As a test discussion, please respond to the following prompt in a comment on this page.
In the first class, we watched excerpts from Black Mirror and Blade Runner. These are two of many examples of screen-based media that engage with the challenges of electronic culture. What is your favorite example of screen-based media (television show, film, computer game, media artwork, or other form) that address the topic of our technological world, real or imagined? What are the qualities that make it your favorite?
Use links to augment your comment. If you pick something that has already been listed, add to the original thread instead of starting your own. You are encouraged to challenge each other, but always be respectful.
My favorite screen based media has to be Oblivion (2013). The movie’s set in 2077 and it’s a world where aliens (Scavs) destroyed the world and there are only two people left on Earth. The main character, Jack lives above the clouds with his partner Vika. Jack goes back to the surface to fix drones that are able to detect any Scavs and kill them. I found it interesting how in one scene at the beginning of the film, he fixes a specific drone (#166) and it later saves his life when Jack runs into a trap set by the Scavs. It goes to show that technology, although it can be used as a weapon, can be used to save lives as well.
The qualities that make it my favorite is the fact that the ending of the movie isn’t what I expected. We’re introduced to clones that seem to show emotions as if they were humans.
War games is a good movie that incorporated topics about the contemporary technological world. The protagonist of the movie was a teenager who was able to hack into the U.S. military computer server that controlled the nation’s nuclear arsenal. He accidentally threatened to caused a worldwide nuclear war because he almost launched the nuclear warheads, thinking that he was just playing a game. This movie actually reflected the nuclear war scare in the mid to late 1900s as it recreated futuristic technology in the plot. This movie was released in 1983, and it highlighted the incredible pace that technology has advanced because the modern technology simulated by the movie seem subordinate compared to our technology now. I believe the movie also served as a reminder about the dangers of nuclear war, and I think the comparison of real life to a game emphasizes that precaution because something as drastic as a nuclear war can’t simply be reset like they can be in video games.
Hi Daniel, I strongly agree with you. War game is actually a good film.
My favorite film that address our technological world is External Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It is about a couple Joel and Clementine who decides to have each other erased from their minds after they had a broken relationship. However, during Joel’s memory erasure procedure, when all sweet moments with Clementine in earlier times starts showing up in his mind, he realizes how reluctant and unwilling he is to remove her from his life. Yet, it is already too late.The erasure process cannot stop once it starts. This movie is pretty thought-provoking. Undoubtedly, the advancement of technology has improved our lives to a large extent but at the same time, it puts us in danger. Like the memory erasure technology from the movie, humans use it as a tool to escape from their lives. The most important thing is, even if our memories are erased, it doesn’t mean that we can get rid of the mistakes we have made. Since technology has become part of human life, we should learn to get alone with it instead of infatuated with it.
I had some trouble coming up with a game or movie that exemplifies the technological world, and this is such a great example. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind does not seem to be based in the future since it is a drama and quite a beautifully crafted one. But it indeed features a creative device unlike any we have today. The “memory eraser”, which as stated earlier, is a way to erase the memory of someone you wish to forget but is controlled by a greedy corporation. Because of this it is indeed dangerous just as is the grain in Black Mirror. However, I wonder if the device itself is the danger, or is it just the human mind incapable of handling these technologies? Perhaps humans aren’t ready for what we can create.
The first show that came to mind after reading the prompt is a Canadian TV show called “Orphan Black”. It is about a group of clones and their journey to discover their origins and a cure for a disease that seems to plague all but 2 of them. In the show, the science and technology that comes with genetic engineering and cloning is way before its time, and is used by a group called neolutionists to create self directed evolution. Unlike some of the other tv shows/movies listed, this technology has more to do with science and biology then pure software and hardware. Despite this, the show really delves into the ethics of this kind of technology and how it affects the clone sisters, everyone around them, and eventually the mass population as neolutionsists come out with new and emerging scientific technology. Also, if you are reading this, I would highly recommend this show because its just a well written show in general and has the most amazing actors.
My favorite screen based media has to be Interstellar. In the movie, the human race is looking for another planet to inhabit due to challenges and problems that occurred . They sent multiple astronauts to survey their respective planet and send back information to see if the planet is capable of sustaining human life. The use of technology used in this movie makes it not only interesting but fascinating as well . This movie includes a take of the human imagination of what might happen in a wormhole and is a good example of how imagination can be used to fill gaps that is otherwise not understood.
