe it for me.

Absolutely.

This T-shirt is a grey one with
a graphic of a cassette tape on it,

er, and it says "Deftones"
on the tape.

Good band, good band.

It's pretty nostalgic and fun.
Love it.

HE LAUGHS

It's remarkable how much it's like
talking to a real person.

And my wife never compliments
my T-shirts.

AI assistance like this is
built on large language models,

a form of AI that is trained
on a vast amount of data,

from written articles to
online images...

The first one looks like
it's shampoo.

..in order to recognise
the information we need,

and help it build realistic
sentences in response

to questions that we ask.

Can you tell me
what this is here, please?

Sure. That looks like a
packet of decaffeinated coffee.

Which one are we wearing?

Can you look at my shirt here

and just tell me which colour
it is that I've got?

And is it clean,
and does it need ironing?

Sure, so the shirt
you're holding up

looks like a dark
navy colour.

It looks pretty clean,
and there are just a few wrinkles,

so if you want it super-smooth,
you might want to iron it quickly.

But overall, it looks great.

Clean, but wrinkly.

Whether browsing your
social media feed

or asking your smart-speaker
for a recipe,

most people will have used AI,

even if they don't know it.

I'm a convert to the assistance
that artificial intelligence offers.

There are many that have
concerns, though.

Trust, energy use, and
overdependence are common arguments

aimed at the rapid growth of AI.

There have already been issues
of AI learning from biased

or prejudiced data,

and there are fears that,
with AI starting to create content,

the accuracy of information
will begin to decline.

Like it or loathe it, though,

AI is now an integral part
of technology.

There is now a real race
to develop improvements

in artificial intelligence -

but it's the advances
within hardware,

the physical products we
use to access AI,

where it gets really exciting.

None more so than wearable tech -

and we've been given unique access

to one of the giants of
the tech world to find out.

We are heading to Meta,
the parent company of Facebook,

to have a little go of
their new smart-glasses

and live video interpretation,

which sounds pretty groovy.

I think this is the start of what is
going to be a massive game-changer,

you know, for anybody that
can't see, really,

is using AI to describe your
surroundings and what's going on,

and what you're interacting
with in real time.

You know, it really is the start
of mainstream technology

bridging that gap and
becoming access technology,

you know, as well as something
that everybody wants.

Unless you've been
living under a rock,

you will know the name Meta.

The company that started in 2004
as "The Facebook"

was rebranded as Meta in 2021,

and now runs a whole host of
social media platforms.

They are a company often
criticised over privacy violations

and data management,

but their role in the development
of technology is huge.

Meta is one of the biggest spenders
on research and development

in the tech world,
and in recent times,

they have moved into hardware.

Most exciting for me are
their AI-powered smart-glasses.

So now, Chris, I want to take
you into our Meta world. Yes.

THEY BOTH LAUGH
I'm excited. Are you ready?

I'm looking forward to this, yes.

Your life will never be the same.

Maxine Williams has been
with the company for 12 years,

and is now Meta's head
of accessibility.

I want to show you these glasses.

I'm going to give you...a pair.

Right.

And here we go.

These are special limited edition,

only for the coolest people.

HE LAUGHS

Well, I'm afraid
I'm lowering your standards here.

But it's incredible how much these
have taken off, isn't it, you know?

Yeah.

I think what has really appealed
to people is this form factor. Mm.

To be able to have your hands free
and navigate the world.

You're right. I mean, the one thing
that blind people never have

is two hands free. Right.

You know, you're holding on
to the stick, the dog,

another person, you know?
That's right.

It's the AI, that's what's
exciting, inside these things.

Absolutely.
I can't wait to have a go.

All right.

Evolving from a social media tool
and AI assistant,

these glasses are now part
of an accessibility push

into mainstream technology,

using microphones,
speakers, a camera, and AI

to provide information about
the visual world.

OK, so I'll hold this...

Usually the information
the glasses give me would be

for my ears only, through discreet
speakers in the frames -

but to help you understand what's
happening, we've mic'd them up.

