Stephen Fry: Gadget Man (2012) s02e05 Episode Script
Series 2, Episode 5
1 'Hello, I'm the same person as Richard Ayoade.
'Welcome to Gadget Man.
' I love that! 'Where I get to celebrate 'some of the world's best gadgets' Whoa!Ooh.
I am just a little bit tense, you understand.
How do you think I feel? '.
.
and introduce you to the most amazing and bizarre technology 'from around the globe.
' Do you want some quiche?Yeah, sure.
That is an innovation for a dinner party, isn't it? This week Engage the robot arm.
'.
.
gadgets designed to take the darn drudge out of do-it-yourself.
' BANG! BLEEP! So, before ado is in any way furthered, let's tool up and get down to business.
It is said by people that our homes are our castles.
But unlike castles, they always seem to need bits doing to them.
Which is why every bank holiday, 18 million of us saps end up here in a DIY store vaguely wandering around, trying to find the right density sandpaper.
'No, DIY just isn't my jam.
'I dislike the climbing of ladders, the spreading of paint, 'the buying of fluids, and the purchase of tools.
' In short, I'm not too sure about DIY.
I'd prefer GDIFM - Gadgets Doing It For Me.
Perhaps I can get these home improvement tasks done by upscaling the technology I already have to do the fiddlesome tasks around the house.
This Bravva robotic mop sweeps the ground beneath my feet.
It uses an on-board navigation system to map out where it's been, and where it has to go now.
I also have a robotic helper for the icky job of cleaning gutters, sweeping away debris using its propeller and brush attachments.
The most distressing task of all is cleaning our rooftop swimming pools.
So I have this, a fully automated sub-aqua cleaner that vacuums and scrubs the sides, using as little power as a 60 watt bulb as it does the thing that it does.
'Leaving me free to sit, near prone, 'watching demolition footage on my smartphone, 'located on the darkened inside of my TV hat.
' Pretty good.
'Well, heavens to Betsy.
'These are exactly the sort of jobs that I need to farm out to gadgets.
' 'When it comes to gardening, 'we spend almost ã2 billion a year on tools.
'Like this multipurpose fella.
' The Honda Versatool comes with a variety of attachments for your strimming and trimming needs, which, if they're like mine, are great and never-ending.
So let's start this up.
Let's tame this bush.
'This horticultural Swiss Army knife claims to do 'practically anything you might ever need a garden tool to do.
'I'm talking hedge-trimming.
'Blowing.
Edging.
'Pruning.
Cultivating.
'And, of course, strimming.
' That was a heck of a strim, I don't mind telling you.
'Wow! 'But I prefer a gadget to take care of the lawn without me 'lifting the proverbial.
' Let's meet this fella.
It's the Husqvarna Automower 265 ACX.
Let's hope the makers of this are better at making mowers than coming up with catchy names.
It claims to be able to cut your lawn on its own.
It's a robotic lawn mower, let's test it.
This state-of-the-art mower uses an ultrasonic sensor and guide wires around the lawn's perimeter to manoeuvre itself around.
And there's no need to worry about your cat getting an unwarranted trim.
Its sensors will prevent any collisions.
When it gets low on power, it returns to its charging station, like a dog would, if it were this mower.
And there's more.
If it's disturbed in any way, by, for example, bandits, it will even send a warning text to your mobile.
Well, is the grass getting shorter? Yes.
And am I doing anything? No.
So those two things are pleasing.
It seems perfect.
Seeing my robotic mower cut the lawn has sent thoughts rushing to my skull.
Perhaps I can find gadgets that can speedily transform the inside of my house as well.
Let's consolidate and group our thoughts in an orderly manner.
I need to decorate a room in this house.
I just need to.
The decor offends me.
Can gadgets help me do this? And what's more, could they do it in just a few hours? I'm going to decorate this empty shell of a room in my house into a space fit to host a tea party.
I will then invite some TV make over titans to witness the whole process.
'Before I begin, I'm going to pick the brain of architect 'and construction expert Charlie Luxton.
' I want to get your opinion on some gadgets that are meant to be for the novice.
It'd be good to get your expert eye on them.
