0:00:01.062,0:00:03.327
Good morning.

0:00:03.327,0:00:05.114
When I was a little boy,

0:00:05.114,0:00:08.191
I had an experience that changed my life,

0:00:08.191,0:00:11.099
and is in fact why I'm here today.

0:00:11.099,0:00:13.040
That one moment, one moment,

0:00:13.040,0:00:15.302
profoundly affected how I think about

0:00:15.302,0:00:18.523
art, design, and engineering.

0:00:18.523,0:00:21.280
As background, I was fortunate enough to grow up

0:00:21.280,0:00:24.993
in a family of lovely and talented artists

0:00:24.993,0:00:27.557
in one of the world's great cities.

0:00:27.557,0:00:31.434
My dad, John Ferren, who died when I was 15,

0:00:31.434,0:00:34.964
was an artist by both passion and profession,

0:00:34.964,0:00:37.224
as is my mom, Rae.

0:00:37.224,0:00:39.029
He was one of the New York school

0:00:39.029,0:00:40.790
abstract expressionists who,

0:00:40.790,0:00:43.302
together with his contemporaries,

0:00:43.302,0:00:46.200
invented American modern art,

0:00:46.200,0:00:49.385
and contributed to moving the American zeitgeist

0:00:49.385,0:00:53.928
towards modernism in the 20th century.

0:00:53.928,0:00:56.849
Isn't it remarkable that, after thousands of years

0:00:56.849,0:01:00.490
of people doing mostly representational art,

0:01:00.490,0:01:02.523
that modern art, comparatively speaking,

0:01:02.523,0:01:04.863
is about 15 minutes old,

0:01:04.863,0:01:06.761
yet now pervasive.

0:01:06.761,0:01:08.705
As with many other important innovations,

0:01:08.705,0:01:12.325
those radical ideas required no new technology,

0:01:12.325,0:01:15.218
just fresh thinking and a willingness to experiment,

0:01:15.218,0:01:19.386
plus resiliency in the face of near-universal criticism

0:01:19.386,0:01:20.840
and rejection.

0:01:20.840,0:01:23.357
In our home, art was everywhere.

0:01:23.357,0:01:24.928
It was like oxygen,

0:01:24.928,0:01:28.090
around us and necessary for life.

0:01:28.090,0:01:29.949
As I watched him paint,

0:01:29.949,0:01:32.256
dad taught me that art

0:01:32.256,0:01:34.465
was not about being decorative,

0:01:34.465,0:01:37.579
but it was a different way of communicating ideas,

0:01:37.579,0:01:39.616
and in fact one that could bridge the worlds

0:01:39.616,0:01:42.544
of knowledge and insight.

0:01:42.544,0:01:44.684
Given this rich artistic environment,

0:01:44.684,0:01:46.299
you'd assume that I would have been compelled

0:01:46.299,0:01:48.408
to go into the family business,

0:01:48.408,0:01:51.024
but no.

0:01:51.024,0:01:52.811
I followed the path of most kids

0:01:52.811,0:01:54.161
who are genetically programmed

0:01:54.161,0:01:56.360
to make their parents crazy.

0:01:56.360,0:01:58.983
I had no interest in becoming an artist,

0:01:58.983,0:02:00.543
certainly not a painter.

0:02:00.543,0:02:03.842
What I did love was electronics and machines,

0:02:03.842,0:02:05.462
taking them apart, building new ones,

0:02:05.462,0:02:07.349
and making them work.

0:02:07.349,0:02:11.251
Fortunately, my family also had engineers in it,

0:02:11.251,0:02:12.459
and with my parents,

0:02:12.459,0:02:15.087
these were my first role models.

0:02:15.087,0:02:16.444
What they all had in common

0:02:16.444,0:02:19.152
was they worked very, very hard.

0:02:19.152,0:02:21.522
My grandpa owned and operated a sheet metal

0:02:21.522,0:02:24.222
kitchen cabinet factory in Brooklyn.

0:02:24.222,0:02:27.646
On weekends, we would go[br]together to Cortland Street

0:02:27.646,0:02:30.321
which was New York City's radio row.