Hello Steven, I agree with your opinion. Interstellar is definitely one of the master pieces in terms of screen based media that reflects earth’s advanced technological development. As you said the earth is trying to explore outer spaces. And instead of technology development, this movie illustrated many theory of time and space graphically. This is also absolutely amazing. Regardless of the truthiness of the science theories, the technology put in to making the film costs extremely hard work which is a huge part of making this film so successful. This movie shows how technology builds a bond between our planet and outer space with mostly imaginations. But it shows us so realistic scenes that cause me to think what if our world really would become so unlivable that we really need to leave it. But there are also many things that I could not understand. Nevertheless it is a great example of screen-based media that engage with technology challenges.
Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans is my favorite example of screen-based media that addresses the topic of our technological world. It is a anime from Japan. The story takes place in the future where the war has been expanded into the universe. Space travel is part of people’s life and the laser beam weapon is the technology from the past. One of the products from the war is the Mobile Suit, and the ones that are built with special frame design are called Gundam. This is my favorite because the technology in this anime is way ahead of our time, but it remains to be one of the possible futures that we might achieve.
My favorite example of screen-based media that addresses the topic of our technological world is the TV show, Gurren Lagann. It is an anime about people who live underneath the surface of the Earth to protect themselves from an evil king and the wars on the surface. The main protagonists are brought to the surface using a futuristic robot suit. The qualities that make the show intriguing is that even though the suits are used as weapons in the beginning of the show, but near the end, the characters are able to create a functional government based off of the technology that the mysterious suits provide.
Hi Jacob,
I watched it too!! I loved the show. I totally agree with you. The show shows us the technology that people use to harm each other can also be used to create a peaceful world. With a different purpose, those technologies can make the world better, instead of destroying it.
One thing that I watched relatively recently was Ex Machina, where a scientist/programmer is making a robot with AI comparing to that of humans and hires a programmer to run Turing tests on it to test capabilities. Although I don’t really have a favorite media, this was extremely liked for me in how real this can be. We are doing tons of work and research into AI’s to mimic human behavior in many things such as video games, assisting robots, and command services such as Siri and Amazon Echo. One thing that AI are slowly receiving is self awareness, which was {{{SPOILERS: the primary conflict of the movie}}}, so it is amazing how far we are coming yet at the same time somewhat frightening.
When talking about technology in media, the first thing that come to my mind is the recently popular series West World. In the West World, there are a lot of robots that serve as “hosts” to give the tourists to the West World splendid experiences. The robots are not like the robots today, they look like human, act like human and even have their own feelings and memories. Many tourists can’t distinguish between robots and real humans and the “hosts” give them great pleasure traveling in West World because they can do a lot of things they can’t do in the outer world. I think maybe one day there will be such robots in our lives, and they can help us do a lot of things that we ourselves can’t do.
One of the most interesting movie “In Time.” What got me into the movie was changing the fact that we need in our daily lives into a most precious gift, which was time. Instead of money, we have to pay our limited time to purchasing all the goods. There are some up and downs in the movie where protagonist loses his family regardless of how rich he got. Because of the movie, I thought about myself and people in the society. If the money were really the time, are people going to waste any seconds like they waste coins of the money? Also, I believe many individuals in today’s society, they do not value time as much as they value money. I think it was the most memorable and impact movie I ever watched.
Hi Jong!
I really enjoyed reading your post. In a way I find “In Time,” ironic in the present day because I feel as if in a way we are using our time up in society on a different level. It may not be to purchase goods or services, but we are often times so consumed with what others are doing either through social media or texting, that we are constantly losing precious time that we will never get back. As you mentioned, time is money, and this time that we waste consumed by technology will never be given back to us.
Hello Jong,
Thank you for sharing!
“In Time” is also the most interesting movie I have ever seen. I think the only unique feature of the film is “the time” concept. I believe everyone who watched the film feels interested about the kingdom that treats time as money. When the human life can count down, even recharge, the world will always exist between rich and poor. Rich people live longer and poor people could die anytime. The theme of the film is crazy but unique. I believe that time is not just money, time is way more valuable than money. We should do our best to not waste time.
