♪ rachel: here goes nothing. >> we are finding it, we are testing it, we are there as they build it. we are on a quest to show you the most cutting edge companies on the brink of the future. rachel: tonight, i head to mexico to swim with the fish in a giant, mobile floating fish farm called an aqua pod. sam: i will check into palomar medical center, the hospital of the future. >> this is a living lab. rachel: we will take a road trip to volkswagen's green factory. matt: we are next with car manufacturer, right? >>

"bloomberg brink." companies that break the mold, conventions, boundaries. and the future of technology, design, and industry. >> so far in our quest to find innovative companies and people, i have gotten to go to chicago and nashua, new hampshire. you just went to mexico. what were you doing there? rachel: i was snorkeling around a three-story fish farm called an aqua pod. >> what is an aqua pod and i thought fish farms have a bad rap? rachel: some of them do, because they are close to shore and produce a lot of pollution. aqua pods are moving fish farming into open ocean and producing them in a more sustainable way.

>> the oceans are already in trouble. i think we have to think about restoring the ocean, improving the condition of wild fish. we can do that by growing in farms in the open ocean. ocean prime technologies is leading the advancement of the technology to make open ocean fish farming sustainable, affordable, and prompt. i think this will open up new territories. it will revolutionize aquaculture. this is from baja.

>> rachel, we are about to see one of our cages being raised. here it comes. fish farming systems of the future. rachel: definitely looks like it is from the future. how many aqua pods are at the site right now? >> right now we have four at the site, it is designed for 10 altogether. rachel: there are many types of fish farms out there. what is the advantage of using the aqua pod? >> i liken it to the difference between erecting a tent and building a house. this is like a tent, it is flexible fabric, it won't hold up to a hurricane or rough weather conditions. the aqua pod is a structure. it is totally enclosed. it has metal mesh, and an entire framework behind it. what we are doing and demonstrating with these open ocean fish farms is developing a profitable, sustainable, environmentally sensitive system. we can change the way people are growing fish, produce high-quality protein for human

consumption. fish farming developed over the last 40 years in sheltered bays and close to shore. there are advantages to being in the open ocean. there is much more real estate out there. as fish farming grows, there won't be enough places close to shore. my background is traditional fish farming. the idea of the aqua pod came to me when i said, we really can't sustain this in a safe and environmentally sustainable way. rachel: can i get a closer look at the aquapod? >> let's go see it. rachel: what are they doing right now? they are cleaning it. >> every farmer has to keep the barn clean, and a fish farm is no different. anything you keep in the ocean gets algae very quickly. because of the spherical shape, it can be rotated. any part of it can be washed on the surface.

that makes it unique. clean pens and healthy fish. rachel: you are going to give me an up close personal view of the aqua pod? >> you will be on top. you go first. rachel: okay. like rock climbing. >> almost there. rachel: this is amazing! what is the impact of the aqua pod on the surrounding ecosystem? >> we have seen a positive impact on the ecosystem. the aqua pods are fish-aggregating devices, every time we dive we see schools and schools of native fish swimming around. rachel: it prevents predators from coming in, but also allows for the waste to be drawn out. the waste produced by fish farms is one of the challenges of fish farming. >> for us being offshore with high currents, the current takes

away any remains that stay on the cage if necessary. rachel: lunchtime? >> lunchtime for the fish, that is correct, hatch open -- rachel: it is so clear and calm. >> the next stage is just to have an automated feeding system that will feed the 10 cages we plan to have out here. it is remote controlled on a feeding barge. every cage gets what is needs everyday. rachel: let's feed these suckers. all right. >> custom-made feed. rachel: there you go. cooked it myself. can i jump in there? here goes nothing. what are the greatest challenges on selling clients on the technology? >> we have two types of clients. the new people who want to get

into aquaculture, and that is a very steep learning curve. the other challenge is the existing fish farmers who are using surface pens. they have a multitude of questions. there is skepticism from the general public in terms of how fish farms work. skepticism from the traditional existing commercial fish farms that this can be done in the open ocean. we have got a lot to prove. rachel: how much does a fish farmer have to invest into this technology? >> the initial investment is high. we are talking about tens of millions of dollars. it is a farming system that is probably not suitable for small aquacultures, but for medium-sized company. >> we acknowledge the fact that setting up an open ocean fish farm is going to be challenging. we have investors who realize that what we are doing is cutting edge, it is new.

