Digital Planet

By BBC World ServiceTechnology

Digital Planet episodes

June 28, 2022 What’s the deal with the metaverse?
So what is the metaverse really? Following a montage of BBC World Service listeners’ responses and opinions, contributing expert Ghislaine Boddington will shed light on this question. As it turns out, while there are current examples of virtual worlds, the metaverse is still being formed. Predicting exactly what it will be like is harder than one might think.
An afternoon in Altspace
What does it feel like to be in the metaverse? Reporter Chris Berrow strapped on his VR headset and spent some time in AltspaceVR to find out. From holding a virtual cat to doing yoga class, his experience turned out to be stranger than he had anticipated.
Future implications
If the metaverse becomes as popular as some predict, where are we headed? In a live discussion with tech futurist and metaverse expert Cathy Hackl, video game writer Colin Harvey, and our very own Ghislaine Boddington, we discuss the big issues on the horizon. Who will be creating it and who will have access? Could this lead to harvesting of biometric data? Will all of us actually use the metaverse?
The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.
Studio Manager: Sue Maillot
Producer: Florian Bohr
(Image: Looking through virtual reality glasses into the metaverse world. Credit: Cemile Bingo l/ Getty Images)
38 min
June 21, 2022 Japan tackles online insults
Increased punishment for online insults in Japan
Japan has taken the first steps to make online insults punishable by up to one year in prison. This new legislation comes two years after the suicide of Japanese reality TV star and professional wrestler Hana Kimura. BBC reporter Mariko Oi tells us how this new legislation came to be and what it means, and legal expert Dr. Sanae Fujita and cyberpsychologist Dr. Nicola Fox Hamilton talk to Gareth about why online abuse occurs so frequently, what ways we can tackle it, and whether this new law is fit for purpose.
27 years of Internet Explorer
After almost three decades, Microsoft has decided to retire the Internet Explorer (sort of). Contributing expert Bill Thompson takes us on a journey to the early days and back again. What has changed since the once-popular browser’s inception?
Smart lipstick
Brazilian cosmetics company Grupo Boticario and centre for innovation CESAR are developing 'O Batom Inteligente' – 'the smart lipstick'. The device will use artificial intelligence to apply lipstick automatically. Reporter Fern Lulham spoke to the creators of the device, and explains to Gareth how applying lipstick is a much harder feat to accomplish than one might think, and what it could mean for people with disabilities.
The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.
Studio Manager: Steve Greenwood
Producer: Florian Bohr
44 min
June 14, 2022 Archiving music in glass
‘Project Silica’ uses ultrafast laser optics and machine learning to utilise glass as a storage device. The fused silica glass is fully resilient to electromagnetic pulses (EMP) and to the most challenging environmental conditions, ensuring the data written into it is not degraded. In this proof of concept for the Global Music Vault in Svalbard, this glass platter will have a selection of some of the most important music data and files on it. Gareth talks to Ant Rowstron, who has been working on the technology at Microsoft, and Beatie Wolfe, a musician whose music has been included in the data storage proof of concept.
Data-driven city planning
Barcelona is developing a digital twin of its city to aid with city management decisions. The city is currently at the initial stage of the project, designed to produce simulations of different planning scenarios to create more data-driven decisions. Gareth chats to Deputy Mayor of Barcelona Laia Bonet and Patricio Reyes, a researcher at the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, about the potential uses of simulations and how digital twins could improve city planning in the future.
The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.
Studio Manager: Steve Greenwood
Producer: Hannah Fisher
Photo: Music stored in fused silica glass
Credit: Global Music Vault
40 min
June 07, 2022 Community Networks: Connecting the unconnected
Across the North American continent, there is a stark difference in the availability of internet to different communities. Tribal lands are typically remote, rural and rugged landscapes, and often have very patchy, or non-existent internet connectivity. Dr Traci Morris explains why such a digital divide exists and how tribes are working together, both within their communities and with each other, to create and gain access to communications networks.
Digital Deras connecting farmers in rural Pakistan
In rural Punjab in Pakistan, farmers and villagers gather in places called ‘deras’ to socialise, drink tea and coffee and discuss their farms. But one project has created a community network to transform one of these deras to have digital facilities – a ‘digital dera’. Farmers use this digital dera to access crucial weather forecasts and other information to help them manage their farms more efficiently. It also helps them battle the impact of climate change, as the crop cycles change due to shifting weather patterns. Founders of the project Fouad Bajwa and Aamer Hayat speak to Gareth about the impact of the digital dera project on the farming community.
