MUMBAI: Presented by the award-winning business journalist Adam Shaw, Horizons continues its journey around the globe discovering the latest technologies and innovations that could revolutionize the way we live.
From discarded mobile phones that could provide a reliable solution to illegal deforestation, lettuce leaves that could help fight polio, HIV and cholera and seaweed that can be turned into biofuel, this series will continue the search for the ideas and people tackling some of the big challenges facing our planet.
Talking about the new series Adam said: “We’ve been travelling the globe for series 4 of Horizons and I’ve continuously been struck by the ingenuity of the people we met. Not just from those you’d expect, like scientists and academics, but ordinary people with brilliant ideas. And what’s most exciting is that these ideas have the potential to change millions of lives.”
In the first episode of the series Adam travels to New York, London and the Netherlands to meet the innovators using ground-breaking ideas in light technology to illuminate lives all over the world.
While the global lighting economy is worth more than 70 billion euros a year there remain more than a billion people who live without access to the electricity to generate light. In this programme Adam meets Jim Reeves, the inventor of a light that is powered purely by gravity, which is helping to bring light to homes in Africa and India.
Adam then heads to New York to meet Jessica O. Matthews, the CEO of Uncharted Play, who whilst working near the bright artificial lights of Times Square, came up with a clever solution to create light for the developing world, without the need for electricity.
Jessica has designed a football and a skipping rope that charge a battery as they are used which then enables a light to be plugged in.
“By showing people what is possible with the power of play; we invite communities around the world to rethink the status quo in an accessible, tangible way. Innovation, science and play can be combined to improve the quality of life of people around the world,” says Jessica.
Also in the programme, Adam meets the experts who have come up with exciting and ground breaking ways to harness the power of light. Adam discovers new developments in quantum dots and looks at the potential uses of this technology for lighting and the next generation of televisions.
Finally Adam travels to the Netherlands to meet the Dutch innovator using light to benefit our surroundings. Daan Roosegarde has invented the Smart Highway which uses photo-luminescent paint to light roads at night and an environmentally friendly cycle path which lights up at night with Van Gogh inspired images.
And for this series it will be even easier for audiences to keep up to date with Horizons, wherever they are, with the launch of the new Horizons app. The app will give audiences access to all the behind the scenes clips and video diaries from Adam and will provides users with a tailored experience with easy-to-find content based on location and theme, and the ability to favourite clips.
Richard Pattinson, Commissioning Editor, bbc.com said: “With the BBC World News series about how science and technologies are transforming businesses and the way we live entering its fourth season, it seemed like the perfect occasion to bring all of our Horizons content together in an App, so our audience can enjoy video, blogs and infographics from the programmes wherever they are.”
The Horizons app will be available to download on iOS and Android.
Horizons Episode 1 ‘Let there be light’ will be broadcast on BBC World News on Saturday 10th May at 7.00am & 2.00pm and Sunday 11th May at 8.00pm.