Hey Jason,
I also think it is very interesting how the movie illustrated the compelling divide between the rich(living in the New Greenwich) and the poor(living in the ghetto-Dayton). The poor can die any minute while the rich essentially live for centuries, wasting away their “time” like it was nothing.
I agree that time is way more valuable than any amount of money and society should have a new perspective on it.
Hello Jong!
Your post was an interesting read. When I first watched “In Time” I cared mostly about the romantic aspect of it but when I watched it again years later, I realized how it was a representation of society today, I found it interesting how the poor were represented. For example, when the main character’s mother was running out of time, she was running as fast as she could in order to get more time from her son (which she had given him for lunch). This could be seen as how the working class overwork themselves and sometimes it’s not enough to support their family. Meanwhile, the rich are going on day by day socializing with other rich people. This shows how the world is divided. As you mentioned above, people in today’s society don’t value time as much as they value money and I agree 100%. They believe money bring happiness and that it’s not something worth thinking about, especially the youth, they seem to think that nothing can harm them and they they’ll live forever and they care only about having the latest technology and looking presentable. I think we shouldn’t focus so much on money but rather the time that we have doing the things we love and with the people that we love.
Blade Runner is also my favorite example of screen-based media that address the topic of our technological world. Blade Runner is a modified film adaptation of the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? in 1962. The movie’s artistic design, which depicted an improved future world, was favorably noticed, and Blade Runner has still been one of the most important representative works of Neo-nior films today. The Voigt-Kampff Test is beyond all doubt the most interesting part in the film. This test is also called empathy test, which is designed to detect the absence of empathy. In the film Blade Runner, when Rachael, an experimental replicant who believes herself as a human, is answering one of the Viogt-Kampff test questions, she asks, “Is this testing whether I am a replicant or lesbian?”
I love the film that I just watched a week ago, the name is “July”. It is about two girls who are very close friends and for a boy they broke apart but the fate never leaves them and they are the only one for each other in the world which means they finally breaks all the obstacles and stay together forever. I like this movie a lot because it is the happy ending movie in my thoughts because they stay together mentally forever which is even better for staying together physically, and this movie tells me the beauty in the world even the movie is just the movie, i still felt it through the screen.
I can’t agree with you any more. In fact, the film itself is one of the development of science and technology. It is the development of technology that allows us to express and record what we want to record or what we suspect.
I like and impressed me with science and technology related to the film is black man. I believe many people have seen the film. The two main characters use a machine that eliminates memory to help people or make mistakes. I think this is the charm of science and technology. Science and technology are always unknown, even if they are designed by human beings, but once it becomes a finished product, unless it needs to be repaired or upgraded, everything that is brought to us is unknown.
YES, Jiahua. I really like your comment. I cannot agree more about your opinions about technology because they are always unknown and cannot be control by the human beings. From my point of view, some time in the future, it will become another important part of us and the charm of the technology will continue to attract us in the future.
My favorite movie is “The Terminator”. The movie describes the war between cyborg and humans in a time travel background. It gives humans a crisis reminder of technology development. In the movie, when the computer program is developed into an advanced and uncontrolled level, they own their own ambition and view humans as enemies. It gives people a reminder that as information technology brings us many conveniences, someday it may be a potential threat to humans. One real world example of that advanced artificial intelligence beats human is the AlphaGo, which became the first Computer Go program to beat a professional human Go player in March 2016. From the movie and real world example, we should be aware of the potential threat of artificial intelligence as we take advantage of it. We may also need to put as much importance on developing neurology and biology as we put on artificial intelligence to explore more human intelligence.
The following link, as a complement to the threat of artificial intelligence, addresses how human employment may be threaten by artificial intelligence in the future. http://www.catholic.org/news/technology/story.php?id=58668
One movie that I think of when talking about the challenges of technology is W: Two Worlds. This movie is about the daughter of a famous webtoon artist known for his webtoon, W, fell into another world through an monitor. She later found out that she went into the world of the webtoon, W. She fell in love with the main character of the Webtoon. The movie shows how true love can be found in any world.
I loved W! It’s actually a Korean drama series, and I think that’s what really allowed the world in this drama to develop. Rather than a 2-3 hour movie, a 16 episode, each 70 minutes, drama series allows more time for the writer and director to expand the make-believe world and make it more believable.
