On March 29, the first ever TEDxLeuven was organised, and I'm happy to say I was one of the lucky people that got a ticket. As in every TEDx event, inspiring speakers with 'ideas worth spreading' followed each-other in 18 minute slots and you leave the event 14 speakers later with a humming mind. I've waited to blog about the event for the videos, but they are not uploaded yet, and I'm not sure if they will. So here's my impression...
Let's start with one of the most spectacular and out-of-the-ordinary talks: 'food and emotion' by chocolatier Dominique Persoone. This guy works with world famous chefs, uses techniques like food-pairing to match flavors, and is the brain behind the 'chocolate shooter' invented for the birthday of one of the Rolling Stones. (They seem to like things up their noses as legend has it.) He did an experiment with the audience for a 'whole' food tasting experience, to taste food via multiple senses. For example, he showed a movie of lawn mowing, while the cinema room was filled with the smell of grass and then asked us all to taste a chocolate with grass flavor. Next, we saw a movie of the sea, had iodium scent in the room and tasted a chocolate with oyster filling. We all got to keep the chocolate lipstick for fun at home...
But most of the talks were about the not so far future and what's cooking in the kitchen of technology. We has futurologist/trend watcher Herman Konings ("the future is already here, it is only not widely distributed yet"), Wilfried Vancraen on 3D printing, Julien Penders from Imec gave a demonstration in live brain monitoring with their portable scanner, Filip Maertens talked about living with big mother (smart phones and smart agents) and Patrick Crehan gave a talk 'the age of moral machines' on the rapid evolutions in the world of robots. Within 5 years robots will become affordable (now they are still toy-like and cost the same as a small car), and they will be able to sense and mimic emotions (which makes me wonder if people will get along with their emphatic robots better than with annoying real people). Singapore has already a Microsoft-lookalike strategy of 'a robot in every household by 2020'. All these talks have a similar message: smart hardware and software is out there, and it is getting ready (cheap enough) for the masses...
This talk seemed in contrast with the very strong talk of Rachida Aziz. She designs beautiful clothes 'for body and mind' that muslim woman can wear according to their ethics and beliefs. Her whole life is an example of how the seemingly contradictory stereotypes of the successful business woman on the one hand and the religious wife on the other hand are combined.
And it is the contrast between these talks that gave me my personal insight to walk away from TedxLeuven: technology WILL open up our lives and our minds, whether we like it or not. Portable brain scanners are there, robots have empathy and 'read you',... This will only work if we also open up our minds. In such world no data privacy and protection laws in the world will substitute for the simple fact it can't be ok to have a closed mind. There will be tension and pressure on hypocrisy and stereotypes because they will constantly bounce on mirror technology and data hold in our face. I hope open minds will win that confrontation.
On the TED format I have to say that the 18-minute attention span seems a good one. It forces speakers to make their point in a simple way, but also gives just enough time to go beyond the shiny surface. What I miss in the TED format is reflection time: so much is thrown at you in such short time. I'd prefer for example if between speakers there was a 10 minute slot where the lights would go on again and people could take notes, talk to their neighbours, tweet their reactions on the twitwall, etc... But I'm very impressed with my first TEDx experience. Want more :-)
PS If you don't believe that 'the robots are coming', have a look at these videos. One you can order right now and turns your iPhone into a robot, and the other is a health coach and is in the pre-order status.
No comments:
Post a Comment