OK.
Who needs a tool-laden garage when you've got this transformer gizmo? So, essentially, what this is, it's a workbench in a box.
You've got your circular saw-y thing.
Put it down.
You've got a drill.
Handle.
The Power8 plugs straight into the mains, or its two rechargeable batteries allow you to work cordlessly outside.
It strikes me that it's a lot of fun to use, putting it all together, slotting it and clicking it.
And it is sort of like a big boy's toy.
So from that perspective, I think it's probably a lot of fun.
'Helping us assess my DIY gadgetry is Charlie's foreman, Pete.
' There you go.
Lovely.
In the home, excellent.
Very good.
Wouldn't necessarily use this particular product at work, but in the home, I would.
Charlie's right-hand man was nearly Charlie's no right-hand man after a nasty DIY accident.
How did you cut your hand? I presume it wasn't a duel.
No.
OK.
I was using one of these saws without a proper guard.
Wow.
I am concerned about safety with these things.
There's some gadgets over here that are safe, and let's have a look at them and see if you think they'll be useful.
Britain's A&E departments see more than 200,000 DIY casualties each year.
But this ingenious piece of American hardware is aimed at reducing injuries drastically.
What's pretty amazing about this is that it has a sensor in it which means that if it comes into contact with human skin, the saw drops below the level and it stops.
It really stops? I'm not going to ask you to put your hand in it, or your hand, you've been there, done that.
So we're going to use your lunch.
There's a saveloy in here.
Introduce the saveloy.
And you're happy about this?I'm very happy.
BANG! Bloody hell! 'SawStop's blade carries an electrical signal.
'Upon contact with conductive material like human flesh, 'it triggers a break and retracts the blade under the table.
' Bloody hell! 'All this in five milliseconds, which is a fast amount of time.
' Oh, my God! I thought it popped.
That's pretty good.
Oh, look, it's got a tiny, tiny little nick.
That is amazing.
Yes.
You're pretty impressed.
I am really impressed.
OK, that's good.
Yeah.
You could have had a less impressive wound, if you'd had one of these.
Ladders are involved in more DIY accidents than any other piece of kit.
But this one claims to be the world's safest.
Its adjustable outriggers make it five times less likely to tip to the side and its built-in spirit levels help you to put it up at the most stable angle.
I, I love not falling.
I'm never happier than when I'm not falling to my death.
Actually, ladders are incredibly dangerous.
So that is a good bit of kit.
The days of whacking finger with hammer could be over as well.
Designed with a magnetic head, this gadget grips nails in place so you don't have to.
Its rapid-fire mechanism hammers away 60 times a second.
This is actually mainly for tight spots, where, you know, you're doing that, you don't want to be in a tight area.
What I reckon is, that's why they invented the screw.
Sure.
WellBecause that seems a little over the top.
OK.
What I'd say to that is RAPID HAMMERING OK? Smashing down walls is another potentially dangerous activity as well as being extremely tiring.
You've got a friend.
Yeah.
This is the world's smallest remote-controlled demolition robot.
No need for sledgehammers.
We can stand back at a safe distance while he does all the whacking.
Here we go, this is how to demolish a wall with ease.
There you go.
Yeah.
One brick at a time.
Yeah.
'This machine is capable of immense nuance.
'Witness me as I delicately remove one brick at a time 'to demonstrate its dexterity.
' I really just want to whack it.
OK, OK.
Well I got tired of delicacy.
So, yeah.
Great restraint.
I thought you showed great restraint.
And we can swing again, there we go.
Wow! That was the power that was always there.
Thank you.
Very good.
Very good.
Well, thank you.
If I may? 'As we pause for sustenance, I pump Charlie for his thoughts 'on my quest to decorate a room in mere minutes using gadget magic.
' So, what kind of gadgets would be useful?Well, paint sprayers.
You justkshhhhhhh! And you can do a whole room in literally half an hour.
That sounds good.
What if I want to wallpaper? Well, that's more difficult.
If you imagine some kind of dispensing unit that had a kind of hopper on the side with wallpaper paste, which had a roll of wallpaper in it, at the handle.
Yeah.
