finding encouraging results through partnerships with research institutes like the one at usc. skip riz izzo has

experience in systems. >> buttoned down as the military why would they come to you guys for help? >> we're the odd alliance of hollywood, the military and academe ya bu academia. come from an interdisciplinary coming-together of people with different levels of expertise that can create something where the whe whole is greater than te sum of its parts. what we have seen over the past ten years is that the advances that have mapped in the area of technology have -- happened in the area of technology, making a difference for service members and veterans when they come back, the psychological difficulties. >> the institute for creative technology has created bravemind, a clinical interactive virtual reality tool.

subjects are gradually immersed in environments to which they were deployed. from a remote afghan village to an iraqi marketplace, to recreate the situation that brought on a soldier's traumatic stress. the virtual reality is connect wednesday the tried and true tool called prolonged exposure therapy. >> this i really don't like because i'm claustrophobic and i feel really enclosed here and i don't know what's going to be around any corner so yeah, this is. tapping into my worst fears. i'm going to get out of there. >> this is a generation of soldiers who group playing video games. how does that factor into this as a therapy? >> if you give somebody the option of doing straight talk to a psychologist form of treatment or you tell them hey, we're

going to put you in virtual reality and that's going to be part of the treatment, you know digital generation, folks that's and easy choice. we're hoping that's that will break down barriers to care. >> to undergo this therapy the patient has to descent into his -- descend into his or her worst fear. i imagine that would be difficult for not only him but the clinician or therapies. wha therapist. what is the benefit there? >> put the person in a situation, they feel anxiety, and over times the anxiety naturally dissipates. the person can face, confront not avoid situations, thoughts, feelings that previously they just wanted to keep in a box. >> jonathan warren is a purple heart vet having served two tours in iraq. >> what was your first reaction

to revisiting the horror through the therapy? >> i was terrified, really, it was scary to go and confront the thing that i'd been avoiding so much. and in a way that was going to stimulate my vision and my sounds and my feeling. it was full immersion and i just felt so bad that i couldn't keep acting like that. are i was willing to be miserable and to be sad and experience more pain to get through it and take it to the other side. i'm in iraq, it's an afternoon and i'm on the no-name route. we're driving through city. i see that the women and children are all heading back in the house. point? >> as soon as i turn right we get hit by an ied. at this moment, i woke up and i was just surrounded by flames.

i took a deep breath and it singed my lungs. it really rocked my world, it learned how to shut down my emotions. my face was peeling off and my lips were blistering. that's when i saw scotty getting out of the vehicle. my heart just dropped. with all the folks i served with it was a very, very close bond. scotty was like my little brother. we were real really, really clo. he was doused in diesel fuel and i thought he was dying right there. >> you had no resources at that time? >> i had nothing. i was helpless, nothing i could do. listening to scott in anguish.

>> has this virtual reality treatment helped you in terms of coping with the ptsd? >> i knew i wouldn't be magically cured but i could cope. >> what was the horror you couldn't revisit? >> i was confronted with the question of you know what could you have done differently? do you think you're superman, can you put zeal fuel with some -- diesel fuel with dirt in your hands, i found out i shouldn't be spoid in my own actions and what i did. >> we find helping a patient to confront and process difficult emotional memories rather than avoiding them is the key the getting over.ptsd.

>> what a powerful piece. it's so great to see that head-on. >> in the theater of wawr a lot of things -- war a lot of things happen to these guys that they're not going odeal with then. we talked to one veteran who didn't want to seek treatment for his physical or being psychological issues because he wanted to get out there with his marines. >> they're worried it would be negatively? >> there is a stigma in the military but it's just now that the military is looking at it as an ep dem thaik affects -- epidemic that being affects wounded warriers and has to be dealt with. >> we'll see where it goes. kosta, what do you have next? >> imagine ofuture where you can fall asleep and it drives to you work. it's coming soon and i explored

>> every saturday join us for exclusive, revealing, and surprising talks with the most interesting people of our time. abe foxman >> we'll fight for your right to be a bigot. if you are a bigot, you're gonna pay a price... >> holocaust survivor and head of the ant-defamation league. >> there's an awful lot of hatred floating out there... >> and ending discrimination >> ...as long as the children aren't educated, it's gonna maintain... >> talk to al jazeera only on al jazeera america