we're very confident that by the end of this year we will be profitable. >> we think we can achieve profitability between 10 to 15 aqua pods. rachel: how many fish does that mean? >> about 40,000 per aquapod. rachel: a lot of fish. >> a lot of fish. rachel: what is the future of the expansion of the aqua pod system? >> it is a huge future. we are looking at worldwide expansion. we have aqua pods in asia, latin america. definitely our market is global. >> we are going to change the perception of the industry, but also public perception which has largely been negative about fish farming because there are so many conflicts. >> we see farming going offshore where the conditions are so much better for it environmental sustainability. people really getting tuned in that we need to produce fish and do it sustainable to feed ourselves, to feed future generations, and do it better than we have been doing it in

the past. sam: i have spent some time in hospitals. they don't usually look like this. >> this is a living lab. ♪

sam: rachel, i went to see palomar medical center, which bills itself as the hospital of the future. when i got there, it was weird. it did not feel like a hospital. partly because they built it entirely, from the ground up. it incorporates all of the new thinking and technologies that are trying to address inefficiencies and healthcare. rachel: what about the established hospitals out there that are not starting from scratch? what can they take and learn from palomar? sam: palomar thinks of itself as a laboratory for healthcare technology. many of the innovations they are pioneering right now might well be rolled out to older, established hospitals in the future.

>> we are headed to this new hospital. brand-new. they basically started with a clean sheet on how to design a hospital, and the equipment they have in it. the hope is to create something more efficient and able to handle a lot of the stresses of the healthcare system is going to encounter in the future. >> how do you build today that allows you to go into that future? whatever we were going to build needed to be very patient centric, flexible. the challenge for us is, how do we take two steps for every 10 that we take today? technology can help us get there. sam: i imagine that in a lot of hospitals and institutions in general, there is a resistance to innovation. >> this is a living lab in its own way. if you have an idea and want to test it out, we are willing to take a look at that and help make you better in that process. sam: hi, i am sam. >> hi, sam, welcome to san diego. sam: i have spent some time in

hospitals. they don't usually look like this. >> that is our objective. sam: you have succeeded. seems more like a hotel. >> definitely not medical. you'll get that feel as you explore the building. this is the result of a healthcare bond asked in california, the largest one in california history. sam: how much did this whole operation cost? >> this hospital is about $1 billion. sam: excellent. >> the first thing you do when you come in and get registered. sam: which usually means a clipboard and about 38 pages of paper. >> that's right, but we don't do that here. >> please come closer to the camera. we have finished taking pictures of your eye. sam: that is it. >> can move my head now? >> yes, you can. >> you are now registered. in a hospital when tests are ordered for you, we can identify all of that information and associate it with you to make sure that all of the records are stored in one place.

sam: you guys have not only rethinking registration, but things like monitoring vital signs. when i think of the times i have been in the hospital, vital signs have been exceedingly annoying. >> we have jim with us today from a wireless company. this is the old way of doing spot-check monitor. we are the first hospital in the world to implement this next generation physiological monitoring platform. >> the device itself is a small, wrist-worn device. very lightweight. all of the vital signs data flows wirelessly from the patient to our system and into the electronic medical record. that frees nurses up to do what nurses should be doing, caring for patients, rather than keeping records. sam: i am here with melissa. >> hi. sam: what can you tell me you are doing here? >> i am hooking up electrodes to you so we can start getting your heart rate, your skin temperature. sam: this way?

i never know. >> you are at a 106 heart rate right now. if i wanted to, i could touch that heart rate there and actually see the rhythm. your oxygen is 96 right now. sam: all of this displayed on this device and is going somewhere else, right? >> we invented our own applications. sam: $.99? >> hopefully a little more than that. physicians can have this device at home, so if they get a call, they can see all the waveform information coming from the monitor. sam: they can be providing care and assistance on the go, what are they are in the building or not that is more efficient, lower cost. >> is all about anytime, anywhere access. sequoia will be selling that to other hospitals. sam: very, very cool. orlando, where are you? >> i am using this vgo robot.

we have several views around the hospital. sam: the benefit here is that not only can you have virtual presence, but you can move around. can we take a little walk? >> let's do that. sam: i'm assuming doctors and nurses are able to go visit patients. >> we encourage family members not in san diego, from around the world, they can control these robots and visit with patients. we have found that they love it. sam: you are sitting at a laptop? >> yes. just sitting at a laptop and using the software that we make available, and that is it. it is very easy to use. it is a great tool. sam: much cheaper than airfare. >> exactly. sam: i see that we are in what appears to be a standard issue hospital room. i cannot help but notice whatever this is. do not touch or lean on -- i have already now done that. i am sorry. >> this is a robotic room disinfection machine. sam: that is the scariest thing i've heard in weeks. >> this machine uses very high

intensity light. if we turned this on while we are in here, you would get a bad sunburn. what this light does is attack the dna of the pathogens and prevents the pathogens from replicating. in 5 to 10 minutes, this device is going to sterilize all the surfaces in the room. sam: howard hughes would have loved one of these. is this new to hospitals? >> we were the first on the west coast. this is an added safety measure to go way beyond what other hospitals are doing. sam: have you noticed since implementing the new system any change in terms of people getting infected? >> our own research shows a dramatic decrease. this is a superbug killer. it really does work as advertised. >> we don't know what the next 10 years will produce. based on the infrastructure, what we have created here allows us to respond to any of those needs, 10 to 15 years from now. wherever you go in this

building, you have a sense of what the future could be, not just what today is. matt: look at all those robots working together. it is like a choreographed ballet.