And as you rolled the wallpaper down, it would layer on the glue and get all the air bubbles out.
This all sounds good.
I'm going to make some calls, and get that actioned.
Coming up, my tea party guests arrive.
Oh! I love that! 'And I decorate a room in a matter of hours '.
.
without doing any work!' 'Welcome back.
How are you? 'I've been trying to prove that it's possible to replace DIY 'by having gadgets and technology doing it for me.
' There we go.
Whoa! Not a bead of sweat.
I'm exhausted.
As spectacular as the Gadget Man house is, inside there lurks a shamefully undecorated room that I plan to makeover using a bevy of labour-saving gadgets.
But that's not all.
I'm hosting a tea party here and will transform this nothingness into somethingness before my guests' very eyes.
My guests are about to descend and I haven't even chosen the colour for my signature wall.
You can imagine the level of stress I'm experiencing.
Luckily, I have the Node & Chroma.
This gadget has a scanner.
It connects to your smartphone and you can choose colours from the real world like this And convert it into digital colour like that Then I just need to transfer the information from here to the X-Smart paint dispenser.
Hit it.
X-Smart has 16 cylinders, each filled with a base colour.
By mixing these in different combinations it can literally produce an infinite number of paint colours.
I need just one, which is just as well because my guests have sloped up.
Charlie Luxton is already privy to heart's dear desire to have gadgets do all DIY.
Ah! Hello!Nice to meet you! Anna, Andy.
'But for Handy Andy and Anna Ryder Richardson - 'veterans of the '90s TV makeover circuit - 'my futuristic thoughts could very well blow their heads inside out.
' I am going to decorate a room merely with gadgets.
Don't drift off already, Andy.
I'm excited by the thought.
OK.
All right.
Well, do you want to come in? You're even more comely in the flesh.
Don't know about that.
This is the room I'm decorating, gather in.
Andy, I sense a rapport building between us.
I want to paint this wall.
How would you do that? Erm, roller and brush, I suppose, innit?You sicken me.
Behold, my Fanuc! Engage the robot arm.
ROBOTIC MUSIC This robotic goliath, otherwise known as the Fanuc M10Ai was made in Japan, and plies its trade in car assembly plants around the world.
Look, that's three coats now, so that's quite good.
LAUGHTER I've had it fitted with this paint spraying gun and, for today only, it's here at Gadget Man Towers, helping me paint my feature wall.
Work it, make it This literally is watching paint dry.
ANNA LAUGHS It's better than watching paint dry.
It is.
It's a huge robot spraying a wall.
I meanwhat's not to like? It's very even, isn't it? You think of all the people we've seen rolling in the past and you've got a patch here and there.
I can see the concept of it, yeah, but it's the setting it up time and all that Andy, you're breaking my heart.
Why, darling, why's that? You're so anti-Fanuc.
I didn't say I was anti, did I?All right.
I said I can see the concept of it.
OK.
We can all see the concept.
But do you like it? It might grow on me.
You may be poo-pooing my Fanuc but, it has painted a large area of wall in a very quick time.
'And I've not had to do a thing.
'While my robot finishes up unsupervised, I've got some 'other machines on the go, printing my tea party knick-knacks to order.
' These are 3D printers, printing items for the tea party.
Oh, no! That are printing designs That's quite cool.
Have you seen that before?Yeah.
Have you?!But they're not I feel like I'm in the future.
This feels like the future.
Yes.
The cube can make a two-dimensional design on a PC screen a 3D reality, creating objects up to five and half inches in size by printing layer upon layer of molten plastic.
Andy, speak up.
I think it's very clever but point to it is what? The point is that one day in the future, after the dust settles, after the interstellar war, we will all be able to download cups of various designs from sites.
This is a complete revolution in the way we make things.
Up till now we've heaten, beaten and treaten things Which is lovely! This is a completely new way of making.
This is the future.
You've genuinely shown me something I'm excited about.
Thank you.
No, but you're going to take away, you're on a computer going What happened to big arms beating and sweating and brawn? What I need is focus on gadgetry rather than something that sounded like the end of Officer And A Gentleman.