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perspectives on every issue. al jazeera america. ♪ >> hey guys welcome back to techknow. i'm phil torres and i'm here with kosta , and lindsay. what happened? >> all you have to do is sit in the car and it will drive for us. let's check out where we're going. the road to the driverless car has been a long one. >> we're all set for auto-control. >> this is how general motors envisioned the future in 1957. >> you're on automatic control, hands-off steering. >> that was then, this is now, nissan's race for the first

autonomous vehicle is in the hands of an engineer who had me figure out how it works. >> these are your laser scanners. >> yes. >> and they send out big beams of laser to determine how far the distance is. >> yes. >> and here is a big radar panel that can see 200 meters ahead. and we have one radar panel here and here as well. they determine -- >> 70 meters. >> 70 meters whether object is approaching the car or going away from car and all of these little guys are for parking, sonar, and you have cameras on every side of the car. it is totally a prototype. if i open this up you see -- >> wow! these are kind of secret. don't touch it. >> i won't touch it. we're going to put on -- >> yes. >> hit it!

>> autonomous mode activated. >> you have no hands. the camera's reading the speed limit by now. we're going owatch it slow down. >> yes, yes, that's correct. >> red light, cameras detecting it. car says signal's red. >> the signal is green. >> now it's not a color camera. how did it know? >> position. >> just the position? the system explains what it's doing for the driver not confused ever. how did you know it's going to the left now instead of the right? >> reading the lines. >> it follows the road using the cameras. and what happens if a kid comes out chasing a ball? oh my god, oh my god! >> wow. >> we almost killed that guy! a car, it checks to see if there was anyone behind us, next to us, it makes a decision to swerve. can we park it now?

we can do that from the back >> yes. this is my space. >> calling dibs on that spot and now it's parking. i love watching the steering wheel, just made it simple. what happens if i interrupt it? >> stops, completely stops. >> it will completely stop? >> yes. >> now it will come back to where it started. how many years before it's in all cars? >> 2020, 2020. >> as we reach that date, the biggest being obstacle may not be the technology, how fast ask drivers react when they're thrust back into control of an autonomous car? >> what is the most dangerous time in an autonomous car? >> the moment when the car shifts control from itself to the driver. drivers are totally disoriented and they are being asked to

absorb an enormous range of activities, an enormous range of things going on to get what we call situation awareness where there was none. and that turns out to be an extraordinary challenge. >> i'm going to be placing the eeg electrodes on your head. >> we want to understand what's going on in your brain and your body when you drive. we hook up the driver. we see where their eyes are tracking, we see what their brain is doing, what their heart is doing. >> the simulator is built to help us better understand ways to alert the driver that autonomous mode is being switched. after several minutes of texting while the car is driving, watch what happens when i have to take control. >> disable automation. >> it just asked me to diseabl

diseabl -- disable automation. uh oh, i just crashed into about 12 cars, i wasn't paying attention. you had sense oorgs on my hand to determine what was that? >> that was call autonomic arousal. how alert you are. a good driver is neither too into ited or too accustom. >> are we required to be plugged into the car so it knows what we are doing? >> definitely not. eventually cars will drive themselves. >> making them the designated driver promises to revolutionize how we get around. for steve brown who is completely blind, cars will completely transform their lives. >> auto-driving. >> google gave steve a glimpse of the future inviting him to take the driver's seat in their

first autonomous vehicle. >> how did that feel? >> incredibly normal and abnormal at the same time. >> the car was doing its thing. did you have instinctive responses? >> all the things you normally do in driving just came back. we're at the stop sign. >> even if you can't see? >> even if i can't see. i would suggest going to get a taco because that's what i would normally do. >> do you think you'll be back driving in your lifetime? >> absolutely. >> kosta, i have to ask. how safe is this? >> when you hit for example black ice, race car driver mode kicks in and it's steering for you. so that you'll never lose control. it knows how to handle those sort of situations. and i believe, not only did i feel safe, i any it's going to be safer in general.

i know it will. >> really interesting stories, you guys. thank you for sharing them. we will be back next week for more techknow. dive deep behind these stories and go behind the scenes at aljazeera.com there are