Alongside the ability to listen
to music, take photos of friends,

or ask AI about the weather,

these glasses have two key
visual AI features.

The first of these is
describing photos,

just like with a phone,
but much more practical.

Hey, Meta. What am I look at?
GLASSES CHIME

The glasses take a photo,
and the AI analyses it

against a vast amount of data
to provide a description.

GLASSES CHIME

You are looking at a tree
and a building.

The building is a large,
modern structure with a sleek,

glass exterior.

It has a rectangular shape and
appears to be several storeys tall.

The stills mode
is available in the UK,

but what is not available at home,
at the point of filming this,

is the second feature - live AI.

Start live AI.

Live AI session with video
starting now.

What am I looking at now?

GLASSES CHIME

You are looking at
a group of people,

some of whom are holding cameras.

They're filming me.

Do they look like they know
what they're doing?

Yes. The people holding cameras
appear to be professionals,

as they are using high-quality
equipment and seem to be

focused on their work.

Well, there you go.
He says you look professional.

Maybe this Meta AI doesn't know
what it's on about after all!

In this mode, the camera and
the microphones are constantly

taking in information,
which means that the AI can provide

real-time descriptions in the moment

and answer any of my queries
about the world around me.

It's pretty mind-blowing, really.

There's a body of water
in the distance.

Any idea what that is?

It's a serene waterfront area
with a grassy field, trees,

and a body of water in the distance,
possibly a lake or a bay.

There we go.

I can hear a plane.

Yes, there's a plane
flying overhead.

You can see that?

Yes. The plane is visible
in the distance,

flying across the clear, blue sky.

When you have a disability,

you have to become dependent
on other people -

and dependency can be exhausting.

Sometimes, y-you feel like
a bit of a burden,

and you don't want to ask people
too many questions.

You feel like you're
using their time,

or you're relying on people
too much -

whereas AI doesn't feel bothered,

and it's got as much time
as it needs, hasn't it?

This is the first application of AI
in a piece of hardware, really,

that is available for everyone to go
and buy now that isn't a phone

or a computer, or a tablet.

Just by their very nature,

they have a usage to people
like myself that goes beyond

what the general population
would get out of them.

It's incredible, really,
because I think, 15 years ago,

that wouldn't have been
a consideration

from a company, you know?

Well, look, as exciting as this has
been to get to try out the tech -

and I love trying out tech -

I couldn't give a hoot about
flowers and bodies of water.

I want to go vinyl shopping
and have a cheeseburger.

So, let's go and do that.

Perfect, let's go.
HE LAUGHS

I can't believe I said "hoot".
Who says "hoot"?

Music is a passion of mine,
and has been since I was a kid.

Flicking through vinyls just
isn't something I can do -

but with the hands-free
form factor of these glasses

and the built-in AI, it could be.

I have no idea if this'll even work,
but it's worth a try.

Now where's the rock section?

Hey, Meta, start live AI.

Live AI session with
video starting now.

What album is this?

This is the album
The Wall by Pink Floyd,

a classic rock album
released in 1979.

What album is this?

This is the album
The Wall by Pink Floyd,

a classic rock album
released in 1979.

What about this one?

This is the album
The Wall by Pink Floyd...

Oh, I don't think it is.
..a classic rock album.

It's got a little bit stuck
on the thing.

Huh?

Ah.

Something's not working here.

My money's on me.

It seems I'm not quite getting
the angles right.

And what's this one?

This is the album
Paranoid by Black Sabbath.

Everyone owns that.

What's this one?

This is the album Master
of Reality by Black Sabbath.

There we go.

All right, they aren't perfect,

but I'm still learning,
and so is the AI.

But the independence they could
offer is definitely worth

any teething problems.

So far, I've been asking
direct questions -

but key to the glasses is their
ability to understand context,

like with dinner menus, which could
help me be less dependent

on those around me -
like the crew -

who, for tonight, are going to be
dependent on me and the glasses.

OK, guys. Listen, you've been
reading everything to me,

so I'm going to order
everybody's food.

This is not an offer
to pay for any of you.

THEY LAUGH
OK? You'll pay for yourselves.