On that note, it's onto perhaps the most reviled of all home improvement jobs - wallpapering.
For decades scenes like THIS have been playing out in living rooms across the land VOICEOVER: All she has to do now is to stick it on the wall What a mess! Wallpapering by hand is near-madness, and yet no-one has been able to invent a gadget to do it for us - until now.
We once shared a dream about a machine that could wallpaper.
We discussed a wallpapering machine.
And a new world we could build on its shoulders.
Wallpaper machine.
OK.
OK? Do you want to see it in action? I do.
All right.
That'sThat is a winner.
LAUGHTER That is brilliant.
Why's no-one done that before?It's very flat.
It's absolutely fantastic.
I can't think why somebody has not invented that before.
Well, thank you.
As they plan to retire on the proceeds of this ingenious invention, my engineering staff has asked me not reveal its exact machinations.
All I will say is that wallpaper is pulled through a bath of adhesive and then forced flat on to the wall using a series of rollers.
An inbuilt guillotine is the final touch.
How does it work? What's involved in it? It's at that point we part company because my engineering staff will not reveal the secret until the patent is lodged.
The wall is covered with paper.
But before we can take tea, we must furnish, and furnish furiously.
One of the greatest fears in organising a tea party is having to build your own furniture.
LAUGHTER But I don't have to do that because I have this! Look at this.
It's one sheet.
And I can make a chair from this, have a look.
The inventors of these Flux chairs took their design inspiration from hooligan-proof football stadium seats.
Made from a single sheet of plastic they simply fold together and boom, the job is done with the minimum of effort.
You're bending it the wrong way.
Which way, should it?Bend it round.
'Or at least that's the theory.
' It's like having a class of children.
Oi!The back's coming out.
DIY people! Ohhhh! Ah, lovely.
Do you want to see a table that moves on its own? Yes, please.
OK, let's go.
If you push there, straight through.
Ohhh!There we go.
I love that! That is good.
Yeah.
Designed by Dutch visionary Wouter Scheublin, this ingenious table is one of only eight that exist.
Why would you want a walking table? Why wouldn't you?Exactly.
Take it for a walk.
Andy, I'm detecting a dangerous seam of negativity.
Using technology, and the bare minimum of physical exertion it has taken but hours to transform this room.
And check it before you wreck it, a wall lined with magnetic wall paper.
So I can rearrange these pictures I love however I like without nail or screw.
And I have this - any colour of elegant mood lighting I desire, controlled from my smartphone.
But most impressively I've printed out a complete dining set.
Let's talk about the 3D printing.
You witnessed some of it earlier.
Look at all of these little 'objets'They're amazing.
.
.
made by the 3D printer.
Clearly, you can choose to print a fake cupcake for what it's worth.
But actually this technology is going to transform our lives.
It's at early stages but the potential is endless.
This stuff is going to change your life.
You're saying it could get even better than this tiny vase? And this cupcake.
Yes, I think we will look back and scoff at this cupcake in ten years.
Here we are in a fully decorated room, all done by gadgets.
What's your feeling? Andy? Yeah, I mean, it's OK, yeah.
It is quite nice.
"Quite nice"?Yeah.
It's like getting blood out of a stone with you, isn't it? You've got to work hard on me.
Unbelievable.
Anna, you're the design expert, what's your verdict? I actually think it's inspiring, to be honest.
For a few hours work, plus I didn't get my hands dirty.
It can only get better and better.
It's a brilliant start.
You can learn a lot from this kind of positivity.
OK, Charlie, what's your feeling? I'm quite impressed.
I remember you talking about the idea of the wallpapering machine and the wallpaper machine happened.
It has wallpapered.
The robot painting machine has painted.
So, gadgets have kind of worked, haven't they? Well, it feels like in the end it's going to be robots doing a lot of our work, Andy fighting the robots.
You would favour the robots and perhaps you painting faces on those robots.
Where do you stand on this robot thing? I'll tell you where I stand.
I've got a robot band.
That's where I stand.
They're about to play us out of this.
OK.
They're there.
LAUGHTER ROBOTS PLAY "Get Lucky" Next time on Gadget Man, I'll be delving into the itzy bitzy world of downsizing.