I personally think that drawings or pieces of art that can easily be spread through social media are my favorite types of media that expresses views of technology. These art pieces speak out to me for the simplicity that it seems to show at first, but the very deep hidden message behind the art. I also enjoy the fact that comments can be made on artwork shared on social media and it is easier for more people to see these images. This image (https://goo.gl/images/TTEQsT) is a great example of the type of art that I am referencing. It is simple and does not take much effort to understand, but has meaning behind it and provokes people to think about their own lives.
One short film that I like is a commercial film that my cousin made for an arts festival. In the film, it shows people doing different activities at different places, but they all have their phone out to take selfies. Some are with their friends and some are alone. At the end of the film, a man is holding his phone to take a selfie on a street, but he saw someone dancing from the corner of his eye. He finally stopped looking at his phone and looked at the dancing person. The words “let it go” then flashed on the screen. It made me realize how much time I spend on my phone everyday compared to the times I actually looked at things surrounding me.
That’s a really common but ignoring point for people. We bury our heads into the internet-build world without glancing our real world for second. The flower blooms in the corner of the crossroad. A baby bird yells for food coming. Organized ants army transport delicious food back home. All those spontaneous moments happen in life every second and it is existing only for that moment. What we gained from the internet is what we lost from the experience from the real life.
One of my favorite movies that is related to screen-based media is Jurassic Park . It is a film that uses modern technology to extract DNA from some dinosaurs and animals to create a different species. The hybrid t-rax was raised alone without any social skill, which made it become a dangerous creature that kills everything it sees. The movie shows that how we can use modern technology to make an extinct species rebirth.
Great example, Yikang. Jurassic World is also my favorite example of screen-based media that addresses technology in our world. On the surface, the movie may seem far removed from our present reality, but creating new species and tweaking already-existing ones to have new, preferred characteristics is exactly where science is headed today. Science is actually already there in lots of ways, including with the ability to choose certain characteristics of an unborn child, for example. Another example is the genetic modification of food. In the movie, scientists have managed to bring back dinosaurs in the lab, and alter their DNA to be stronger and have more of their desired characteristics. In the same way, scientists today genetically alter our food to make it stronger and more desirable. With this issue of technological advancements like these comes a lot of controversy, with opinions on both sides of the matter. This debate was also depicted in the movie. The fact that the movie’s plot was subtly so relatable to some of the most pressing issues in technology today made it my pick for favorite example.
Rick and Morty is my favorite TV show that engages with technological advancements and electronic culture. Rick and Morty is an animated sitcom for adults. It’s about a a mad scientist (Rick) and his grandson (Morty). What makes it my favorite is partially all of the mess that they get themselves into with Rick’s inventions and also the inventions themselves. Some inventions are simple and nothing special (eg. the Butter-Passing Robot who literally just passes the butter at the dinner table) just like some of the ones in our current society. Other inventions are awesome, if not terrifyingly so such as the Time Freezer and the Portal Gun.
Hi Brionna!
I could not agree more with your statement. I too am a big fan of Rick and Morty and yes! Rick has some crazy inventions that are solely responsible for the adventures that Rick and Morty have together. I think this a great example of technology and its effect on human culture. Can’t wait for season 3!
I totally agree with you. I think Rick and Morty is a perfect example especially since the whole show stemmed from a parody of Back to the Future (hence the names since they come from Doc and Marty.) Every episode is a roller coaster of insanity that makes you think about what we’re doing with our lives and what it might all amount to. Like in an episode when they’re in a galactic arcade and Morty plays an immersive VR game where you live out the life of someone named Roy. There’s no clear goal to the game, but you experience the whole life cycle of this man that you’re controlling, and there’s an implicit understanding that there’s no way of ending the game without dying. Even the butter-passing robot is forced to contemplate his existence after finding out that all he was meant for was to pass the butter and ultimately spirals since it’s such a meaningless task to exist for. The show forces the viewers to contemplate their own existence every time an episode airs. Even the main characters are subject to this existentialist dilemma when Morty realizes that there are infinite universes with infinite Mortys that exist to serve the infinite Ricks who can infinitely interchange a Morty if their current one becomes indisposed or too much of a nuisance. The whole show stands on the platform that technology, while super cool and awesome, doesn’t fix things the way we want it to, and can even be a hinderance in the way we interact with each other (especially if you’ve seen the last episode of season 2.)