Offline internet in Cuba
Cuba is one of the least digitally connected countries in the Western hemisphere. This is due to the US trade embargo but also poor internet infrastructure and a tight control of its own government on flow of information. Although accessing digital technologies is getting better, for ordinary Cubans going online is still a challenge. The internet connection is slow, unreliable and prohibitively expensive. To combat this, they have created an offline underground internet called ‘El Paquete Semanal’ or ‘Weekly Package’ – it is a one terabyte collection of eclectic material of movies, tv series, sport and music, while turning a blind eye to copyright. Reporter Snezana Curcic visited to learn more about this Cuban alternative to broadband internet.
Presenter: Gareth Mitchell
With expert commentary from Bill Thompson
Producer: Hannah Fisher
Studio Manager: Jackie Margerum
(Photo: 5G data stream running through a rural village. Credit: Huber & Starke/Digital Vision/Getty Images)
35 min
May 31, 2022 Data-driven football
Data-Driven football
With the end of this year’s Premier League season and the Champion’s League final in the last two weekends, viewers around the world were cheering on their favourite teams. While the rules of football may not have changed much in recent years, there is one thing that has: the amount of data. Coaches and teams can now examine player performance and statistics in great detail. Has this transformed the way the game is played? Gareth chats to Ruben Saavedra, CEO of Metrica Sports, which uses software to analyse videos of football games, and we hear from John Muller, a sports journalist at The Athletic, and Jordi Mompart, Director of Research and Analytics at FC Barcelona.
The tech behind the ABBAtars
ABBA's show opened this week in London, using digitally created avatars of their younger selves. Ghislaine tells Gareth about the cutting-edge tech that makes this performance possible and where else it might be used in the future.
Cultural representation in video games
Video games are a booming industry that is making its way across the globe. But are different cultures and places actually represented in mainstream games? BBC Arabic reporter Hossam Fazulla chats to Gareth about Jordanian games company Tamatem, which localises games for Arab audiences. And we speak to game developer Dimas Novan from Mojiken Productions in Indonesia, about their upcoming title 'A Space for the Unbound' and making content rooted in local culture.
The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.
Studio Manager: Giles Aspen
Producer: Florian Bohr and Hannah Fisher
(Photo: Futuristic silver soccer ball exploding into pixels
Credit: Colin Anderson Productions pty Ltd/Getty Images)
36 min
May 24, 2022 Detecting earthquakes with seafloor internet cables
Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory have released research that utilises existing subsea telecommunications cables as environmental sensors, for example to detect earthquakes. These cables exist in many parts of the world already, so this finding has the potential to revolutionise seafloor earthquake monitoring. Research scientist Giuseppe Marra explains how it all works and Laura Kong, the director of the International Tsunami Information Centre, tells Gareth how this could improve tsunami warning systems.
Healthcare delivery drones in India
India’s first organised medical drone programme was recently completed in the state of Telangana. Over the course of the 45-day trial, drones delivered different medical supplies including vaccines. What are the takeaways from this trial? Could this technology be used in other parts of the world? Gareth speaks to Rama Devi Lanka, Director of Emerging Technologies of Telangana government, and India lead for aerospace and drones at the World Economic Forum, Vignesh Santhaman.
AI translating African Bantu languages
The African continent has over a thousand languages and many of these are spoken by small populations. Abantu AI is a startup in Nairobi aiming to broaden the access to translation services by training AI on datasets of Bantu languages. Founder James Mwaniki tells Gareth how translation into these smaller African languages might be used in the future.
Presenter: Gareth Mitchell
With expert commentary from Bill Thompson
Producer: Florian Bohr
(Photo: Underwater fibre-optic cable on ocean floor. Credit: imaginima/Getty Images)
44 min
May 18, 2022 Reclaiming African art in digital form
A Nigerian project called Looty is seeking to take back African art in digital form. Members go into museums, take LiDAR scans using their phones, and recreate these African artworks as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The first piece is one of the Benin Bronzes from the British Museum. Different artistic reimaginations of this ancient artwork are now being sold as NFTs, with parts of the proceeds going to emerging Nigerian artists. Gareth speaks to Looty’s founder Chidi about the idea, and blockchain expert Anne Kaluvu comments on the project.
The innovative vision of Amazonia 4.0
The Amazon rainforest is being destroyed at an alarming rate. Could there be another way? The project Amazonia 4.0 is envisioning harnessing the rainforest’s inherent biodiversity through a sustainable bioeconomy. Professor Carlos Nobre explains how, with the help of drones, fibre optic cables and other technologies, this vision may become a reality.