So this is the new house.
I've made sure it's in keeping with the area.
'Welcome to Gadget Man.
' I love that! 'Where I get to celebrate 'some of the world's best gadgets' Whoa!Ooh.
I am just a little bit tense, you understand.
How do you think I feel? '.
.
and introduce you to the most amazing and bizarre technology 'from around the globe.
' Do you want some quiche?Yeah, sure.
That is an innovation for a dinner party, isn't it? This week Engage the robot arm.
'.
.
gadgets designed to take the darn drudge out of do-it-yourself.
' BANG! BLEEP! So, before ado is in any way furthered, let's tool up and get down to business.
It is said by people that our homes are our castles.
But unlike castles, they always seem to need bits doing to them.
Which is why every bank holiday, 18 million of us saps end up here in a DIY store vaguely wandering around, trying to find the right density sandpaper.
'No, DIY just isn't my jam.
'I dislike the climbing of ladders, the spreading of paint, 'the buying of fluids, and the purchase of tools.
' In short, I'm not too sure about DIY.
I'd prefer GDIFM - Gadgets Doing It For Me.
Perhaps I can get these home improvement tasks done by upscaling the technology I already have to do the fiddlesome tasks around the house.
This Bravva robotic mop sweeps the ground beneath my feet.
It uses an on-board navigation system to map out where it's been, and where it has to go now.
I also have a robotic helper for the icky job of cleaning gutters, sweeping away debris using its propeller and brush attachments.
The most distressing task of all is cleaning our rooftop swimming pools.
So I have this, a fully automated sub-aqua cleaner that vacuums and scrubs the sides, using as little power as a 60 watt bulb as it does the thing that it does.
'Leaving me free to sit, near prone, 'watching demolition footage on my smartphone, 'located on the darkened inside of my TV hat.
' Pretty good.
'Well, heavens to Betsy.
'These are exactly the sort of jobs that I need to farm out to gadgets.
' 'When it comes to gardening, 'we spend almost ã2 billion a year on tools.
'Like this multipurpose fella.
' The Honda Versatool comes with a variety of attachments for your strimming and trimming needs, which, if they're like mine, are great and never-ending.
So let's start this up.
Let's tame this bush.
'This horticultural Swiss Army knife claims to do 'practically anything you might ever need a garden tool to do.
'I'm talking hedge-trimming.
'Blowing.
Edging.
'Pruning.
Cultivating.
'And, of course, strimming.
' That was a heck of a strim, I don't mind telling you.
'Wow! 'But I prefer a gadget to take care of the lawn without me 'lifting the proverbial.
' Let's meet this fella.
It's the Husqvarna Automower 265 ACX.
Let's hope the makers of this are better at making mowers than coming up with catchy names.
It claims to be able to cut your lawn on its own.
It's a robotic lawn mower, let's test it.
This state-of-the-art mower uses an ultrasonic sensor and guide wires around the lawn's perimeter to manoeuvre itself around.
And there's no need to worry about your cat getting an unwarranted trim.
Its sensors will prevent any collisions.
When it gets low on power, it returns to its charging station, like a dog would, if it were this mower.
And there's more.
If it's disturbed in any way, by, for example, bandits, it will even send a warning text to your mobile.
Well, is the grass getting shorter? Yes.
And am I doing anything? No.
So those two things are pleasing.
It seems perfect.
Seeing my robotic mower cut the lawn has sent thoughts rushing to my skull.
Perhaps I can find gadgets that can speedily transform the inside of my house as well.
Let's consolidate and group our thoughts in an orderly manner.
I need to decorate a room in this house.
I just need to.
The decor offends me.
Can gadgets help me do this? And what's more, could they do it in just a few hours? I'm going to decorate this empty shell of a room in my house into a space fit to host a tea party.
I will then invite some TV make over titans to witness the whole process.
'Before I begin, I'm going to pick the brain of architect 'and construction expert Charlie Luxton.
' I want to get your opinion on some gadgets that are meant to be for the novice.
It'd be good to get your expert eye on them.
OK.
Who needs a tool-laden garage when you've got this transformer gizmo? So, essentially, what this is, it's a workbench in a box.