One movie that I think of when talking about the challenges of techonology is I, Robot. This movie is about the world in 2035, where robots are human asisstants and robots are not allowed to harm human in anyway. One day, Dr. Alfred Lanning is murdered and one suspect is a robot that calls himself Sonny. While this movie may seem ridiculous, I think that it is very interesting because it shows the problems that could arise when robots gain intelligence. This also warns humans about our reliance in technology and proposes a possibility of artificial intelligence outsmarting humans.
Hello Loc,
Thinking about when I, Robot was created in 2004 is great insight on how humanity has had this fear of artificial intelligence for many years. Even in 2004 when technology wasn’t seen as the biggest factor in our lives, the fear of artificial intelligence overtaking humanity is displayed excellently in the movie. The movie shows the common perception when we refer to technology taking over humanity. The common perception that robots, one day, will begin to learn and overtake the human race. In the movie Det. Spooner and Dr. Lanning were the only ones to believe that the robots(AI) were beginning to plan their attacks on humans and the rest of the world was against that possibility. This would probably be the same mentality for some when we look at technology today. We see ourselves solely reliant on technology and are blind to the idea that one day technology could rise against us. If people had this fear in 2004, then we should be worried at how much technology has progressed to 2017.
Michelle, I love Big Hero 6 as well! I am a big fan of animated movies especially the kiddie ones. I personally like movies such as Big Hero 6 that are family friendly and does not leave you in a sad mood. My favorite character is Baymax (like everyone elses) and usually, all these technological advances scare me because I feel like they are taking over the world but I consider Baymax as an exception. Hehe.
Those two actually remind me of a typical scientific fiction movie named Tron: Legacy. I know basically everyone watched it. After Kevin Flynn has disappeared for years, his son Sam is going to uncover this mistery missing. The new world Flynn is trapped in is his comupter system world. His ally betroyed him in the half way, creating an incredible underground mechanical world. Sam joins in this fight inevitably. Instead of human, plenty of robots and computer coding shaped creature are the citizens. That movie utterly changed my mind toward how we define” technology”. I mean it could happen in the future with men living in a computer world, without difference with in a material world. We would never worry about the food, clothes, and some other basic needs. It explores our thinking and provides a new way for human to improve.
An example of a screen-based media that recognizes our technological world is Big Hero 6. This movie is about a fourteen year old boy, Hiro Hamada, who fights robots to make money. His older brother, Tadashi, takes Hiro to his lab at his university and convinces Hiro to attend the university as well. Tadashi then shows Hiro a project he’s been working on, which is a nurse robot named Baymax. Baymax is a plus-sized inflatable robot who provides healthcare to the citizens of San Fransokyo and acts as a nurse/doctor. Baymax serves as an example of the future of healthcare, and theoretically could eventually replace actual nurses and doctors. He could possibly improve healthcare around the world. Baymax is powered by a single chip, proving how technologically advanced he is. His character alone ebodies the power of technology. This is one of my favorite movies because it is family friendly, cute, and unpredictable. It really opens our eyes to the future through media.
Hey Michelle ! I also thought about Big Hero 6. In the movie, we see that Tadashi and his friends at the university are great inventors. One of his friends invents wheels that are electromagnetically connected to a bike. I love Tadashis creation of Baymax and I adore how innocent and loving he is. I see something like the idea of Baymax happening in the future. I believe that portable healthcare is something that can be of great use to everyone.
Big Hero 6 is also one of my favorite Disney movies. I love the characters and how the city the movie takes place in is a combination of San Francisco and Tokyo. I actually used Big Hero 6 as inspiration for one of my projects I did for a writing class here at UCI. The class was on cyberpunk so I recreated the Big Hero 6 story line and exaggerated the cyberpunk aspects of the film. One other thing I like about Big Hero 6 is how the movie displays that a group of people with such different personalities can come together to fight for a common cause. I also liked how well technology was incorporated into the film not only through Baymax, but also through the gear that Hiro help create for his team.
