o, because this orchestra called the brain continuously adapts itself. and so we ask a few astute questions. we can control our thoughts, which makes us very power, kind of like a superpower. ah, questions about life? the universe. i were series 42 years. almost everything. this week on p w i world is becoming increasingly digitalized. smartphones are most common connection to this new way of life. but the technology used to communicate with people and objects is getting more and more sophisticated with a smartphone soon be a thing of the past. in the future,

other technologies could revolutionize our world. welcome to tomorrow to day, the d. w. science magazine 5310000000 people use smartphones, meaning that 2 thirds of the world's population rely on their devices in their everyday lives. we use them for shopping into acting in social networks, filming things and playing games. and sometimes even for making calls, like without a smartphone is barely imaginable. but it may soon be a realistic prospect. our love affair with the smartphone could soon be over. so say the bosses of sony, apple, facebook, and others, sams exact d,

j co gives them another 4 years for now. digital expert christiane scheffler is still a smartphone junkie. lang, when he al fated money i, when i get out and swap, the 1st thing i look at is my smartphone and wakes me up. i'm tired, it's the 1st thing i pick up. and the last thing i put down talk, i'll stand gibber. but he also thinks they're well past their zenith for this any up front in be tips with the citizens. economists tell us that technologies have a product lifecycle and get the smartphone. the smartphone has been somewhere high up in terms of the product life cycle for years. it's gonzalez went from few, you might not have bought a new smartphone for 5 years. and then you do, and you realize not much has changed his tagami skin that and those are all signs at the smartphone is reaching the end of the road as a smartphone, quasi invisalign ouse. and typically that is the smartphone to meet the same fate as old style tv's, rotary, dial telephones, wireless radios, and walk mans. and if so, what's next?

digital ethics expert 0 should be come on. so silicon valley has a clear vision of what's to come as, as good notation of flushed. i don't think when ideas, of course, quite dominant in the tech world, papa permanently having a voice assistant in your ear. who does everything for you to us as 10 miles for i knew the name as con, like we saw this vision as a future in the film her and song. oh, my kind little guy, bob. there are also glasses like a smart glasses. google went to nailed that, let you take an avatar with you on this flight. you might have configured it in a virtual world and then it, it has beneath you with a voice assistant action. what about if our brain could directly communicate with the digital world? without typing swiping more voice commands. recently a so called brain computer interface was launched that enables users to control programs with their minds

a corporate video from the company. next mine shows people playing video games, making music and using household devices all with the power of their thoughts. it sounds like science fiction with so we got hold of a test device to try it out. christiane doesn't have a chip implanted instead. sensors on the back of his head are supposed to register what he's thinking. i only have one on the, in the many digital devices i have time, i've never controlled any of them with my new outlet. i'm very curious as to, if it works at all back up the super helpful watson yet. the brain computer interface or b c. i measures the brain waves in our visual cortex. when our eyes focus on a certain point, the sensors pick up this information and send a corresponding digital signal to the computer when kenneth caliber here and i get the sonic and calibrated. and then there's

a scale from $1.00 to $5.00 lines. this one is the worst and find the best of best done at the 1st several times. i used it. i only got one out of 5, so nothing at all. i was just asking of garnished and now i'm starting the calibration. he'll doesn't, he's in there. the 3 line i and if i do it well, they come together to form a triangle for being. let's see, lam, guy, egg on his microphone. good, chris, john, succeed this time in controlling his brain waves so that a triangle is formed. is it really as easy as the corporate video say it is? while christiane tries to connect his brain to the interface, we ask andrea's chima from the tech company, huawei, what he thinks will replace the smartphone. the smartphone built kind of phones

