Future Human

Actor, author, activist, playwright and student of technology Stephen Fry – a wryly self-described ‘all round national treasure’ – gives us a glimpse into the thinking behind his show-stopping Nokia Bell Labs Shannon Luminary lecture. With his guidance, we’re able to see how the myth of Pandora, the invention of chess, and the imminent singularity are all of a piece, and whether we have a fighting chance against the robots. Future Human is a presentation of Nokia Bell Labs, produced by audiation.fm.

We’re excited to present the full Shannon Luminary Series lecture by renowned cancer researcher Stephen Friend: “The Future of Human Agency: Exploration of the Role of Art and Technology in Determining Risk, Awareness, and Free Will.” Check out Episode 5 to hear why Bell Labs’ President Marcus Weldon called this “the bravest talk I’ve ever seen.” Also, you can watch the video of the lecture here: http://bit.ly/FriendsWarning. Future Human is a presentation of Nokia Bell Labs, produced by audiation.fm.

Revered cancer researcher Stephen Friend has a message: not only do we need to take more agency in our own healthcare, beyond the “priestly experts” we entrust, but we need to reclaim “endangered experiences” where we have a dialogue with ourselves. Bell Labs’ Marcus Weldon calls this lecture “the bravest talk I’ve ever seen.” Listen to this episode to understand why; then, listen to the full lecture in Episode 6. Future Human is a presentation of Nokia Bell Labs, produced by audiation.fm.

Claude Shannon. “Father of the Information Age.” Inveterate tinkerer. Restless polymath. His work made digital computing possible. Yet he refused to rest on his laurels, always turning his attention to solving the next “problem that interested him most.” Two spiritual descendants, neuroscientists Henry Markram and David Eagleman, are relentlessly focused on uncovering the workings of the brain – perhaps even improving on it. Future Human is a presentation of Nokia Bell Labs, produced by audiation.fm.

The latest chapter of the Bell Labs relaunch of Experiments In Art and Technology – E.A.T., a 50-years long collaboration between artists and engineers – features a first-of-its-kind album premiere: Beatie Wolfe performing live in one of the quietest rooms in the world, as the imagery and lyrics of her songs come to life around her via Augmented Reality. Forget about a “lyric video” – this is like waking up inside a song. Could this be the future of how music artists perform? We check in with various experts to get the scoop. The songs from this episode are featured on Beatie’s just-released new album, “Raw Space,” available at: https://www.beatiewolfe.com/music/ - music-raw-space-section. Also mentioned: Firstage.com, the Augmented Reality concert company; DigitalDomain.com, a leader in digital effects, virtual humans and VR; “Raw Space” visual design crew http://design-io.com/; and engineering and design firm arup.com. Future Human is a presentation of Nokia Bell Labs, produced by audiation.fm.

This episode of Future Human takes us from one of the world’s quietest rooms – Bell Labs’ anechoic chamber – into the voluminous history of sound innovation and the amazing potential of music-based therapy. This episode features the song “Need Somebody” by musician Beatie Wolfe. Find out more about her groundbreaking music and dementia project here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C3sPtaw9ew and check out more of her music at beatiewolfe.com. To learn more about the inspiring work of Dr. Connie Tomaino, please check out the Institute For Music and Neurologic Function at http://musictherapy.imnf.org/. To hear more about Bell Labs’ anechoic chamber, check out the episode of the Radiolab podcast entitled “Hallucinating Sound” (http://www.radiolab.org/story/91792-hallucinating-sound/). For a heartwarming glimpse of how music reawakened an inert, elderly patient named Henry, take a look here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyZQf0p73QM (have some tissues on hand). Future Human is a presentation of Nokia Bell Labs, produced by audiation.fm.

Welcome to Future Human, an exploration into the human potential of technology. In the series debut, we examine the origins of E.A.T. (Experiments in Art and Technology) – an unlikely pairing of artists and engineers in the 1960s which heralded some of the most impactful technological advances of the last century – and uncover the motivations for the recent reinvigoration of the program. For more information about E.A.T., check out https://www.bell-labs.com/explore/experiments-art-and-technology/. Future Human is a presentation of Nokia Bell Labs, produced by audiation.fm.

Welcome to Future Human, an exploration into the human potential of technology. Much of the technology we take for granted has been hatched over decades, forged by an ongoing and unlikely collaboration between emerging artists and the keenest engineering minds in the world. As the science fiction of days past becomes everyday reality, where will the next great ideas come from? Listen in as today’s most adventurous artists, musicians and creative thinkers inspire their scientific peers to unleash a more connected world.