0:02:30.321,0:02:33.124
There we would explore massive piles

0:02:33.124,0:02:34.345
of surplus electronics,

0:02:34.345,0:02:36.647
and for a few bucks bring home treasures

0:02:36.647,0:02:38.079
like Norton bombsights

0:02:38.079,0:02:42.590
and parts from the first IBM tube-based computers.

0:02:42.590,0:02:45.656
I found these objects both useful and fascinating.

0:02:45.656,0:02:48.287
I learned about engineering and how things worked

0:02:48.287,0:02:49.747
not at school

0:02:49.747,0:02:51.536
but by taking apart and studying

0:02:51.536,0:02:54.013
these fabulously complex devices.

0:02:54.013,0:02:56.597
I did this for hours every day,

0:02:56.597,0:02:59.895
apparently avoiding electrocution.

0:02:59.895,0:03:01.467
Life was good.

0:03:01.467,0:03:03.788
However, every summer, sadly,

0:03:03.788,0:03:05.821
the machines got left behind

0:03:05.821,0:03:08.025
while my parents and I traveled overseas

0:03:08.025,0:03:11.665
to experience history, art, and design.

0:03:11.665,0:03:14.059
We visited the great museums and historic buildings

0:03:14.059,0:03:15.919
of both Europe and the Middle East,

0:03:15.919,0:03:18.179
but to encourage my growing interest

0:03:18.179,0:03:19.994
in science and technology,

0:03:19.994,0:03:22.278
they would simply drop me off in places

0:03:22.278,0:03:24.718
like the London Science Museum,

0:03:24.718,0:03:28.436
where I would wander endlessly for hours by myself

0:03:28.436,0:03:32.412
studying the history of science and technology.

0:03:32.412,0:03:35.676
Then, when I was about nine years old,

0:03:35.676,0:03:37.544
we went to Rome.

0:03:37.544,0:03:39.905
On one particularly hot summer day,

0:03:39.905,0:03:42.784
we visited a drum-shaped[br]building that from the outside

0:03:42.784,0:03:45.028
was not particularly interesting.

0:03:45.028,0:03:47.353
My dad said it was called the Pantheon,

0:03:47.353,0:03:49.821
a temple for all of the gods.

0:03:49.821,0:03:52.095
It didn't look all that special from the outside,

0:03:52.095,0:03:54.534
as I said, but when we walked inside,

0:03:54.534,0:03:57.847
I was immediately struck by three things.

0:03:57.847,0:04:01.077
First of all, it was pleasantly cool

0:04:01.077,0:04:03.155
despite the oppressive heat outside.

0:04:03.155,0:04:05.869
It was very dark, the only source of light

0:04:05.869,0:04:08.342
being an big open hole in the roof.

0:04:08.342,0:04:10.575
Dad explained that this wasn't a big open hole,

0:04:10.575,0:04:12.389
but it was called the Oculus,

0:04:12.389,0:04:14.765
an eye to the heavens.

0:04:14.765,0:04:16.910
And there was something about this place,

0:04:16.910,0:04:19.913
I didn't know why, that just felt special.

0:04:19.913,0:04:21.911
As we walked to the center of the room,

0:04:21.911,0:04:24.732
I looked up at the heavens through the Oculus.

0:04:24.732,0:04:27.029
This was the first church that I'd been to

0:04:27.029,0:04:29.232
that provided an unrestricted view

0:04:29.232,0:04:32.390
between God and man.

0:04:32.390,0:04:35.820
But I wondered, what about when it rained?

0:04:35.820,0:04:37.677
Dad may have called this an Oculus,

0:04:37.677,0:04:40.764
but it was in fact a big hole in the roof.

0:04:40.764,0:04:42.593
I looked down and saw floor drains

0:04:42.593,0:04:45.178
had been cut into the stone floor.

0:04:45.178,0:04:47.637
As I became more accustomed to the dark,

0:04:47.637,0:04:49.901
I was able to make out details of the floor

0:04:49.901,0:04:51.631
and the surrounding walls.

0:04:51.631,0:04:54.208
No big deal, just the same statuary stuff

0:04:54.208,0:04:56.124
that we'd seen all over Rome.