will have a central role in the way that they do now be busy, whole different devices will show different functions and i'll be able to just move things back and forth between them depending on what the situation i'm. i'm pushing on here, hold and they haven't con enough team investment, is it? what if i'm on the sofa and have a big screen in front of me and gotten, i can take a video called there, you call even of them go smoothly, can be a name. and many times when i say i've got to go home, for example, to another room, i can just transfer it in there when they finish, even if i want to leave my apartment to me, i can take the video call with me on my smart phone line and my wearable i submit for to evolve. at the end of the day, it's about the devices adjusting to the user and not the other way around the motor and passage on the mac. next up more about what a future without smartphones might look like. but how did it all begin? in 1994, the i b m. simon was the 1st device to feed to

a touch screen. it was followed in 1996 by the nokia communicator the sensational development because it could send emails and faxes another 3 years later. the 1st cell phones with cameras hit the market to cheapest commands. for example, had a modest resolution of 0 point one, mega pixel, 2007. so the birth of the smartphone, as we know it today, when the 1st i phone was unveiled. but all that could soon be history. tech firms are working on the replacement for the smartphone. google hopes to make touch screens redundant with projects solely. it aimed to track our every move using a tiny radar chip. like a bat, it sends out short signals and interprets the echoes that come back. these are then transformed into digital signals. this would make touch screen superfluous. so maybe one day we'll be able to control our kitchen appliances, cars, computers,

and consumer electronics with gestures using augmented reality glasses like microsoft's hollow lens, it's already possible to work with holograms in a virtual reality world. cell phones barely play a role here any more. de sconces one on each on the common consumer consumer belie thing, isn't consumer ready yet a garbage that they're still working on as a foster? hey, it says the pillar out. of course you can imagine in say, hey, get psyched. i'll put on the glasses a tour and be able to check the temperature in my field of view in more small city me off. and when i have to go somewhere, can i, i won't need to look at a matter. we can have a, instead not a fallen arrow, wherever the sadness sends me, does have i so clearly uses exist and what's the long hill dream? the smart world is getting closer to becoming reality.

but what happens to the huge amounts of data which these things collect about us? that's more and more personal medical data movement files, buying behavior and emotional states. isn't there a huge potential for misuse? the internet of things, let's tech firms read each one of us like a book right down to the tiniest details. are we marching towards dystopian blade runner type society? does it so confidence? yes, i miss future that is being sold to us by silicon valley visionaries like eli mosque and co will lead us straight to a dark place fact. and i don't good come on. that's a stark. this is dark science fiction that jackson and it's dark sy fi, they've grown up with. this is kind of a longer a world in which i have friends or pet fee or a yard where people meet them on the 12th. i know that everyone sits in, in a close to purchase space for 2 and the home with that. now that's darker

journalist and digital expert christiane schiffer doesn't have such a negative view of the digital world. here. he's trying to connect his laptop to his brains, august. us sorta best. this is the best result to day to chicago taking tie. i think i'll get a 3 outside shot. a too, too bad dollars. i did better at home. you could see that most of the time it wasn't a triangle, but 2 out of 5. not enhanced by good enough to play games, colonel as of right. and so, so we could try break break for exam breaker, asked for young classes. ah, can he control the paddle using the power of thought alone? ah,

i mean, many times does either by if i try talking at the same time, i forget it. and you really have to concentrate the at the health concent here. next up, around of jump and run upper facilities, a phase in the clinton, you'd see that half constant. and now i have to concentrate again and try to move it out of the way. my, my, my n. austin picks up the we can use the touchpad to control the green, but take out the sco shockey i had done it and i also need to shut her dog under it. latasha ah, a fence ta ta fast in ye. and he had naked ah, that is totally fascinating in thus far i'd never have thought i could control

anything with my mind as i was surprised as a super that's quite an epiphany. as us exploded him really strenuous, extremely slow food, and you always have the feeling that it just might not work on the same kind of 20 foster. and so i can't imagine this will play a role next 5 years on the or in the coming years at all. now height of multiple voicemail here approved by spectrum. but tech billionaire eli musk is certain that it will work one day. he's experimenting with brain computer interface or b c i implants, which he believes will be how people will communicate with the digital world in future. so it might one day be possible to upload your thoughts to the cloud, or connect yourself to the internet. like smart devices already you people could be directly connected with robots, enabling them to master tough tasks, or explore faraway places together. but that's all in the distant future. back to