Hey Michelle, while I agree with you and Pamela about how Big Hero 6 shows the benefits of technology with the portable health care and those other technological advances, I think this movie also shows the negative effects of the technology based world we live in today. With people constantly trying to gain new technology to either advance their careers or advance their own personal agenda, some people may get hurt in the process. For instance, Tadashi’s mentor Professor Callaghan’s greed to obtain power from Hiro’s technology resulted in him killing Tadashi – showcasing that while technology may be good, we have to be careful with how we use and the lengths we’ll go to obtain it. In addition, technology is not flawless and this screen-based media demonstrated this well when showing Callaghan’s daughter was trapped in an alternate space when the portal and rocket the humans built was flawed. Technology is growing at an alarming rate, but if precautions aren’t taken it can be rather disastrous.
I read a book that kinda had a messed up premise when it comes to technology and the human race.
Have you guys heard of Maze Runner? They literally set up a virtual world for the kids to live in with artificial life that was specifically designed to kill them. They also wiped their memories.
The book was really complicated and I only read 2 of them and idk if the 3rd one is out or not, but it’s a pretty good read. And if you don’t like reading then just watch the movies.
One of my favorite science fiction films is a Japanese animated movie called “Summer Wars” produced in 2009. The movie is about a young math genius, Kenji, falsely implicated in the hacking of a virtual world by a sadistric artificial intelligence, Love Machine. Kenji repairs the damage done to it and finds a way to stop the AI from cauing any further damage with Natsuki’s large family. Though they finally defeat the Love Machine in a really childish and idealized way ( by playing Koi-Koi, a Japanese card game), this movie also brings up the concern about the threat of artificial intelligence in the near future. The apperance of AlphaGo has already shocked the world that the development of AI can really be out of human’s control in some day. The terrifying imagine in many other science fictions that AI takes over the Earth and subjugate mankind may come true if we don’t do something to prevent it now.
When I first read the prompt for this discussion post, I immediately thought of the American TV series, Alias, which centers around the life of Sydney Bristow, the protagonist who ultimately becomes an international spy for a secret branch of the CIA. Throughout the series, a character by the name of Marshall J. Flinkman often is the one who addresses the topic of our technological world, by functioning as the creator of various gadgets and sophisticated tools that are used by field agents when sent out on a mission. Some of these gadgets include: a business-card device that can override a computer’s CPU to make the network believe the hacker is the system administrator, a high-resolution retina scanner that appears as everyday sunglasses, and a coding machine that creates a code based on an individual’s DNA.
One of my favorite cartoons growing up was the Jetsons. The Jetsons are a family who lived in a futuristic world where spaceships and holograms are the norm. There are even machines that are powered by birds and dinosaurs and the infamous flying cars. I remember watching this show as a kid thinking how cool would it be if we actually were able to develop such advancements in the near future. Imagine being abler o fly your car anywhere or watch a hologram of your relatives. In a sense it reminded me a lot of black mirror because even the show black mirror itself deals with a lot of every day futuristic things that might be able to happen, and even though the Jetsons had a lot of things that we thought we would have developed by now we are slowly getting there. I know that a lot of those things seemed impossible but who knows maybe in a few years we will have an implanted device like the grain play back all of my memories or we will have holograms or flying cars with innovative technology nothing seems to be impossible anymore.
Hey Katia,
Great analysis! I totally agree – The Jetsons was one of my all time favorite shows growing up as well. I think the Jetsons, like Black Mirror are shows that you may watch in the present and think “no way technology can ever become so advance one day”, but it surprisingly can. Some things I remember in the Jetsons (1960s – 1980s), they had flat screen tvs and video calling, which back then were unheard of, but looking at it 30 years later, it is a norm to video chat someone or own a nice tv. It’s definitely a possibility that 100 years from now, everything in the Jetsons like living in outer space and smart houses that do everything even cook for you will be the norm.
A computer game called “MapleStory” was my most favorite childhood game. This game was “free to play,” but playing the game without actually spending any money on it was quite an obstacle. In order to make any large progress in your character’s strengths, you must have the best items within the game. In order to obtain these items, virtual currency was used as a means to acquire them. However, these items were priced at nearly impossible to obtain amounts of virtual money (requiring years of play to reach that amount). Players often turned to spending real money to bypass that obstacle where they can purchase these items directly. If players were unable to spend money, they would have less power in the game and often not reaching potentials of players that do spend money. As a result, they are seen as a lower class of players. This is similar to the “grain” implant concept as we had seen in class. Why it was my favorite game was because I learned to use free third party programs to reach potentials of players that did spend real money. From that, I was able to play the game in its best experience without obstacles in my way.
