Future Human

For the last 22 years, David Neilson has studied light. As Group Leader for Optical Transmission at Nokia Bell Labs, he’s seen the development of fiber optics transform communications and the internet. This unimaginable growth in speed and connectivity has given rise to the cloud, which today shapes our lives dramatically. But the cloud is just getting started. Thanks to innovation in optical transmission, the cloud will achieve – or even surpass – science fiction’s most elaborate scenarios. 

Budapest-based Péter Szilágyi, a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at Nokia Bell Labs, thinks that despite the great technical advances we’ve seen over the years, technology makes us jump through too many hoops – especially when it comes to networks. His work on intelligent intent-based networking (I2BN) envisions a future where technology will have to adapt to us, seamlessly and intuitively. Rather than watching video on how to configure a wireless router or pulling our hair in frustration over a misbehaving app, we’ll have networks that simply and dynamically conform to our desires.

Nokia Bell Labs researcher Sean Kennedy helps de-mystify Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, utilizing lessons from behavioral psychologist Daniel Kahneman to frame a responsible approach to innovation.

With so much focus on wireless and 5G, it's easy to disregard the massive wired infrastructure that runs through our cities and encircles our homes. But with so many transitioning to remote work - and in many cases retreating to heavily insulated steel cages that can hinder wireless signals - it turns out those same copper wires our forefathers plugged their rotary phones into hold previously unforeseen promise for the future of faster data rates, as long as we get the science right.

Presented in its entirety, here is the Shannon Luminary Lecture by Miguel Nicolelis, founder and co-director of the Duke University Center for Neuroengineering. Listen in as Nicolelis describes a future where brain-machine interfaces restore movement to paralyzed limbs and allow humans to manipulate their environments with their minds rather than their muscles. If you haven’t already, then please check out episode 21 of Future Human for further insight into Nicolelis’s groundbreaking work. 

At the opening of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, 1 billion viewers watched as a paraplegic young man walked on to the field with the assistance of a futuristic exoskeleton and, against all odds, was able to kick a ball using only his mind. Miguel Nicolelis, the colorful Brazilian co-director of the Duke University Center for Neuroengineering, explains that this kick was the culmination of decades of research – and offers an intriguing glimpse into the ways that science will help us heal ourselves. 

As remote work becomes the new norm in the face of our ongoing health crisis, we explore the technologies that enable us to stay productive and connected. Speaking to Bell Labs President and Nokia CTO Marcus Weldon, Stuttgart-based researcher Stefan Wesemann explains how massive MIMO technology will improve 5G capacity and be less taxing on our phones. And, more intriguingly, it may even help us live healthier lives.