Recent advances in facial recognition technology are giving us the feeling of being much closer to a "Minority Report" reality. But how close are we really? Psychology professor Jennifer Steeves of York University explains how human beings recognize one another compared to facial recognition software. And Alessandro Acquisti from Carnegie Mellon University reveals some surprising research into how regular recognition tech can identify "anonymous" people. (Runs 22:38)

• Jennifer Steeves
• Centre for Vision Research
• The Thatcher Effect
• Alessandro Aquisti

Ok, Moore's Law. It is... um... we'll let you read up on it on your own! We're interested in someone who proposes a modification of it. Jonathan Koomey is a consulting professor at Stanford University, and his research shows that it's not processing power that doubles every 18 months, it's energy efficiency. And in a world dominated by mobile devices and mobile batteries, efficiency may become the new power. (Runs 3:39)

• Jonathan Koomey
• More on Koomey's Research
• Explaining Moore's Law

No two snowflakes are alike, no two people are the same... right? You may think you're unique, but it turns out you're awfully predictable. Jure Leskovec is an assistant professor of computer science at Stanford, and he analyses past human behaviour online to predict future outcomes. And he's discovered he can correctly predict who your next friends on Facebook will be. (Runs 9:57)

 

• Jure Leskovec
• [PDF] Supervised Random Walks: Predicting and Recommending Links in Social Networks
• Full uncut version of interview with Jure Leskovec

What happens when cities can monitor and respond to the people who live in them? There is no end to the Spark obsession with this question. Ayesha Khanna, director of the Hybrid Reality Institute, talks to Nora Young about the potential, and the challenges of smart cities, and what becomes possible when sensors are embedded everywhere. (Runs 12:20)

• Ayesha Khanna
• Hybrid Reality Institute
• Full uncut version of interview with Ayesha Khanna