On the 12th of April, at 17:00, we are back with three speakers on the subjects of science and business. This month we challenge scientists to think about what could potentially go wrong if their field of science advanced in a wrong way. Get your free ticket via Eventbrite and join us for an evening of talks and drinks and food at HUBspot Leiden!

Virtual Reality has been a popular topic in dystopian science fiction. Will we completely live in cyberspace and let our real world deteriorate into a toxic wasteland? Or are we already living in a simulation? Augmented Reality allows to integrate the virtual world with the real. What will this lead to? Tech companies that track our every movement, precisely control what we see and fill our world with advertising? And will we still be able to distinguish reality from fantasy, or will we all live in a digital, schizophrenic blur?

Robin (Virtual Reality Learning Lab) will share some scary virtual futures and let you experience some for yourself. In his daily life Robin is lot more optimistic and helps schools and companies to use Virtual Reality for their teaching and training. 

Genes are the building blocks of biology. They are the operating system of life. CRISPR/cas9 is a recent invention for genetic engineering.It is now more effective, cheaper and easier than ever before to tinker with genes. What will happen if gene editing goes mainstream?

Peter Joosten Msc. will share his ideas about the possible negative outcomes of this developments. He will focus on our own health, society and our ecosystem. 

He is a DIY Futurist and blogs on www.peterjoosten.net about new technology and its impact on mankind.