LAUGHTER CONTINUES

All right, let's get going.

Hey, Meta, what's on the menu
in front of me?

The categories on the

menu appear to be starters, salads,
soup,

and Clam House specialities.

Er, what salads are there?

The salads listed on the
menu are angry shrimp salad,

Clam House salad, mixed green salad.

OK, who wanted a salad?

I'll have a salad, please.
I'd like a salad too.

Well, there's an arugula salad,
a Clam House salad,

a mixed green salad,
or a Caesar salad.

I'm going to go Caesar, please.

One Caesar salad.

Anybody else want a salad? No?

No, I'll go for a burger.

Meta, can you look at the menu
and tell me if there are

any burgers on here?

GLASSES CHIME

OK, there's a Clam House burger
with all the usual bits on it.

Erm, do you want that?
I'll go for that, yeah.

With cheese? Yes, please.

So, one of them, two salads,
Caesar salads.

You're having a burger. Yeah.
I'm having a burger,

and, erm, there you go.

Mr Chris.
Thank you very much.

Please enjoy.
Thank you, thank you.

The potential for these glasses
in terms of accessibility is clear -

but that is balanced around
the accuracy of the information

the AI gives.

The experience I've had with them,
though, makes me excited for

what AI might be able
to offer me in the future.

One of the draws of coming
to America is to try out something

I've been dreaming of for years -

a self-driving car.

San Francisco was one of the first
cities in the world to roll out

autonomous vehicles
for public rides,

and they are now available
across the city.

That's right, there are cars
on the street here with no-one

behind the wheel, which means you
can be in a car totally alone -

something I've never
been able to do.

This morning, I'm heading to a cafe

to meet my guide to
the driverless revolution.

Today, you're going to come with me

to take a ride in
a fully-autonomous vehicle.

You ready, babe? Let's go.

Jessie Wolinsky is
a partially-sighted influencer

and an early adopter of
autonomous cars,

who has collaborated with Waymo,
a Google spin-off company

who operate public rides
in San Francisco.

So, your eyesight, you can
still see something, yeah?

You're not completely blind,
but it's on its way out.

Yeah, yeah, it's degenerative.

So right now, I have like
a very small amount of vision,

kind of like I'm looking through
a toilet paper roll. Yeah.

Erm, and that amount of vision
is fairly functional.

Technology is such an enabler
for us, isn't it? Oh, yeah.

No, I mean, I feel like there's
so much technology that we rely on.

How many times are you taking

a self-driving car at
the moment, then?

I've probably taken at least
200, 300 rides, maybe more. Yeah.

With yourself being able to see
a little bit... Yeah, yeah.

..you can find the car,
and you can, you know,

you know where you are when
you get out of the car.

But for someone who's
completely blind...

Luckily the app does tell you,
"700 feet to the right,

"600 feet, 500 feet," so it starts,
like, counting that down

and letting you know.

And also, of course
we can use our screen readers,

and that can audio... Yeah.

..obviously give you
that information.

But also, finding the car,

there is a melody that you
can play on the app,

and it'll start playing
this light tone,

and you'll be able to hear it.

And if you can't hear that
cos it's too loud,

you can also honk the horn.

We do not have anything
like this in London.

Just driverless cars,
it feels futuristic to me.

It's the present here.

I mean, it is the future.
It does feel very futuristic.

It kind of feels unreal.

Well, I'm going to find out today.

I've got my phone here.
I've downloaded the app.

It's just like any other
ride-hailing app, isn't it?

Yeah, yeah, just like any
other ride-share app.

You just type in your destination,
and then, you're good to go.

Up to 100, your car can
arrive in eight minutes. OK.

All right, well, it says we can
have one in eight minutes, Jessie,

so I'll order that now.
All righty, let's do it.

Let's get out of here.
And off we go.

These cars are on the street
for everyone to experience,

but they have been designed with
accessibility for blind and

partially-sighted people in mind -

if you're happy to trust
an AI robot driver, that is.

All righty.
It's coming up on our left.

And you can see that, yeah?
Yeah, yeah.

