Sparks will fly: How to hack your home – Making contact (2014)

Danielle George

Danielle George attempts to beam a special guest into the theatre via hologram, using the technology found in a mobile phone.

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Danielle George putting her hand into the back of a sculpture of a cow
Credit: Royal Institution

Lecture 2 – Making contact

Inspired by Alexander Graham Bell, Danielle George attempts to beam a special guest into the theatre via hologram, using the technology found in a mobile phone.

When Scottish inventor Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated the first telephone in 1876, he could never have dreamed that in 2014 we’d all be carrying wire-free phones in our pockets and be able to video chat is crystal clear HD across the world.

In this lecture, Danielle explains how these technologies work and shows how they can be adapted to help keep you connected to the people around you. She shows you how to control paintball cannons with a webcam and turn your smartphone into a microscope whilst also investigating a device that allows you to feel invisible objects in mid-air.

About the 2014 CHRISTMAS LECTURES

A revolution is happening. Across the world people are taking control of the devices we use every day, customising them, creating new things and using the sparks of their imagination to change the world. Now it’s your turn, and you can start with the things you have around you.

Electrical and electronics engineer, Danielle George takes three great British inventions – a light bulb, a telephone and a motor – and shows you how to adapt them and transform them to do extraordinary things. This is tinkering for the 21st century, using the full array of cutting edge devices that we can lay our hands on: 3D printers, new materials, online collaboration and controlling devices through coding.

Inspired by the great inventors and standing on the shoulders of thousands of people playing at their kitchen table or in their shed, Danielle announces the new rules of invention and shows you how to use modern tools, technologies and things from your home to have fun and make a difference to the world around you.

Anything could happen. Sparks will fly.