sam: usually when i am thinking about green cars, i am thinking about the prius and the tesla. what i'm not thinking about is where they are made. as it turns out, volkswagen has put a lot of thought into this and has one of the greenest. rachel: auto plants and sustainability do not usually go hand-in-hand. what is volkswagen doing? sam: vw built the first leed platinum plant. our colleague matt miller went down to chattanooga check it out.

matt: i am headed to the volkswagen factory in chattanooga, tennessee. it is a big one -- they produce more than 150,000 passats per year. the factory is really environmentally friendly. think blue, that is their big slogan here. >> think blue means sustainability. not just the vehicle, also the factory itself. when we designed the factory, we took the leed checklist to set up a platinum facility. assembling parts, paint job, body shop -- matt: bob, what do you do here? >> i am the welding specialist for the body shop. matt: that is a big deal. welding is a big part of the body shop. >> a lot of responsibility. what makes us different, it

monitors the welding current and reacts in real time and inputs the exact amount of energy needed to make a good weld. normally, you will see a lot of expulsions of metal flying. matt: i like it when you see that. >> most people like it. but it is actually not a good thing. matt: look at all those robots working together. it is like a choreographed ballet. >> this roof is sloped to collect the rainwater. we collected almost one million gallons of water last year. it cools the welding sets of the robot. we have over 400 robots in the body shop. they heat up. we needed a way to cool them off in a natural way. we used natural resources to do that. what we are looking at right

here is one of three rain collection we have in the facility. matt: 3000 gallons of water right now. >> capacity, yes. matt: and that you guys collect rainwater in other parts of the plant, you use rainwater to drive 700,000 toilet flushes a year? >> absolutely. matt: it must save you a ton of water every year. >> it does. about three olympic-sized swimming pools. >> our whole team is always about sustainability. starting with the dry scrubber technology we use in the paint shop. this is a lower number of energy use is less water we lose. >> here we will see some paint robots. the most innovative thing about this booth is the dry scrubber. the unique thing about it, in a traditional wet scrubber system, you have to remove the paint from the water and that paint

sludge is usually sent to waste or landfill. matt: you don't have to use all the water you would typically use to deal with the over spraying. and you don't have to clean out all that water. not that much contamination afterwards. >> correct. matt: hundreds of thousands of gallons of water saved, which saves you money. and then saves me money when i buy a passat. >> yes. matt: i lived in germany for a long time and i know germans are seriously concerned with the environment. and yet you choose chattanooga, tennessee to install a cutting-edge plant. why choose here to do what seemed to fit really well in germany? >> you see the particular history of chattanooga. it was one of the dirtiest cities in the u.s. at a certain point. see which path it has taken. it fits very well together with

our dedication to environmental cleanliness. chattanooga worked very hard to improve their situation. matt: we are next to a car manufacturer. >> that is right. matt: i am used to detroit. >> this particular solar field is the largest in the field in the state of tennessee. matt: what kind of power is it generating? >> we produce about 7.6 megawatts of ac. matt: the amazing thing is that you have this massive solar park here, next to a wetland. >> putting in the solar park helped our situation with the wetlands. before it was just an area that drained into it.

if it wasn't maintained well, it could damage some of the wetlands. even though we did a massive construction project. it helped the wetlands in a way, by protecting them. matt: it improves the whole ecosystem, it doesn't take away from it. the geese don't mind the glare. >> no. matt: we are literally 300 yards away from an automotive manufacturer. we could sit down here and go hunting. it's fantastic. >> i am 100% convinced, all in all, in terms of the energy consumption we have, in terms of water consumption we have, it is already paying off. matt: why doesn't everybody do this? >> it is a lot easier to do it right at the beginning like we did. we are beyond green now, we're thinking blue. matt: it keeps your bills cheaper. as far as i understand it, this factory is kind of the blueprint for how to build other factories around the world. >> right now, four other factories in china are following

the design of our plant here. from the factory side and the product side, we really try to push forward. the commitment until 2018 to reduce our energy by 25% on all factories. we are convinced that we have to take care of our blue planet. it is really executing responsibility, we feel. ♪

cory: from pier 3 in san francisco, welcome to "bloomberg west," where we focus on innovation, technology and the future of business. i'm cory johnson. every weekend we bring you the "best of west," the top interviews with the power players in technology and media. to our top stories. silicon valley's football team, the san francisco 49ers are getting ready to host the super bowl 50 in levi stadium in santa clara next year, right in the belly of silicon valley. i spoke with yahoo! chairman maynard webb, big 49ers fan and 49ers c.e.o. jed york.