I can see a little bit of the door.
Right, shall I slide across?

Yes, you can slide across.

Press the "start ride" button
in your app. Let's do it.

When it's driving,
is the steering wheel turning

like the Invisible Man's in
the front? Exactly, yeah.

The steering wheel is
moving normally.

It looks kind of crazy because,
like, for me, I can see

a little bit of the steering
wheel, and so, yeah,

it turns all over the place.

So, I mean, listen, I know this is
meant to drive like a normal car,

but it feels like it's going at
a proper speed. Oh, yeah, yeah.

No, it totally drives like
a normal car.

It feels normal. Yeah.

Again, they're speaking to you.
Yeah.

And they'll tell you again, like,
"Oh, we're turning onto this street,

or, "We're going through
a school zone,

"and that's why we're slowing down."

So, that does make me feel
very comfortable,

cos it just talks to me.
Yeah. No, I like that.

I like to know what's happening.

See, there you go.

It...it's bizarre.

I mean, I wish I could see
this steering wheel turning.

I think that I find the most, like,
independence here, and... Yeah.

..I was never able to get a driver's
licence or anything like that,

so... Yeah.

At night, when I hail the Waymos,
I'm night-blind,

so I can't see anything.

I have to use the audio cues.

So, I'm very, very confident
that I'm able to use it,

even as I lose more and more vision.
Yeah.

Yeah, this is me.

I'm heading out.

You're on your own now, bud.
THEY LAUGH

This is what I've been waiting for.

HE CHUCKLES

Well, this is bananas.

First time I've ever been in a car
on my own...that's moving.

Proceeding on
Junipero Serra Boulevard.

It's hard to separate the idea
of just doing this as part of

your daily life,
in a car with no driver,

from the novel fact that
I'm in a car with no driver

for the first time.

So, I'm sure this becomes
a little bit second nature, really,

and you just get used to it, but...

Yeah.

The novelty of it is,
erm, is a lot.

I mean, I don't know
what I expected.

Of course it feels like
any regular journey, but...

..it's still insane.

CAR CHIMES

You're here. Please make sure
it's clear before exiting.

Well, thank you,
invisible robot driver.

I'll be off.

Well, there we go.

Here you go, Chris.
How was that?

It's pretty magical, really, innit?

HE CHUCKLES

These cars are stacked with
the latest technology -

and for a geek like me,

I'm curious to find out
how it all works.

On the outskirts of the city,
just under the freeway,

lies the largest of Waymo's depots,

where the cars return themselves
when not zipping humans about

from A to B.

David Margines is one of the
company's top product directors,

and he's going to help me understand
what makes this car so special.

It's a, you know,
fairly standard mid-size SUV,

quite a stylish vehicle. Yeah.

We've made some changes
to the vehicle to enable, er,

its functionality.

Across the entire vehicle,
there are 29 cameras,

and those can do things like
reading text on signs,

or understanding which lights on,
say, a traffic signal are on -

red or yellow, or green.

Along the, top we have
our main long-distance LiDAR.

It stands for Light Detection
And Ranging,

and we have this LiDAR down here,

which can cover this whole area
down near the wheel.

So, now I told you that you
wouldn't be able to touch

the spinning thing right there.
Yeah.

That must be really disappointing,
since you can't see it.

So, I brought one...
I want to touch everything, David.

Yeah, absolutely.
HE LAUGHS

Well, we want to make sure
that you can,

so I'm going to hand it to you.
OK. Right?

So now, this part at the top
in your left hand,

that's the part
that's mounted to the car,

and then, you're able
to spin this part. Ah!

Is it doing like a second
a revolution, or...?

Oh, it does several times a second.
Several times. Yeah.

Oh, so it's going fast?
Oh, yeah, it's going quite fast.

It's literally getting
updates constantly?

Yeah, cos we want
a high refresh rate,

so that we can see things
like motion. Yeah, yeah.

And that's kind of
the active piece, right?

So, that's sending out laser beams,
and then, it's measuring how long

it takes until it sees
the reflection off of an object.