The common fruit fly’s digital twin
One of the most ubiquitously used and best understood organisms in science is the common fruit fly. Many important developments in medicine and biology stem from research on this tiny insect. Now Professor Pavan Ramdya and his team have developed a complete simulated model of the fruit fly, a so-called digital twin. This model can be used by researchers to conduct experiments digitally, which may help speed up research and solve unanswered questions.
The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Angelica Mari.
Studio Manager: Duncan Hannant
Producers: Hannah Fisher and Florian Bohr
(Photo: A man uses Sony's 3D Creator scanning to create a three-dimensional image
Credit: PAU BARRENA/AFP via Getty Images)
41 min
May 10, 2022 North Korean digital control
North Korea is known as one of the most isolated countries in the world. Yet, there are North Koreans who have access to some of the same kind of technologies that are available to the rest of the world, albeit with severe restrictions. A new report suggests that some even hack their smartphones to get around the stringent digital controls. The authors of the report looked at North Korean phones and spoke to two escapees, a former computer programmer for the North Korean government and a former computer science student. One of the authors Martyn Williams as well as North Korea expert and co-host of the BBC podcast The Lazarus Heist Jean H. Lee join us on the programme.
Clean Drinking water at the push of a button
Researchers at MIT have created a portable device that can clean and desalinate seawater. It works by creating an electrical field that pulls salt and suspended solids out of the water. Unlike other methods, this requires little electricity and no filters. Research scientist Junghyo Yoon is hoping to improve and commercialise the technology in the next couple of years.
Military virtual and augmented reality
Microsoft has recently been contracted to construct more than 120,000 augmented reality headsets for the U.S. Army. How is virtual and augmented reality used in the military? Will it be used on the battlefield? Gareth speaks to journalist and VR training expert Andy Fawkes.
The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington.
Studio Manager: Steve Greenwood
Producer: Florian Bohr
(Image: Woman browsing on tablet in the dark
Credit: Christina Reichl Photography/Getty Images)
46 min
May 03, 2022 Electric road trip on Jersey
This week you can listen again to our electric vehicle Jersey road trip. Gareth and Bill are on the small English speaking island off the coast of France investigating the tech scene. We’re travelling around in an on-demand electric vehicle – all booked, paid for and locked and unlocked with an app from our smart phones. We’re finding out about agricultural tech on a dairy farm – how the famous Jersey Cows that produce premium milk are being managed by the latest innovations, and we’re also out in the fields where a host of sensors and data analytics are helping with the Jersey potato harvest. And we visit the remote control tower at St. Helier airport and see how remote airfields around the world are beginning to embrace this technology, pioneered on Jersey, to make flying to seldom used airports safer.
Guests include: Gavin Breeze, Director of Evie, Air traffic controllers Marc Hill and Richard Mayne, Jersey Cow Girl Becky Houzé and Mike Renouard Business Unit Director at the Jersey Royal Company.
The programme was presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson. It was first broadcast on 14th September 2021.
Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz
(Image: Bill Thompson has a pre-interview chat with guest on Digital Planet. Credit: Ania Lichtarowicz / BBC)
35 min
April 26, 2022 Can we predict Twitter’s future?
What’s in store for twitter, now that Elon Musk’s offer has been accepted by the Twitter board? Bill and Gareth discuss.
Is video chat tech still listening when you’re muted?
Video conferencing technology might still be listening to your voice even when you are on mute. A new study shows that a number of video meeting apps were recording audio even when the user had switched off their microphone. The researchers analysed the code behind the apps and found that all of the apps in the test were gathering raw audio when they were on mute – and that one of them was sending that information over the internet at the same rate, whether the user was muted or not. They even identified what someone was doing 82% of the time e.g cooking, typing. Professor Kassem Fawaz, one of the authors of the study, explains more.
World first – swarming molecular robots working together
Scientists from Hokkaido University in Japan have for the first time shown that molecular robots are five times more effective at transporting cargo when working as a swarm compared to working alone. Inspired by insects, like ants, honey bees and even fish and birds, they have created microscopic molecular robots that use microtubules propelled by proteins and DNA. Dr Mousumi Akter explains how they work together so successfully and the possible applications which include intensive drug delivery to a specific location or collection of micro-contaminants in the environment.
How to encourage more women into game design
Many women enjoy playing video games – but why are so few of them involved in designing them? Our gaming correspondent Leigh Milner has been meeting those at the top of the business, who are doing something to widen access to its creative side.
The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Bill Thompson.
Studio Manager: Giles Aspen
Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz
(Photo: Woman having a video meeting on her laptop. Credit: Witthaya Prasongsin/Getty Images)
48 min