You've got your circular saw-y thing.
Put it down.
You've got a drill.
Handle.
The Power8 plugs straight into the mains, or its two rechargeable batteries allow you to work cordlessly outside.
It strikes me that it's a lot of fun to use, putting it all together, slotting it and clicking it.
And it is sort of like a big boy's toy.
So from that perspective, I think it's probably a lot of fun.
'Helping us assess my DIY gadgetry is Charlie's foreman, Pete.
' There you go.
Lovely.
In the home, excellent.
Very good.
Wouldn't necessarily use this particular product at work, but in the home, I would.
Charlie's right-hand man was nearly Charlie's no right-hand man after a nasty DIY accident.
How did you cut your hand? I presume it wasn't a duel.
No.
OK.
I was using one of these saws without a proper guard.
Wow.
I am concerned about safety with these things.
There's some gadgets over here that are safe, and let's have a look at them and see if you think they'll be useful.
Britain's A&E departments see more than 200,000 DIY casualties each year.
But this ingenious piece of American hardware is aimed at reducing injuries drastically.
What's pretty amazing about this is that it has a sensor in it which means that if it comes into contact with human skin, the saw drops below the level and it stops.
It really stops? I'm not going to ask you to put your hand in it, or your hand, you've been there, done that.
So we're going to use your lunch.
There's a saveloy in here.
Introduce the saveloy.
And you're happy about this?I'm very happy.
BANG! Bloody hell! 'SawStop's blade carries an electrical signal.
'Upon contact with conductive material like human flesh, 'it triggers a break and retracts the blade under the table.
' Bloody hell! 'All this in five milliseconds, which is a fast amount of time.
' Oh, my God! I thought it popped.
That's pretty good.
Oh, look, it's got a tiny, tiny little nick.
That is amazing.
Yes.
You're pretty impressed.
I am really impressed.
OK, that's good.
Yeah.
You could have had a less impressive wound, if you'd had one of these.
Ladders are involved in more DIY accidents than any other piece of kit.
But this one claims to be the world's safest.
Its adjustable outriggers make it five times less likely to tip to the side and its built-in spirit levels help you to put it up at the most stable angle.
I, I love not falling.
I'm never happier than when I'm not falling to my death.
Actually, ladders are incredibly dangerous.
So that is a good bit of kit.
The days of whacking finger with hammer could be over as well.
Designed with a magnetic head, this gadget grips nails in place so you don't have to.
Its rapid-fire mechanism hammers away 60 times a second.
This is actually mainly for tight spots, where, you know, you're doing that, you don't want to be in a tight area.
What I reckon is, that's why they invented the screw.
Sure.
WellBecause that seems a little over the top.
OK.
What I'd say to that is RAPID HAMMERING OK? Smashing down walls is another potentially dangerous activity as well as being extremely tiring.
You've got a friend.
Yeah.
This is the world's smallest remote-controlled demolition robot.
No need for sledgehammers.
We can stand back at a safe distance while he does all the whacking.
Here we go, this is how to demolish a wall with ease.
There you go.
Yeah.
One brick at a time.
Yeah.
'This machine is capable of immense nuance.
'Witness me as I delicately remove one brick at a time 'to demonstrate its dexterity.
' I really just want to whack it.
OK, OK.
Well I got tired of delicacy.
So, yeah.
Great restraint.
I thought you showed great restraint.
And we can swing again, there we go.
Wow! That was the power that was always there.
Thank you.
Very good.
Very good.
Well, thank you.
If I may? 'As we pause for sustenance, I pump Charlie for his thoughts 'on my quest to decorate a room in mere minutes using gadget magic.
' So, what kind of gadgets would be useful?Well, paint sprayers.
You justkshhhhhhh! And you can do a whole room in literally half an hour.
That sounds good.
What if I want to wallpaper? Well, that's more difficult.
If you imagine some kind of dispensing unit that had a kind of hopper on the side with wallpaper paste, which had a roll of wallpaper in it, at the handle.
Yeah.
And as you rolled the wallpaper down, it would layer on the glue and get all the air bubbles out.