Then it uses the speed of light to
figure out how far away, er,

that thing is.

And by doing that, it's able
to build this 3D structure

of the environment around it.

Yeah, and that's where
the AI comes in, to take those...

..the data it's reading back.
That's exactly right.

The AI model is taking
the LiDAR points and the pixels

from the camera, and the radar
returns, and it's using all of those

together to predict the behaviour
of all of the objects.

Then we can figure out how to
safely go and traverse, you know,

the roads near all of this.

Not only carrying passengers,
but travelling alongside

human-driven cars, the issue of
how safe they are is a big one.

There have already been incidents
of malfunctions and collisions

involving autonomous vehicles,

which concern many about their use.

For me, though, trusting a computer
in a car is not massively different

from trusting a driver I don't know,

and I'm certainly excited by
the freedom of being

in a car on my own.

It won't be long till we have
autonomous vehicles on the streets

in Britain, after the UK Government
changed rules to accelerate

their roll-out, with trials
scheduled for spring 2026.

My time in San Francisco is over,
and I'm off to the east coast -

specifically Boston.

I'm here because I've been
invited to the world-renowned

Massachusetts Institute
of Technology,

to meet a tech inventor who is
developing wearable robotics.

MIT has long been associated with
developments in science

and technology that have been
integrated into everyday life.

Computer passwords,
electronic spreadsheets, GPS -

MIT played a part in all of them.

Here we are. Second floor.

This is the floor of my lab.

Hugh Herr is a biophysicist,
who is a leading figure in

the development of
bionic limb technology.

Here's my lab.

This is called
the Biomechatronics Group.

Erm, it's a large volume...
That's a cracking name, innit?

..really high ceilings. Yeah.

It's a mess, to be honest.
Ha-ha!

And there's students working,
and just robots and 3D printers,

and cameras all over the place.

So, the focus of this lab
is we develop robots

that attach to humans.

So, we're obsessed with limbs.
Yeah.

We're obsessed with arms and legs.

So, arms, we want to enhance
people's abilities

to manipulate objects.

With legs, we want to enhance
people's ability to run,

jump, walk, and so on. Yeah.

And we not only focus on persons
with some type of limb condition,

but also persons with completely,
quote-unquote, "normal" limbs.

And obviously, when you're talking
about, you know, people with -

problem with limbs,
you've lost your legs.

But I gained eight.

My closet has lots of
artificial legs.

CHRIS LAUGHS

So, like, I've moved up
in the world.

I was in a mountain
climbing accident,

suffered frostbite to my lower legs.

Right. My biological limbs were
amputated just below the knee.

Right. And I was fitted with
artificial limbs,

and really not happy at the time
with how low-tech they were.

Wooden blocks with some foam.
Yeah.

Like, I'm not exaggerating. Yeah.

And I said to myself,
"You've got to be kidding me.

"This is what exists in the age of
space flight and the internet?

"Are you kidding me?"
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So really, at that time, I dedicated
my life to advancing technologies.

Half the lab, we're trying
to mitigate disability.

So, persons that have
a limb amputation -

we do bionic reconstructions.

Or a person that suffered a spinal
cord injury and has paralysis -

we build these smart,
motorised exoskeletons,

or we stimulate the muscles
to restore movement.

And then, the other half of
the lab is augmentation,

extending human capability beyond
innate physiological levels.

From the early development of
his own prosthetic limbs

and his work with disability,

Hugh's lab has now moved
into the mainstream,

with robotic systems
that everyone can wear

to improve mobility -
including me.

In front of you here is a mysterious
black box with an exoskeleton.

We're actually the first group
in the world to show that

we can augment human movement
with a leg exoskeleton.

OK. So today you're, going to try
this really cool hardware...

I'm going to try it? Yeah. OK.

..that'll put energy in your step.
It's super-fun.

We describe these as an
e-bike for legs.

Is it? OK, let's have a go.
Cool. Absolutely.

I'm excited by this.

Yeah, I think you'll love it.

HE LAUGHS
The future, right?

These exo-boots are designed
to make walking and running

easier for everybody,

meaning there are use cases in daily
activities and rehabilitation.