0:04:56.124,0:04:57.796
In fact, it looked like the Appian Way

0:04:57.796,0:04:59.992
of marble salesman showed up

0:04:59.992,0:05:02.440
with his sample book, showed it to Hadrian,

0:05:02.440,0:05:05.080
and Hadrian said, "We'll take all of it."

0:05:05.080,0:05:06.786
(Laughter)

0:05:06.786,0:05:10.004
But the ceiling was amazing.

0:05:10.004,0:05:12.840
It looked like a Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome.

0:05:12.840,0:05:14.149
I'd seen these before,

0:05:14.149,0:05:16.393
and Bucky was friends with my dad.

0:05:16.393,0:05:19.884
It was modern, high-tech, impressive,

0:05:19.884,0:05:22.321
a huge 142-foot clear span

0:05:22.321,0:05:25.564
which not coincidentally was its exact height.

0:05:25.564,0:05:26.826
I loved this place.

0:05:26.826,0:05:30.245
It was really beautiful and unlike[br]anything I'd ever seen before,

0:05:30.245,0:05:33.815
so I asked my dad, "When was this built?"

0:05:33.815,0:05:36.947
He said, "About 2,000 years ago."

0:05:36.947,0:05:39.451
And I said, "No, I mean, the roof."

0:05:39.451,0:05:41.410
You see, I assumed that this was a modern roof

0:05:41.410,0:05:43.328
that had been put on because the original

0:05:43.328,0:05:46.874
was destroyed in some long-past war.

0:05:46.874,0:05:50.336
He said, "It's the original roof."

0:05:50.336,0:05:52.814
That moment changed my life,

0:05:52.814,0:05:55.463
and I can remember it as if it were yesterday.

0:05:55.463,0:05:58.058
For the first time, I realized people were smart

0:05:58.058,0:06:00.198
2,000 years ago. (Laughter)

0:06:00.198,0:06:02.312
This has never crossed my mind.

0:06:02.312,0:06:06.183
I mean, to me, you know, the pyramids at Giza,

0:06:06.183,0:06:08.111
we visited those the year before,

0:06:08.111,0:06:11.031
and sure they're impressive, nice enough design,

0:06:11.031,0:06:13.486
but look, give me an unlimited budget,

0:06:13.486,0:06:17.483
20 to 40,000 laborers, and about 10 to 20 years

0:06:17.483,0:06:21.099
to cut and drag stone blocks [br]across the countryside,

0:06:21.099,0:06:23.863
and I'll build you pyramids too.

0:06:23.863,0:06:26.666
But no amount of brute force

0:06:26.666,0:06:29.708
gets you the dome of the Pantheon,

0:06:29.708,0:06:32.727
not 2,000 years ago, nor today.

0:06:32.727,0:06:35.467
And incidentally, it is still the largest

0:06:35.467,0:06:39.281
unreinforced concrete dome that's ever been built.

0:06:39.281,0:06:42.276
To build the Pantheon took some miracles.

0:06:42.276,0:06:44.708
By miracles, I mean things that are

0:06:44.708,0:06:47.295
technically barely possible,

0:06:47.295,0:06:50.367
very high risk, and might not be

0:06:50.367,0:06:52.951
actually accomplishable at this moment in time,

0:06:52.951,0:06:57.203
certainly not by you.

0:06:57.203,0:07:00.328
For example, here are some[br]of the Pantheon's miracles.

0:07:00.328,0:07:03.021
To make it even structurally possible,

0:07:03.021,0:07:05.588
they had to invent super-strong concrete,

0:07:05.588,0:07:07.537
and to control weight,

0:07:07.537,0:07:09.605
varied the density of the aggregate

0:07:09.605,0:07:12.373
as they worked their way up the dome.

0:07:12.373,0:07:14.674
For strength and lightness, the dome structure

0:07:14.674,0:07:16.711
used five rings of coffers,

0:07:16.711,0:07:18.318
each of diminishing size,

0:07:18.318,0:07:21.054
which imparts a dramatic forced perspective

0:07:21.054,0:07:23.061
to the design.