the present. so what exactly will life be like in the post smartphone era? it's the museum her doesn't i'm quite sure we'll be talking a lot via head fashioned via and they'll be a lot of competition that just like there was with smartphones to start this cover for saturday were walking around with many computers in our pockets. many could, i can imagine in future, we'll have the content sound of many computers in our ears. smart earbuds, a our glasses, smart homes, and maybe even mind controlled devices quicken because i'm sure that in 10 years, at the latest, most new buildings would be a i supported when the a, i knows which actions to carry out. why do you need a smartphone or to call your slot for the tech giant. envision that in the near future will be fully integrated into a virtual parallel world in which we work, travel and play. so we need to lay down legal and ethical rules for this brave new

world. now, because even if smartphones are on their way out, our growing dependence on technology will continue the matter. this is an integrated network of 3 d virtual worlds augmented mixed and virtual reality. but experts say that building it is expected to take another 20 years because it requires so much more computational capacity than what's currently available. and how exactly will it work? in the mesa, this is a virtual space populated by people's avatars. the next generation internet, basically where you can enjoy immersive into active environments and experiences, entertainment games, crypto currencies and everything else you can currently find on the internet. and not just fantasy worlds,

but duplicated real life environments. to forget shopping on websites, this virtual world enables you to actually visit this. it's designed to be fun, but useful to you can meet up with friends and colleagues who are far away in the real world. that's the promise of the mit averse. it all sounds very exciting, but can you really imagine living in a parallel, digital world like the most of us? that's what we have here is on d. w. social media channels. maxime roblis thinks it's pure fantasy. he writes, reality is always superior, the virtual world will not supercede the real one, but it's something louis sample can imagine. humans, he says, are known for their ability to adapt. so it won't be any different when it comes to constantly evolving digital world. for may more the met averse doesn't make any sense in terms of the prospective experience. although it might be interesting from

a shopping fashion and beauty perspective, victor day is fenmont compared to taking drugs to escape reality. but at some point, you have to return to your real life to re, i can't imagine any benefit from living in a virtual world and prefers the real one draw lima reckons it's going to cause problems across society for those who are exposed to these technologies. and grow up with them. it will affect an entire generation social and communication skills. thank you for your comments. ah. the societal problems caused by the most of us that joe lima mentioned in his post, already evident in smartphone use. for many teenagers, their smartphones are given in germany 96 percent of all 16 to 18 year olds used one among 10 to 12 year olds, the figures 86 percent,

and 21 percent of 6 to 9 year olds already have a smartphone 3 years ago. researchers at london university doctor to study covering young children and teenagers. 23 percent exhibited problematic signs of excess of use, which can lead to depression and stress. did you know that using a smartphone has an impact on your brain on our phones help us navigate. remember birthdays look up info and capture special moments, but did you know that relying on them heavily could be harming your memory? the studies show, let taking lots of photos can make us remember things less seeing the world dryer.

phones distracts us from many details around us have something feels smells, sounds. our brain links this info to create stronger, long term memories. but smartphones shift our focus. research even suggests that when we capture a moment with the intention of sharing it, we are more likely to remember it as it was captured, not as we experienced it. we look at our lives from the outside. there is one upside. our visual memories could be getting stronger in a steady museum visitors who took photos noticed more visual details and looked at more objects than those who didn't. but what about those fun facts? the museum guide shared? many had forgotten them. another problem is cognitive offloading.