Just walk normally.

So, they're in a trans...
transparent mode.

So, these are learning from
the way I walk? Exactly.

Collecting data,
developing a model for you.

And is it using AI for that?
Some, yeah.

And how do I know
when it's turned itself on?

You'll feel it. It feels like it's
doing something different now.

Yeah, maybe.

Are you feeling energy?

You're walking faster.

Ha-ha-ha!

Oh, my goodness!

OK, now we're cooking on gas.

I can barely keep up with you.

THEY BOTH CHUCKLE

It feels like there's something
under my foot, but it's...

It's the thing on the side...
Yeah, which is...

..almost contracting
and pulling my foot up.

Yeah, which is a motor and
a transmission system

that's applying a torque,
a lot of mechanical power

about your ankle joint. Yeah.

So, it's an equivalent mechanical
action as your calf muscle,

so it's a robotic calf muscle.

And can we clear a space,
and me just do a walk down there

and back on my own with these, yeah?
Absolutely. Let's go this way.

We'll turn you around.
Yeah, yeah.

Can you shout "stop" if there's
a balcony or an open window?

OK.

OK, to your right.
Go to your right. Good.

You're good.

Beautiful.
Give us a shout!

Come to me. I'm coming, Hugh!

THEY LAUGH

That's great. I mean,
what a bizarre sensation.

It's quite remarkable,
the, erm, sensation.

You look like you're starting
to dance. Huh?!

Are you starting to dance?

I spent four months dancing
at the end of last year.

I, erm, I find myself just doing

little pirouettes at
home these days.

But this is, erm,
this is the future.

This is what you see...
The future of human mobility.

It's exciting that this is
where the future's going.

For me, I would love this to be
matched up with something

that allowed me to navigate myself,
as well, and solve a problem

that I have, which is getting
around, independence.

I think there's always something
to be said for matching technologies

together to solve problems that
maybe people hadn't considered

when they developed them.

It's exciting, and this is
just the start of it.

Pioneering tech that can help
outside the body is one thing.

But there is a large field
of work looking at using tech

inside the body.

There have already been trials
of chips that can be implanted

to treat specific conditions -
including sight loss,

where they have enabled people
to regain a small amount of sight,

which is something that
I wouldn't consider - yet.

There is a world where technology
could restore eyesight, but I...

I think it's one of those things
that it would have to be...

..it would have to be good enough
to be life-changing.

It would have to be enough
to provide true...independence,

make a real difference.

When you're in the last dregs
of your eyesight, you know,

you're always trying
to cope with something that

isn't good enough any more.

If you were to say,
do you want enough sight back

that I had when I was 20?

Not really, no, because,
you know, having to depend on

a small amount of eyesight...

..can be more problematic
than it's worth.

Here at MIT, they have made
a breakthrough that could change

health care for all of us.

Led by Professor Deblina Sarkar,
a trans-disciplinary innovator,

they are bridging the gap
between nanotechnology

and synthetic biology.

At the Nano-Cybernetic Biotrek lab -
what a name -

Deblina and her team are using the
very latest in nanotechnology

to do something
only previously conceived of

in science fiction movies.

Here, they are developing minuscule
devices that are smaller

than a human cell,
and invisible to the naked eye.

The aim is to inject them into
the body to treat various conditions

without the need for surgery.

It's the coolest name for a lab,
first of all.

Oh, thank you so much.

Nano means small, and cybernetic
means chips that work with

the human body -
and biotrek, I'm guessing,

means they travel inside the body.
Am I close?

Er, you're very, very close, yeah.
THEY BOTH LAUGH

So, you're probably one of
the first person to, you know,

get the name, like, right.

I've been practising it outside
for three hours. Oh!

So, yeah, nano means small -
specifically it means nanometre.

Yeah. So, if we take a strand
of hair and divide

the thickness 10,000 times...

A 10,000th of a hair?

It's very, very tiny, things which
you cannot see with the naked eye.

Wow. I mean, so this is the future,
really, isn't it? Yeah.

