IBM taps Tinseltown vision

For decades science has inspired Hollywood, now IBM researchers are looking to Hollywood for new ideas too. Five top IBM’s scientists met recently with students and alumni of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, along with others from the entertainment industry, to “Imagine the World in 2050.”

The event began what is expected to be continued collaboration between IBM and USC to find novel solutions for contemporary problems by combining creative vision and insight with science and technology.

AT USC, IBM researchers discussed the potential for self-healing spinal cords; embedded digital assistants that remember all you hear or say; the concept of “longevity management” for life-spans stretching past the century mark; drinkable, purified water everywhere; changes to the human genome; and other insights into what the world might be like in the Year 2050 and beyond.

“This research project will give our students and faculty access to another world of ideas via IBM Research. It’s an exchange we hope will fuel the imagination on both sides of the collaboration,” said Professor Richard Weinberg, Ph.D.

While many of these ideas sound like science fiction, IBM scientists say that projects incubating today in IBM labs, and elsewhere, might just make them reality.

“We’ve long realized that radical innovation can be accelerated by tapping into the most creative talent we can find,” said Don Eigler, Fellow, IBM Research. “Working with the USC School of Cinematic Arts is likely to give us a glimpse of the future that we never would have on our own. I expect sparks to fly.”