we don't feel the need to remember something when our devices are already doing the job. we use them as our brains external hard drive. but like a muscle, the memory storage of our brain. the hippocampus, literally grows. when we train it, do you know any numbers by heart? can you find your way without your phone? why not try it for a day? if i was let is read why i gave you a do you have a science related question? then send it in. if we feature it in our show, we'll send you a little surprise as a thank you. come on just on

you can see our postal address at the end of the show, but you can also find us online at d, w dot com slash science or on twitter. this garage is said to be the birthplace of what eventually became the apple cooperation . many of today's tech giant had humble beginnings. now they influence the everyday lives of millions of uses. how will the digital world of the future luck? one of today's young inventors wants to help the visually impaired to navigate their way through every day. situations on the street and rush can ahead. clar loader by draws rudolph people. myer is almost completely blind, but he can still identify objects around him. thanks to an invention that gives him

a heads up to marsh nash wants to help people with visual impairments and came up with a device he where around your neck of of, to get this on a chemical for bought a device has a camera link to a computer come on and the camera records images that are analyzed using artificial intelligence, the father to identify potential danger, like a car and sensors measure how far away the obstacles are and saddle to him and his mist. rudolph is testing the invention on his daily walks through regensburg hill from the adult. i'd like obstacles to be flagged well in advance for a pedestrian crossing that's not adapted for the visually impaired. it should tell me if the lights green or red, if i can walk or not to glue orders over, can include dentist. navigation aids for people with visual impairments is an expanding market. tomasz who just finished high school, wanted his device to respond to the challenges posed by road traffic. he built

a small computer that uses sensors and a camera to analyze the surroundings in real time. yeah, the color is the cameras, the green ship here. it records 30 image is a 2nd of the road traffic and sends it to the a i system, gets flight up. the system can recognize objects and people and identify whether they're potential obstacles. thomas train the a i system using a database of 60000 images. teaching it to differentiate between 10 different types of objects is advanced by a bit of foreseeing, loaded pedestrians. not yet because as you can see here would also, i suppose, the motorbike or chairs benches, trash cans. when pedestrian crossing lansing an x test have shown that my a i system is about 75 percent accurate hyphen that's right in the middle of the performance range for object recognition networks is fos. heights or object there

between about 70 to 80 percent accurate descriptions of social access port. saint thomas also wrote his own software program for the device. the result is a new kind of navigational aid that can identify obstacles in the surrounding area and inform the user through headphones. act warnings. pedestrian ahead. let's take a look at how that works in practice. we'll hear the information that rudolph is hearing, and see what the camera shows. the color boxes show what the a i system is identifying. but not every object should trigger a warning to marsh program, the software to identify which objects are obstacles. after warning, i bicycle ahead and which ones aren't. the invention is still a prototype and intended only as an assistive technology. so rudolph also uses his

came the 1st test, will the device identify and approaching pedestrian act warnings gadarian ahead. the message came relatively late. will the technology react more quickly to an approaching car warning car ahead. when we were standing in the road earlier, i had the feeling that it reacted a bit late. judging by the sound, the corridor already passed his form tornado. as alternate level by wall. not sir, no, sir. test i use these kind of talent and recordings, so i can look at it afterwards. forms study what happened and make adjustments to this is still fossil on this method austin naco steel. the next test is an important one in germany. not every pedestrian crossing has an acoustic signal for visually impaired people act

a warning to on the cross walk. light is ranch the stop. the on the light is green secret. you may proceed, although no food will open crosswalk, it was really great. well, at pedestrian crossings, it's especially important because many lights don't have acoustic signals or additional tactile information. so that's a very important situation where this device can really help with you heard from cold. so how happy is rudolf with the invention? overall, legacy is good. clearly there are definitely a few things that need to be improved, but it's really on the right path. you'll keep it up to. so it's very me the story orse. so unless i'll use what we've learned here today to make improvements, i'm quite happy with the way that it recognized the cross spotlights. then that's fine. what's very important to me, lou camacho would also like to make his device much smaller, and he already has a new design in mind. that was this

week's episode of tomorrow today, whether you've been watching on your phone, your tablet, your computer or your tv we have you enjoyed the show you next time and stay curious with me. ah ah, with

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