Actually, the goal of my lab is
to fuse these nanoelectronics

with biology for health care.
Yeah.

Specifically to reduce human
suffering and treat diseases, er,

such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's.

The hope is that the devices
Deblina is creating can be targeted

to specific parts of the body,
travelling through the bloodstream

and implanting themselves
where needed,

then tuning the body's electrical
signals to restore the function

of damaged cells, and potentially
slow the spread of disease.

So far, it's only been
tested in animals,

but the possibilities of
this tech are revolutionary.

Our first thing that we are doing

is treat diseases related
to the brain.

Brain cancer, for example.

What we have shown in
our animal work is that,

by precisely modulating
bioelectricity...

You stop it growing.
..in the tumour environment,

you can actually completely halt
the growth of tumour.

I want to scale this technology
and get it to clinic

as soon as possible,
but we are also doing it, like,

very responsibly, as well.

We really want to make sure that,
you know,

when you go to clinical trials,
you know, it's something...

Best chance of success.
..that can really work, right?

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Now it's time, really,
to scale it up... Yeah.

..do the implementation now,
like, get the FDA approval,

so that we can start
the clinical trials, we believe,

in the next three years.

Three years? Yeah.

This is a documentary in itself,
isn't it?

While her early work
has related to cancers,

another area that Deblina
is researching is using

these nano-devices to
treat sight loss.

I've got an eye condition,
a disease -

so the retinal cells die off
slowly over time.

So, these nanochips
that you're creating,

would they almost be something

that would replace photocells
in the eye, or...?

If you're talking about
my condition...

Yeah, absolutely.

Because these devices can harness
this light that falls on the eye,

they can convert it into
electrical signals,

which can be sent to the brain.

So, though those
specific cells are destroyed,

we can actually send information
a person would otherwise see

to the brain.

So, it totally bypasses
those degraded cells.

It is possible that a person
can still get the vision back,

even when those cells have
been destroyed.

Each of these devices or chips

would almost individually
replace photoreceptor cells?

Yes. So, a lot of them would be
sent in...

Yes. ..to attach to a retina.

Yeah. The resolution we can get is,
in fact, even better than what

a person with eyesight can,
you know, resolve.

So, you're saying not only
do you reckon,

at some point in the future
you could restore my vision,

but you could make my sight better
than everybody else's?

Exactly! You can augment humans
beyond what biology provides.

And we can do other things -

like we can add night-vision,
for example.

BOTH LAUGH

It does sound like crazy
science fiction, though.

It's like... Yeah. ..to say we've
got devices 10,000th the size of -

the width of a human hair,
you can put it in the body,

it knows where it's going,

it knows what it's doing
when it gets there... Yeah.

..and it can fix problems,
make you see,

make you think better,
cure diseases.

Deblina and her team are yet
to undertake human trials,

but if they can show
the same encouraging results

they did in their animal work,
then this could be game-changing -

not just for me, but for all of us.

And that is something I did not
expect to find when I set out.

I've always been of
the opinion that,

if you're going to restore sight,
you need to do it biologically,

because you're restricted
by technology, you know?

You don't want something
that's going to be obsolete.

Erm, but I'd never really considered
that technology could be used

on a cellular level.

Erm, so it-it's...

It's something I'd never
considered in that regard before.

I came into this thinking
it was the far future -

and it's not as far as
we thought, is it?

It's kind of just around the corner.

We've looked at everything
that's there at the minute,

and what we are on the cusp of.

And the thing about all
of this technology,

it's an enabler, isn't it?

It gives you independence
and autonomy.

For me, it makes the differences
of disability so much smaller.

And if you can achieve things
and do things on your own -

and when I say on your own,

the extension of AI and computers
counts as on your own -

then that's a good thing, isn't it?

Are you excited about the
possibilities of the future?

I mean, yeah.
Let's do another documentary,

and we'll come here and, erm,

we'll let her inject me,
high-resolution night-vision,

and then, I'll kick your arse
at Laser Quest.

If you still thought that your
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taking photographs or sending texts,

then you haven't been
paying attention.

Explore more with the Open
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