This all sounds good.
I'm going to make some calls, and get that actioned.
Coming up, my tea party guests arrive.
Oh! I love that! 'And I decorate a room in a matter of hours '.
.
without doing any work!' 'Welcome back.
How are you? 'I've been trying to prove that it's possible to replace DIY 'by having gadgets and technology doing it for me.
' There we go.
Whoa! Not a bead of sweat.
I'm exhausted.
As spectacular as the Gadget Man house is, inside there lurks a shamefully undecorated room that I plan to makeover using a bevy of labour-saving gadgets.
But that's not all.
I'm hosting a tea party here and will transform this nothingness into somethingness before my guests' very eyes.
My guests are about to descend and I haven't even chosen the colour for my signature wall.
You can imagine the level of stress I'm experiencing.
Luckily, I have the Node & Chroma.
This gadget has a scanner.
It connects to your smartphone and you can choose colours from the real world like this And convert it into digital colour like that Then I just need to transfer the information from here to the X-Smart paint dispenser.
Hit it.
X-Smart has 16 cylinders, each filled with a base colour.
By mixing these in different combinations it can literally produce an infinite number of paint colours.
I need just one, which is just as well because my guests have sloped up.
Charlie Luxton is already privy to heart's dear desire to have gadgets do all DIY.
Ah! Hello!Nice to meet you! Anna, Andy.
'But for Handy Andy and Anna Ryder Richardson - 'veterans of the '90s TV makeover circuit - 'my futuristic thoughts could very well blow their heads inside out.
' I am going to decorate a room merely with gadgets.
Don't drift off already, Andy.
I'm excited by the thought.
OK.
All right.
Well, do you want to come in? You're even more comely in the flesh.
Don't know about that.
This is the room I'm decorating, gather in.
Andy, I sense a rapport building between us.
I want to paint this wall.
How would you do that? Erm, roller and brush, I suppose, innit?You sicken me.
Behold, my Fanuc! Engage the robot arm.
ROBOTIC MUSIC This robotic goliath, otherwise known as the Fanuc M10Ai was made in Japan, and plies its trade in car assembly plants around the world.
Look, that's three coats now, so that's quite good.
LAUGHTER I've had it fitted with this paint spraying gun and, for today only, it's here at Gadget Man Towers, helping me paint my feature wall.
Work it, make it This literally is watching paint dry.
ANNA LAUGHS It's better than watching paint dry.
It is.
It's a huge robot spraying a wall.
I meanwhat's not to like? It's very even, isn't it? You think of all the people we've seen rolling in the past and you've got a patch here and there.
I can see the concept of it, yeah, but it's the setting it up time and all that Andy, you're breaking my heart.
Why, darling, why's that? You're so anti-Fanuc.
I didn't say I was anti, did I?All right.
I said I can see the concept of it.
OK.
We can all see the concept.
But do you like it? It might grow on me.
You may be poo-pooing my Fanuc but, it has painted a large area of wall in a very quick time.
'And I've not had to do a thing.
'While my robot finishes up unsupervised, I've got some 'other machines on the go, printing my tea party knick-knacks to order.
' These are 3D printers, printing items for the tea party.
Oh, no! That are printing designs That's quite cool.
Have you seen that before?Yeah.
Have you?!But they're not I feel like I'm in the future.
This feels like the future.
Yes.
The cube can make a two-dimensional design on a PC screen a 3D reality, creating objects up to five and half inches in size by printing layer upon layer of molten plastic.
Andy, speak up.
I think it's very clever but point to it is what? The point is that one day in the future, after the dust settles, after the interstellar war, we will all be able to download cups of various designs from sites.
This is a complete revolution in the way we make things.
Up till now we've heaten, beaten and treaten things Which is lovely! This is a completely new way of making.
This is the future.
You've genuinely shown me something I'm excited about.
Thank you.
No, but you're going to take away, you're on a computer going What happened to big arms beating and sweating and brawn? What I need is focus on gadgetry rather than something that sounded like the end of Officer And A Gentleman.
On that note, it's onto perhaps the most reviled of all home improvement jobs - wallpapering.