0:07:23.061,0:07:24.986
It was wonderfully cool inside

0:07:24.986,0:07:27.169
because of its huge thermal mass,

0:07:27.169,0:07:29.254
natural convection of air rising up

0:07:29.254,0:07:30.655
through the Oculus,

0:07:30.655,0:07:33.130
and a Venturi effect when wind blows across

0:07:33.130,0:07:35.433
the top of the building.

0:07:35.433,0:07:39.393
I discovered for the first time that light itself

0:07:39.393,0:07:41.360
has substance.

0:07:41.360,0:07:44.037
The shaft of light beaming through the Oculus

0:07:44.037,0:07:46.527
was both beautiful and palpable,

0:07:46.527,0:07:48.784
and I realized for the first time

0:07:48.784,0:07:50.685
that light could be designed,

0:07:50.685,0:07:55.559
further, that of all of the forms of design,

0:07:55.559,0:07:56.935
visual design,

0:07:56.935,0:07:58.766
they were all kind of irrelevant without it,

0:07:58.766,0:08:02.627
because without light, you can't see any of them.

0:08:02.627,0:08:05.079
I also realized that I wasn't the first person

0:08:05.079,0:08:08.338
to think that this place was really special.

0:08:08.338,0:08:12.715
It survived gravity, barbarians, looters, developers,

0:08:12.715,0:08:14.614
and the ravages of time to become

0:08:14.614,0:08:15.994
what I believe is the longest

0:08:15.994,0:08:18.951
continuously occupied building in history.

0:08:18.951,0:08:21.167
Largely because of that visit,

0:08:21.167,0:08:22.704
I came to understand that,

0:08:22.704,0:08:25.343
contrary to what I was being told in school,

0:08:25.343,0:08:27.372
the worlds of art and design

0:08:27.372,0:08:29.388
were not in fact incompatible

0:08:29.388,0:08:31.064
with science and engineering.

0:08:31.064,0:08:33.157
I realized, when combined,

0:08:33.157,0:08:35.920
you could create things that were amazing

0:08:35.920,0:08:38.766
that couldn't be done in either domain alone.

0:08:38.766,0:08:41.199
But in school, with few exceptions,

0:08:41.199,0:08:43.119
they were treated as separate worlds,

0:08:43.119,0:08:45.262
and they still are.

0:08:45.262,0:08:47.958
My teachers told me that I had to get serious

0:08:47.958,0:08:50.131
and focus on one or the other.

0:08:50.131,0:08:53.226
However, urging me to specialize

0:08:53.226,0:08:56.536
only caused me to really [br]appreciate those polymaths

0:08:56.536,0:09:00.902
like Michaelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci,

0:09:00.902,0:09:02.111
Benjamin Franklin,

0:09:02.111,0:09:04.821
people who did exactly the opposite.

0:09:04.821,0:09:07.010
And this led me to embrace

0:09:07.010,0:09:09.980
and want to be in both worlds.

0:09:09.980,0:09:15.808
So then how do these projects of unprecedented creative vision and technical complexity

0:09:15.808,0:09:18.302
like the Pantheon actually happen?

0:09:18.302,0:09:22.230
Someone themselves, perhaps Hadrian,

0:09:22.230,0:09:25.421
needed a brilliant creative vision.

0:09:25.421,0:09:28.214
They also needed the storytelling[br]and leadership skills

0:09:28.214,0:09:30.992
necessary to fund and execute it,

0:09:30.992,0:09:33.854
and a mastery of science and technology

0:09:33.854,0:09:35.937
with the ability and knowhow

0:09:35.937,0:09:39.983
to push existing innovations even farther.

0:09:39.983,0:09:43.903
It is my belief that to create[br]these rare game changers

0:09:43.903,0:09:48.033
requires you to pull off at least five miracles.

0:09:48.033,0:09:50.726
The problem is, no matter how talented,

0:09:50.726,0:09:52.458
rich, or smart you are,

0:09:52.458,0:09:55.484
you only get one to one and a half miracles.

0:09:55.484,0:09:57.266
That's it. That's the quota.

0:09:57.266,0:09:59.879
Then you run out of time, money, enthusiasm,

0:09:59.879,0:10:01.258
whatever.

