2013 Winners
R.R. Hawkins Award Elsevier Science
Alan Turing: His Work and Impact in the West, 350-550 AD
Edited by S. Barry Cooper and Jan van Leeuwen
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| Neil Harbisson and Kevin Warwick* |
"....the story of how he became the “World’s First Cyborg” yet left a deep impression. (A microchip embedded in a nerve in his wrist transmitted perceptible pulses to directly to his brain, based on signals sent via the Internet across the Atlantic ocean.)"
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| Ruby Wax, 1 Billion Rising, Feb 2013 |
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| Jon Snow head & shoulders above the rest! |
"ONE IN THREE WOMEN ON THE PLANET WILL BE RAPED OR BEATEN IN HER LIFETIME.*
ONE BILLION WOMEN VIOLATED IS AN ATROCITY
ONE BILLION WOMEN DANCING IS A REVOLUTION"
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| Yvette Cooper & Thandie Newton |
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| Ruby Wax |
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"KGM: Let me ask you about violence. You said, you know, everyone knows you make violent movies, you like violent movies. Why do you like making violent movies?
QT: Erm... I don't know. It's like asking Judd Apatow: "Why do you like making comedies?"
KGM: You just get a kick out of it? Or you just enjoy it? Or...
QT: It's... It's... It's a... I think... I think it's good cinema. I consider it good cinema. You know, it's... You sit there in a movie theatre when these cathartic, violent scenes happen... I'm talking about the cathartic violence scenes.
(...)
..Then there's the cathartic violence of Django paying back blood for blood.
KGM: Is that why you think people like watching violent movies -- people who are not violent people or twisted people in any way, but why it's OK to go into a movie and enjoy the violence?
QT: Yeah, well, it's a movie. It's a fantasy. It's a fantasy -- it's not real life. It's a fantasy. You go and you watch. You know, you watch a kung-fu movie and one guy takes on 100 people in a restaurant. That's fun!"
"To chastise the director for fictions and anachronisms may be to miss the point. We know Tarantino's interest doesn't so much lie in history as in the history of films; not so much in the time depicted as in previous depictions of the time. Spaghetti westerns, blaxploitation movies, John Wayne: all get their salute as the two men change the purpose of their travels from the hunt for profitable criminals to the finding and freeing of Django's wife, who is still enslaved on a Mississippi plantation owned by the capricious Mr Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). And yet Tarantino, to judge by his promotional interviews, wants it both ways: to create a preposterous entertainment and at the same time to have it taken seriously as a rewarding study of American slavery."
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| Image from Upworthy Facebook page |
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| Soldiers at the Venue-specific training Sunday 22 July 212 |
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| Amazing Technology PRD colleagues at North Greenwich Arena |
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| Gymnastics in North Greenwich Arena |
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| Brave soldiers helping to keep London 2012 safe at North Greenwich Arena/O2 |
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| North Greenwich Peninsula's Emirates Cable Car looking like a scene from Thunderbirds! |
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| View of the O2 Arena from Emirates Cable Car |
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| Spectators include Team GB gymnasts at North Greenwich Arena |
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| BT London Live in Hyde Park |
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| Basketball North Greenwich Arena |
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| Games Maker Dining Room wall display North Greenwich Arena |
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| Skyline leaving Games Making shift, North Greenwich Arena |
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| Wenlock! |
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| Tower Bridge during London 2012 |
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| Victory Ceremony finals of Men's Basketball: US Gold; Spain Silver & Russia Bronze |
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| BT London Live in Trafalgar Square - Paralympics 2012 |
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Agitos - National Gallery
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| Swimming - Aquatics, Paralympics 2012 |
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| Independent article on greatest Paralympian, Oscar Pistorius |
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| Olympic Stadium |
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| Athletics inside Olympic Stadium for Paralympics |
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| After-sports entertainment: Mariachis in the Olympic Park |
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| Gavin Esler interviews Professors Noel Sharkey and Kevin Warwick* |
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| Drone Robot: School of Systems Engineering, UoReading |
"About the presentation
Social robots are envisioned to become an integral part of our social fabric as we embrace the coming “silver†society. Across continents, governments have foreseen the needs of an aging population and funded a number of leading groups in universities and research institutes to focus on the research and development of social robots for improving services, healthcare and productivity.