For decades scenes like THIS have been playing out in living rooms across the land VOICEOVER: All she has to do now is to stick it on the wall What a mess! Wallpapering by hand is near-madness, and yet no-one has been able to invent a gadget to do it for us - until now.
We once shared a dream about a machine that could wallpaper.
We discussed a wallpapering machine.
And a new world we could build on its shoulders.
Wallpaper machine.
OK.
OK? Do you want to see it in action? I do.
All right.
That'sThat is a winner.
LAUGHTER That is brilliant.
Why's no-one done that before?It's very flat.
It's absolutely fantastic.
I can't think why somebody has not invented that before.
Well, thank you.
As they plan to retire on the proceeds of this ingenious invention, my engineering staff has asked me not reveal its exact machinations.
All I will say is that wallpaper is pulled through a bath of adhesive and then forced flat on to the wall using a series of rollers.
An inbuilt guillotine is the final touch.
How does it work? What's involved in it? It's at that point we part company because my engineering staff will not reveal the secret until the patent is lodged.
The wall is covered with paper.
But before we can take tea, we must furnish, and furnish furiously.
One of the greatest fears in organising a tea party is having to build your own furniture.
LAUGHTER But I don't have to do that because I have this! Look at this.
It's one sheet.
And I can make a chair from this, have a look.
The inventors of these Flux chairs took their design inspiration from hooligan-proof football stadium seats.
Made from a single sheet of plastic they simply fold together and boom, the job is done with the minimum of effort.
You're bending it the wrong way.
Which way, should it?Bend it round.
'Or at least that's the theory.
' It's like having a class of children.
Oi!The back's coming out.
DIY people! Ohhhh! Ah, lovely.
Do you want to see a table that moves on its own? Yes, please.
OK, let's go.
If you push there, straight through.
Ohhh!There we go.
I love that! That is good.
Yeah.
Designed by Dutch visionary Wouter Scheublin, this ingenious table is one of only eight that exist.
Why would you want a walking table? Why wouldn't you?Exactly.
Take it for a walk.
Andy, I'm detecting a dangerous seam of negativity.
Using technology, and the bare minimum of physical exertion it has taken but hours to transform this room.
And check it before you wreck it, a wall lined with magnetic wall paper.
So I can rearrange these pictures I love however I like without nail or screw.
And I have this - any colour of elegant mood lighting I desire, controlled from my smartphone.
But most impressively I've printed out a complete dining set.
Let's talk about the 3D printing.
You witnessed some of it earlier.
Look at all of these little 'objets'They're amazing.
.
.
made by the 3D printer.
Clearly, you can choose to print a fake cupcake for what it's worth.
But actually this technology is going to transform our lives.
It's at early stages but the potential is endless.
This stuff is going to change your life.
You're saying it could get even better than this tiny vase? And this cupcake.
Yes, I think we will look back and scoff at this cupcake in ten years.
Here we are in a fully decorated room, all done by gadgets.
What's your feeling? Andy? Yeah, I mean, it's OK, yeah.
It is quite nice.
"Quite nice"?Yeah.
It's like getting blood out of a stone with you, isn't it? You've got to work hard on me.
Unbelievable.
Anna, you're the design expert, what's your verdict? I actually think it's inspiring, to be honest.
For a few hours work, plus I didn't get my hands dirty.
It can only get better and better.
It's a brilliant start.
You can learn a lot from this kind of positivity.
OK, Charlie, what's your feeling? I'm quite impressed.
I remember you talking about the idea of the wallpapering machine and the wallpaper machine happened.
It has wallpapered.
The robot painting machine has painted.
So, gadgets have kind of worked, haven't they? Well, it feels like in the end it's going to be robots doing a lot of our work, Andy fighting the robots.
You would favour the robots and perhaps you painting faces on those robots.
Where do you stand on this robot thing? I'll tell you where I stand.
I've got a robot band.
That's where I stand.
They're about to play us out of this.
OK.
They're there.
LAUGHTER ROBOTS PLAY "Get Lucky" Next time on Gadget Man, I'll be delving into the itzy bitzy world of downsizing.
So this is the new house.
I've made sure it's in keeping with the area.