0:10:01.258,0:10:03.535
Remember, most people can't even imagine

0:10:03.535,0:10:05.442
one of these technical miracles,

0:10:05.442,0:10:08.551
and you need at least five to make a Pantheon.

0:10:08.551,0:10:11.052
In my experience, these rare visionaries

0:10:11.052,0:10:12.889
who can think across the worlds of art,

0:10:12.889,0:10:14.716
design, and engineering,

0:10:14.716,0:10:16.918
have the ability to notice

0:10:16.918,0:10:19.635
when others have provided enough of the miracles

0:10:19.635,0:10:22.191
to bring the goal within reach.

0:10:22.191,0:10:24.828
Driven by the clarity of their vision,

0:10:24.828,0:10:27.138
they summon the courage and determination

0:10:27.138,0:10:29.235
to deliver the remaining miracles

0:10:29.235,0:10:32.785
and they often take what other people think to be

0:10:32.785,0:10:34.831
insurmountable obstacles

0:10:34.831,0:10:36.616
and turn them into features.

0:10:36.616,0:10:39.543
Take the Oculus of the Pantheon.

0:10:39.543,0:10:41.441
By insisting that it be in the design,

0:10:41.441,0:10:44.314
it meant you couldn't use much[br]of the structural technology

0:10:44.314,0:10:47.288
that had been developed for Roman arches.

0:10:47.288,0:10:50.186
However, by instead embracing it

0:10:50.186,0:10:52.774
and rethinking weight and stress distribution,

0:10:52.774,0:10:55.256
they came up with a design that only works

0:10:55.256,0:10:57.160
if there's a big hole in the roof.

0:10:57.160,0:11:00.167
That done, you now get the aesthetic

0:11:00.167,0:11:04.548
and design benefits of light cooling

0:11:04.548,0:11:07.848
and that critical direct connection with the heavens.

0:11:07.848,0:11:09.892
Not bad.

0:11:09.892,0:11:11.953
These people not only believed

0:11:11.953,0:11:14.009
that the impossible can be done,

0:11:14.009,0:11:16.835
but that it must be done.

0:11:16.835,0:11:18.936
Enough ancient history.

0:11:18.936,0:11:22.069
What are some recent examples of innovations

0:11:22.069,0:11:23.948
that combine creative design

0:11:23.948,0:11:27.191
and technological advances in a way so profound

0:11:27.191,0:11:28.520
that they will be remembered

0:11:28.520,0:11:30.353
a thousand years from now?

0:11:30.353,0:11:33.449
Well, putting a man on the moon was a good one,

0:11:33.449,0:11:36.466
and returning him safely to earth wasn't bad either.

0:11:36.466,0:11:38.958
Talk about one giant leap:

0:11:38.958,0:11:41.406
it's hard to imagine a more profound moment

0:11:41.406,0:11:42.718
in human history

0:11:42.718,0:11:44.891
than when we first left our world

0:11:44.891,0:11:46.782
to set foot on another.

0:11:46.782,0:11:49.003
So what came after the moon?

0:11:49.003,0:11:51.811
One is tempted to say that today's pantheon

0:11:51.811,0:11:53.472
is the internet,

0:11:53.472,0:11:55.941
but I actually think that's quite wrong,

0:11:55.941,0:11:58.796
or at least it's only part of the story.

0:11:58.796,0:12:01.312
The internet isn't a Pantheon.

0:12:01.312,0:12:03.903
It's more like the invention of concrete:

0:12:03.903,0:12:06.478
important, absolutely necessary

0:12:06.478,0:12:07.918
to build the Pantheon,

0:12:07.918,0:12:09.274
and enduring,

0:12:09.274,0:12:12.465
but entirely insufficient by itself.

0:12:12.465,0:12:15.397
However, just as the technology of concrete

0:12:15.397,0:12:18.984
was critical in realization of the Pantheon,

0:12:18.984,0:12:22.199
new designers will use the[br]technologies of the internet

0:12:22.199,0:12:25.397
to create novel concepts that will endure.

0:12:25.397,0:12:27.455
Smart phone is a perfect example.

