Our media, from games to movies to TV shows, is filled with visions of what the people from the past thought the future would look like. This is a phenomenon called Retrofuturism. Oftentimes like in Back to the Future’s neon chrome polished vision of 2012 or Fallout’s nuclear-ravaged wasteland, they’re often wildly off base resulting in a weird but fascinating look into an alternate timeline. However, sometimes like in the case of the 60s Batman‘s mobile phone in the Batmobile and Star Trek: Deep Space 9’s sci-fi Google Glass they actually predicted future technology correctly!
CD Projekt Red’s newly released videogame Cyberpunk 2077 is a prime example of retrofuturism and according to the game, we’re about 56 years away from some amazing and frankly, terrifying technology. We went digging to find out if they were right—and it turns out they might be.
<Spoiler Warning for Cyberpunk 2077>
Keanu in our Heads!
2077: In Cyberpunk 2077, anarchist rockstar Johnny Silverhand’s (played by Keanu Reeves) consciousness is immortalized inside a device known as the Relic. This device is stolen by the main character V and placed it in his head. In doing so, V is able to interact with and talk to the digital ghost of Silverhand
2021: The way I see it, some of the basic framework for the Relic already exists in the world today and all that’s left to do is put it all together. There are already visual implants that exist that help blind people see again. AR technology, which projects objects into the 3D space around you, has been around in the mainstream for a while now as far back as (2012) even reaching the consumer electronics market via Google Glass, games like Pokemon GO and various other smartphone applications. All that’s left is to digitize the consciousness of Keanu or any other human being—a feat that isn’t too outlandish since the concept being explored by various grief treatment technologies, chatbot developers, and believe it or not, Microsoft itself!
Additionally, I came across the term “Algorithmic Grieving” in my research and I have never heard something that’s made me fear the future more.
Cybercars
2077: There are a ton of future cars driving about in Cyberpunk 2077. Most of them are grungy, future tech remixes of familiar vehicles we have today just souped-up with crazy functionality like multiple wheels and crystal dome windshields that are opaque until the car starts up.
2021: For better or for worse, the closest thing that we have right now that represents a future car is Tesla’s ambitious but suspect Cybertruck. It certainly looks the part with its minimalist, bold, and angular form factor resembling something that wouldn’t be out of place in Night City. It also touts itself as having “better utility than a truck and more performance than a sports car”. It even has incredible durability to survive in the dangerous, crime-ridden future being able to withstand a sledgehammer to its side and sporting bullet-proof glass.
Except, of course, the bullet-proof glass… isn’t really bullet-proof. Or at least not “metal ball-proof.” Also, the Cybertruck also doesn’t come with basic safety features such as, you know, side mirrors and window wipers. “Room for improvement” indeed.
Braindance
2077: In Cyberpunk 2077, scientists found a way to record and transmit emotions, feelings and senses creating a new media form called Braindance. With BD, as its commonly referred to, participants can fully experience another person’s recorded reality as if they were that person entirely.
2021: So basically, Braindance is just a crazier, more intense version of today’s VR technology that’s able to record and transfer not only what you’re seeing and hearing but also what you’re feeling as well. Admittedly, we’re still quite a ways from being able to do this with what we have right now but, even though it’s not perfect yet, there is already technology that exists that senses what you are feeling.. A startup called Healium can track biofeedback via a smartwatch or an EEG band and visualize your emotions via VR headset. Thanks to the power of algorithms and facial recognition, AI can now also read your emotions as well.
It would stand to reason that if we can use technology to track and understand emotions we’re only a few giant steps away from being able to replicate and transfer it for entertainment and police work.
Cyberware
2077: In Cyberpunk 2077, Cyberware augmentations are used to upgrade and surpass the limitations of the human body. There are various implants and augmentations that allow wearers to have better endurance, faster reflexes, even enhanced regeneration—some even have blades and projectiles that they can deploy from their arms.
2021: While a far cry from arm blades and wrist-mounted missile launchers, the US military is seriously considering injecting implants into soldiers to enhance their combat abilities. A DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) initiative called “ADAPTER” consists of injecting soldiers with “implants that are miniature factories full of bacteria” that produce substances that remedy diarrhea and sleep disruption—two major health risks when deployed in combat. There’s also some talk floating about ocular implants that enhance the vision and awareness of it’s wearers giving them the edge in combat.
Additionally, the US Military is also projecting that “Cyborg Soldiers”—warfighters that can control drones, machinery, and weapons with their mind through the use of implants— will be a definite possibility by the year 2050. Even away from the military development, implants are being considered as solutions to socio-political issues such as gun violence and gun control as well as pushing the advancement of prosthesis to the point of prosthetic limbs being able to be controlled by thought alone.
What future tech could be in the media right now that might actually become a real thing? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
For more game stuff check out Five Cyberpunk Games to Play While Waiting for Cyberpunk 2077’s Release and The Fastest-Selling PC game Record Was Broken Twice Within The Last Three Weeks
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