98 days later post pandemic Bristol V2 [final].qxp_Layout 7 09/07/2020 16:00 Page 1
Image: historicengland.org.uk
MOVING FORWARD
There was no Cillian Murphy wandering around in scrubs but the sight of Bristol without its bustle felt eerily filmic. This image, ‘First Day of the Holidays’ by Bill Ward, has been put into Historic England’s ‘Picturing Lockdown’ archive
98 days later
Bristol has adapted at an almost unimaginable rate these past months and brought about positive change. As tentative green shoots emerge across the city, we find out how its different sectors are responding
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oetic licence has been employed here, yes – by the time of publication it will have been well over 100 days since we found ourselves in in varying degrees of state-imposed solitary confinement, depending on who, if anyone, we were locked down with. But that doesn’t quite as snappily bring to mind the Boylesque post-apocalyptic street scenes that left us blinking in amazement whenever we caught sight of central Bristol minus its bustle. As the city very cautiously began to ease restrictions, a few key figures from different sectors offered thoughts on the shape of things going forward, from economic recovery work and the ‘green restart’ to community initatives and the positive takeaways.
Technology – on which we have leant so heavily “The world after covid-19 will look very different, and the deep-tech companies in Bristol are well placed for the changes,” says local technology journalist Nick Flaherty. “Touch-screens will be replaced by touch-free systems, mostly powered by technology from Ultraleap – a combination of Ultrahaptics in Bristol and Magic Leap in the US.” A key new trend, these touch-free displays can be safely controlled in mid-air, with the first of these rolling out in cinemas as they re-open. Companies are increasingly turning to cloud computing for their post-coronavirus infrastructure although, according to Nick, the technology is complex and the options are vast and confusing. “YellowDog has used its software tools to create an index that will be 18 THE BRISTOL MAGAZINE
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used by companies around the world to find their way through over 23,000 options, including the environmental impact of the data centres. This will help expanding digital companies cut their costs and reduce their carbon impact as part of the covid-19 recovery.” The move to touch-free interfaces and cloud computing will also boost other Bristol companies, he says. “Tiny, low-cost chips
Touch-screens will be replaced by touch-free systems and displays that can be safely controlled in mid-air. The first are rolling out in cinemas as they re-open Good gestures: wave a finger to select