0:12:27.455,0:12:29.200
Soon the majority of people on the planet

0:12:29.200,0:12:30.534
will have one,

0:12:30.534,0:12:32.935
and the idea of connecting everyone

0:12:32.935,0:12:36.462
to both knowledge and each other will endure.

0:12:36.462,0:12:37.493
So what's next?

0:12:37.493,0:12:40.899
What imminent advance will be[br]the equivalent of the Pantheon?

0:12:40.899,0:12:42.334
Thinking about this,

0:12:42.334,0:12:44.881
I rejected many very plausible

0:12:44.881,0:12:46.777
and dramatic breakthroughs to come,

0:12:46.777,0:12:48.794
such as curing cancer.

0:12:48.794,0:12:52.132
Why? Because Pantheons are anchored

0:12:52.132,0:12:55.067
in designed physical objects,

0:12:55.067,0:12:57.389
ones that inspire by simply seeing

0:12:57.389,0:12:58.809
and experiencing them,

0:12:58.809,0:13:01.691
and will continue to do so indefinitely.

0:13:01.691,0:13:06.264
It is a different kind of language, like art.

0:13:06.264,0:13:09.036
These other vital contributions that extend life

0:13:09.036,0:13:11.729
and relieve suffering are, of course, critical,

0:13:11.729,0:13:13.416
and fantastic,

0:13:13.416,0:13:15.209
but they're part of the continuum of

0:13:15.209,0:13:17.721
our overall knowledge and technology,

0:13:17.721,0:13:20.245
like the internet.

0:13:20.245,0:13:22.589
So what is next?

0:13:22.589,0:13:24.308
Perhaps counterintuitively,

0:13:24.308,0:13:26.620
I'm guessing it's a visionary idea

0:13:26.620,0:13:28.474
from the late 1930s

0:13:28.474,0:13:31.634
that's been revived every decade since:

0:13:31.634,0:13:33.648
autonomous vehicles.

0:13:33.648,0:13:35.386
Now you're thinking, give me a break?

0:13:35.386,0:13:38.904
How can a fancy version of cruise control

0:13:38.904,0:13:40.604
be profound?

0:13:40.604,0:13:42.728
Look, much of our world

0:13:42.728,0:13:46.211
has been designed around [br]roads and transportation.

0:13:46.211,0:13:48.086
These were as essential to the success

0:13:48.086,0:13:49.584
of the Roman Empire

0:13:49.584,0:13:51.569
as the interstate highway system

0:13:51.569,0:13:53.363
to the prosperity and development

0:13:53.363,0:13:55.573
of the United States.

0:13:55.573,0:13:58.607
Today, these roads that interconnect our world

0:13:58.607,0:14:00.705
are dominated by cars and trucks

0:14:00.705,0:14:02.573
that have remained largely unchanged

0:14:02.573,0:14:05.144
for a hundred years.

0:14:05.144,0:14:08.403
Although perhaps not obvious today,

0:14:08.403,0:14:12.988
autonomous vehicles will be the key technology

0:14:12.988,0:14:16.086
that enables us to redesign our cities

0:14:16.086,0:14:18.305
and, by extension, civilization.

0:14:18.305,0:14:19.907
Here's why:

0:14:19.907,0:14:21.660
once they become ubiquitous,

0:14:21.660,0:14:24.197
each year, these vehicles will save

0:14:24.197,0:14:27.305
tens of thousands of lives in the United States alone

0:14:27.305,0:14:30.432
and a million globally.

0:14:30.432,0:14:33.331
Automotive energy consumption and air pollution

0:14:33.331,0:14:35.704
will be cut dramatically.

0:14:35.704,0:14:37.109
Much of the road congestion

0:14:37.109,0:14:40.919
in and out of our cities will disappear.

0:14:40.919,0:14:43.606
They will enable compelling new concepts

0:14:43.606,0:14:46.075
in how we design cities, work,

0:14:46.075,0:14:48.012
and the way we live.

0:14:48.012,0:14:50.558
We will get where we're going faster

0:14:50.558,0:14:53.556
and society will recapture vast amounts

0:14:53.556,0:14:54.847
of lost productivity

0:14:54.847,0:14:58.488
now spent sitting in traffic basically polluting.

0:14:58.488,0:15:01.761
But why now? Why do we think this is ready?

