24/04/2020
如果說有一種感官正逢鉅變，那一定是觸覺。今日的科技已發展到讓你可以觸摸到全息投影、感覺到螢幕上的物料，或是只須凌空做出某個簡單動作就能操控遠處的物件。很厲害吧？觸感世界確實令人眼花撩亂。我們以為觸覺只是種單一感官，但其實它是由數以千計的神經末梢在背後合力構成。我們每次需要用到觸覺的時刻，都在日常生活中扮演重要的角色；沒有了觸覺，我們會很迷茫。觸覺是我們早在媽媽子宮裡就經歷到的第一種感官，是人類健康的感情基礎。科學家研發出各種方法，在大腦中模擬觸感錯覺，幫助截肢病人克服「幻肢痛」；最新的醫學技術更為「仿生肢」賦予觸感，可以預見仿生義肢將逐漸改良，甚至比天然人類肢體更好用。這場革命下一步又會是什麼？
電視版本：雙語廣播（粵語／英語）
If there is one sense undergoing a gargantuan revolution, it’s touch. Today, technology makes it possible to touch holograms, feel materials on a screen and control objects from a distance with a simple, specific gesture in mid-air. Awesome right? The world of touch is dizzying. We think of touch as resulting in a single sensation but many thousands of nerve endings work in concert to create it. Every occasion to use touch has a vital role in our lives, we would be lost without it. It is the very first sense we experience in the womb, and the emotional bedrock of our wellbeing. Scientists have found ways to simulate a false sense of touch in the brain, in order to overcome the terrible phantom pains of amputated limbs. Managing to give bionic limbs a sense of touch is one of the latest successes of medical technology. Slowly but surely, bionic prostheses are becoming more efficient than natural limbs. Where will this revolution lead us?
TV Version: Bilingual Broadcast (Cantonese/English)