In this talk, I will first present a brief history of social robotics and the state-of-the-art in research and development. Then, I will introduce three social robots developed at the Social Robotics Laboratory of the National University of Singapore, including Carine for interactive edutainment, Adam for hospitality service, and Nancy for human robot collaboration. To appreciate the advanced technologies in making social robots possible, I shall describe the core technological modules, or building blocks, including locomotion, intelligent control, visuoauditory interaction, and artificial skin. Deeper understanding and further advancements in the modules can help us to make social robots become more appealing, more engaging, and ultimately better companions.
As a community, we are working hard to make social robots help our "silver" society more vibrant, connected, and productive. Let me illustrate part of this big picture by presenting a few robots for different issues such as security, mobility, and productivity. Finally, I would like to conclude my presentation by giving a few futuristic scenarios how human and social robots live, work, and enjoy life together happily."
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| Ultra Hal conversation at Secret Cinema event |
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| Robert Medeksza (left) Marc Allen |
"Most impressive of all was the warehouse’s transformation into a spaceship. Walls were painted white with maps of the ship’s emergency exits everywhere. Hypersleep chambers were laid out in the middle of the room. Loudspeakers droned the message, “Thank you for investing in a brighter future” on repeat. Labs with plants and biology experiments were around every other corner. The 195,000-square-foot space had been entirely changed, and we were given a couple of hours to roam the premises, order cocktails or eat at the space restaurant that was set up.
By the time a warning alarm sounded and the ship employees began ushering everyone into the three screening rooms, many were guessing the movie would be Prometheus. (It was.)"
".... the point of Secret Cinema, nobody is supposed to know what they will be doing or which film they will be watching before they turn up.This time it is truly epic in scale. A 190,000 sq foot space has been transformed into the world of the film. Props from the actual movie have been flown over, driven up the M3 and bolted into place. It's completely immersive from the moment the audience gathers a statue of Robert Stephenson at Euston station from where they are led to the venue."- from The Telegraph.
"The event has a dark feel, figuratively and literally -- you'll navigate floors of sparse, dimly-lit corridors, room after room of unusual installations, research labs, terminals and interactive environments inspired by the film. Smoky, sports-hall-sized garages contain life-sized vehicles and props to investigate, and all are backed up by sound pumped from an enormous audio system.
Certain areas are more vibrant than others, however. Within one of the bars, dozens of sweet-smelling flowers hang from a roof to form a ceiling with an overpowering aroma. Once you reach the bar itself, complete with its actors serving drinks and fellow cinema-goers in costume, you're surrounded by metallic grey walls and bright white panels of light that illuminate the flowers overhead.
Then you sip a blue cocktail, have a sit down, maybe reflect on how weird your evening has become.
Elsewhere, a large restaurant exists to seat a couple of hundred people or so, sells food and drink, and serves as a sufficient resting place from the sensory overload that's thrusting away behind you. It was here, when I attended the opening night, that an emergency klaxon erupted in tandem with an explosion of red lights, and we were "evacuated" by actors to safety -- it was 9pm and finally the film was about to be screened.
Then you breathe, enjoy a movie, and leave at 11pm feeling like you're ready to get back to reality."
"..... a Central London warehouse was converted into a futuristic spaceship for a month to bring to life in a new format – Live Cinema.
Opening on 1st June, Secret Cinema’s production of Prometheus launched in tandem with the movie’s national theatrical release for the first time anywhere in the world, with full endorsement from director Ridley Scott.
Live Cinema, the format defined by Future Cinema – creators of Secret Cinema – allows the cinema goer to step inside the film and creates a unique experience and journey, far beyond a traditional 2D or 3D viewing experience. The line between actor and audience member is blurred. Secret Cinema were esteemed to have collaborated with Radiohead on creating a soundscape to score the parts of the experience using the track “Everything In Its Right Place” from Kid A in multiple dark spaces around the ship..."
"During his extensive research ahead of the film, Sir Ridley says he discovered that not even in the science world is there overwhelming agreement.
'I had a really great lunch with about 12 scientists and half of them believed in God and the other half roared with laughter said: 'Cobblers'."