0:15:01.761,0:15:03.955
Because over the last 30 years,

0:15:03.955,0:15:06.003
people from outside the automotive industry

0:15:06.003,0:15:08.111
have spent countless billions

0:15:08.111,0:15:09.846
creating the needed miracles,

0:15:09.846,0:15:12.718
but for entirely different purposes.

0:15:12.718,0:15:15.346
It took folks like DARPA, universities,

0:15:15.346,0:15:18.510
and companies completely[br]outside of the automotive industry

0:15:18.510,0:15:20.811
to notice that if you were clever about it,

0:15:20.811,0:15:23.341
autonomy could be done now.

0:15:23.341,0:15:26.724
So what are the five miracles[br]needed for autonomous vehicles?

0:15:26.724,0:15:28.367
One, you need to know

0:15:28.367,0:15:31.101
where you are and exactly what time it is.

0:15:31.101,0:15:33.509
This was solved neatly by the GPS system,

0:15:33.509,0:15:34.821
Global Positioning System,

0:15:34.821,0:15:37.487
that the U.S. Government put in place.

0:15:37.487,0:15:40.010
You need to know where all the roads are,

0:15:40.010,0:15:42.913
what the rules are, and where you're going.

0:15:42.913,0:15:45.496
The various needs of personal navigation systems,

0:15:45.496,0:15:47.251
in car navigation systems,

0:15:47.251,0:15:50.284
and web based maps address this.

0:15:50.284,0:15:52.911
You must have near-continuous communication

0:15:52.911,0:15:54.804
with high-performance computing networks

0:15:54.804,0:15:56.474
and with others nearby

0:15:56.474,0:15:59.789
to understand their intent.

0:15:59.789,0:16:02.897
The wireless technologies[br]developed for mobile devices,

0:16:02.897,0:16:04.690
with some minor modifications,

0:16:04.690,0:16:07.649
are completely suitable to solve this.

0:16:07.649,0:16:10.139
You'll probably want some restricted roadways

0:16:10.139,0:16:11.329
to get started

0:16:11.329,0:16:13.807
that both society and its lawyers

0:16:13.807,0:16:15.679
agree are safe to use for this.

0:16:15.679,0:16:17.528
This will start with the HOV lanes

0:16:17.528,0:16:19.661
and move from there.

0:16:19.661,0:16:22.212
But finally, you need to recognize

0:16:22.212,0:16:24.315
people, signs, and objects.

0:16:24.315,0:16:27.369
Machine vision, special sensors,[br]and high performance computing

0:16:27.369,0:16:28.941
can do a lot of this,

0:16:28.941,0:16:31.499
but it turns out a lot is not good enough

0:16:31.499,0:16:33.440
when your family is on board.

0:16:33.440,0:16:36.961
Occasionally, humans will [br]need to do sense-making.

0:16:36.961,0:16:40.573
For this, you might actually have to wake up

0:16:40.573,0:16:42.669
your passenger and ask them what the hell

0:16:42.669,0:16:45.471
that big lump is in the middle of the road.

0:16:45.487,0:16:47.831
Not so bad, and it will give us a sense of purpose

0:16:47.831,0:16:49.684
in this new world.

0:16:49.684,0:16:52.424
Besides, once the first drivers explain

0:16:52.424,0:16:53.750
to their confused car

0:16:53.750,0:16:56.416
that the giant chicken at the fork in the road

0:16:56.416,0:16:57.959
is actually a restaurant,

0:16:57.959,0:17:00.263
and it's okay to keep driving,

0:17:00.263,0:17:03.683
every other car on the surface of the earth

0:17:03.683,0:17:06.605
will know that from that point on.

0:17:06.605,0:17:08.868
Five miracles, mostly delivered,

0:17:08.868,0:17:10.746
and now you just need a clear vision

0:17:10.746,0:17:13.583
of a better world filled with autonomous vehicles

0:17:13.583,0:17:17.196
with seductively beautiful [br]and new functional designs

0:17:17.196,0:17:19.650
plus a lot of money and hard work

0:17:19.650,0:17:21.246
to bring it home.

0:17:21.246,0:17:24.268
The beginning is now only a handful of years away,

0:17:24.268,0:17:26.136
and I predict that autonomous vehicles

0:17:26.136,0:17:28.207
will permanently change our world

0:17:28.207,0:17:32.391
over the next several decades.

0:17:32.391,0:17:35.043
In conclusion, I've come to believe

0:17:35.043,0:17:37.281
that the ingredients for the next Pantheons

0:17:37.281,0:17:38.668
are all around us,

0:17:38.668,0:17:40.855
just waiting for visionary people

0:17:40.855,0:17:42.589
with the broad knowledge,

0:17:42.589,0:17:44.199
multidisciplinary skills,

0:17:44.199,0:17:46.067
and intense passion

0:17:46.067,0:17:51.153
to harness them to make their dreams a reality.

0:17:51.153,0:17:53.649
But these people don't spontaneously

0:17:53.649,0:17:54.988
pop into existence.

0:17:54.988,0:17:56.827
They need to be nurtured and encouraged

0:17:56.827,0:17:58.606
from when they're little kids.

0:17:58.606,0:18:00.466
We need to love them and help them

0:18:00.466,0:18:02.185
discover their passions.

0:18:02.185,0:18:04.399
We need to encourage them to work hard

0:18:04.399,0:18:06.836
and help them understand that failure

0:18:06.836,0:18:09.707
is a necessary ingredient for success,

0:18:09.707,0:18:11.888
as is perseverance.

0:18:11.888,0:18:14.986
We need to help them to find their own role models,

0:18:14.986,0:18:17.658
and give them the confidence[br]to believe in themselves

0:18:17.658,0:18:20.435
and to believe that anything is possible,

0:18:20.435,0:18:23.944
and just as my grandpa did when[br]he took me shopping for surplus

0:18:23.944,0:18:25.727
and just as my parents did

0:18:25.727,0:18:27.749
when they took me to science museums,

0:18:27.749,0:18:31.030
we need to encourage them to find their own path,

0:18:31.030,0:18:33.687
even if it's very different from our own.

0:18:33.687,0:18:35.095
But a cautionary note:

0:18:35.095,0:18:37.529
we also need to periodically pry them away

0:18:37.529,0:18:38.998
from their modern miracles,

0:18:38.998,0:18:40.969
the computers, phones, tablets,

0:18:40.969,0:18:42.563
game machines, and TVs,

0:18:42.563,0:18:44.807
take them out into the sunlight

0:18:44.807,0:18:46.936
so they can experience both the natural

0:18:46.936,0:18:49.833
and design wonders of our world,

0:18:49.833,0:18:52.075
our planet and our civilization.

0:18:52.075,0:18:55.002
If we don't, they won't understand

0:18:55.002,0:18:56.884
what these precious things are

0:18:56.884,0:18:59.479
that someday they will be resopnsible

0:18:59.479,0:19:01.761
for protecting and improving.

0:19:01.761,0:19:03.404
We also need them to understand

0:19:03.404,0:19:06.433
something that doesn't seem adequately appreciated

0:19:06.433,0:19:08.896
in our increasingly tech-dependent world,

0:19:08.896,0:19:10.579
that art and design

0:19:10.579,0:19:12.492
are not luxuries,

0:19:12.492,0:19:14.318
nor somehow incompatible

0:19:14.318,0:19:16.187
with science and engineering.

0:19:16.187,0:19:21.762
They are in fact essential to what makes us special.

0:19:21.762,0:19:24.277
Someday, if you get the chance,

0:19:24.277,0:19:25.814
perhaps you can take your kids

0:19:25.814,0:19:27.585
to the actual Pantheon,

0:19:27.585,0:19:30.245
as we will our daughter Kyra,

0:19:30.245,0:19:32.323
to experience firsthand

0:19:32.323,0:19:36.580
the power of that astonishing design,

0:19:36.580,0:19:40.324
which on one otherwise unremarkable day in Rome

0:19:40.324,0:19:43.351
reached 2,000 years into the future

0:19:43.351,0:19:46.009
to set the course for my life.

0:19:46.009,0:19:48.140
Thank you.

0:19:48.140,0:19:52.448
(Applause)