One of my favorite animation that address the technological world is Sword Art Online. The technology heavily focused in the animation is virtual reality and it is known as “Nervegear.” In today’s world, virtual reality have been steadily growing with brands such as the “HTC Vive,” “Playstation VR,” “Samsung Gear VR,” and many more. In the animation, the main character named Kirito immerse himself into the virtual reality of the gaming community. The “Nervegear” is commonly worn by users simply by lying on their beds with the equipment attached to their heads. The machine is programmed to work through the user’s consciousness while they are sleeping so no necessary movement is required outside. It is really fascinating to envision Virtual Reality like Sword Art Online in our society that is currently developing and releasing VR to our real world. The growth of technology is very intriguing to the evolving human race and the future.
I agree with the idea that the anime Sword Art Online addresses the advancement of our technological world. With the plot revolving around the idea of virtual reality gaming, our current technology isn’t too far off, considering that the setting takes place in the year 2022. What I really liked about this series was that the setting was so intriguing and interesting because I have never seen any other anime plot similar to this one.
I can’t agree more. Hard to belive all those plots are from imaginations and it is kind of old one. What it has left us, audience is full of shocking and unbelievable praise bacuase everything it describes in the movie which could happen in the future not just some useless ideas.
As both Alvin and Alex has said Sword Art Online’s advancement in technology are being seen today. With VR gaming being somewhat recent, compared to that in SAO they were trapped in the gaming world due to a connection with their physical body and the equipment. The question SAO raised for me, in relation to our current VR and SAO’s “Nervegear” is how soon would we be able to buy equipment that could potential access our physical body similarly to the players of the game in the anime? This idea was terrifying considering the players did not have much control over the events in the game which in turn would potential harm them. That being said, I do also believe it would be a great technological advancement that would expand the types of experiences someone can have.
One of my favorite movie that had plenty of future technology was “The Martian”. I enjoyed this movie because the technological world in the movie was realistic. Traveling to Mars is already a task may eventually happen in the real world. The man survived on Mars by utilizing materials that we have today. It made the movie seem as if it was possible to actually do that in the real world. In addition, the movie showed time stamps. This reveals that the movie was flowing in real time. It actually took the spaceship a while before it was able to land on Mars as well as go back to Earth. All of the technological elements that were applied in the movie were very realistic. The idea that we will some day be able to travel back and forth from Mars makes the movie all more fascinating as it is like depicting the future.
I loved “The Martian” too, and I agree that it is very realistic. One thing I noted from the movie is that imagination is a key part of technology. A major problem that occurred was when the main satellite was damaged and the MDV was gone leaving Mark stranded without any means to communicate with Earth. In the movie NASA said the problem was a lack of imagination because they had never thought of a scenario where a man could be left on mars without the HAB. Luckily throughout the movie Mark comes up with many crazy ideas from his wild imagination and finds a way to radio Earth. It made me think that the technology that we make is only as good as our imagination, and some day a problem might arise that we could never have dreamed of.
I enjoyed reading your post, Carl. I agree with you about how realistic “The Martian” was and I thought it was very well made. The plot, although not a true story, made the concept of surviving on Mars seem so accesible and achievable. Not one part of the movie was unrelatable or unrealistic, in my opinion. I believe this movie’s plot will come to life very soon with how fast advances are being made by our country, I was especially impressed by the green house Matt Damon’s character built on Mars and how creative and I genius he was to come up with it. It seemed so simple an idea, yet, I don’t feel I would have ever thought of it!
My favorite movie that expresses the topic of our technological world would be Interstellar. It is my favorite because there is a scene where the main character go to another planet and live there for a while and then his daughter finally arrived at the end of the movie to live with him. That “another planet” is what we now call the new earth or will be the new earth to us very soon. I remember President Obama claim that 2030, we will be able to bring human to this new earth. I think that with a clear goal and the amount of resources that we put in, I am sure that we will be able to make it a reality even before 2030.
One example of a movie that expressed media culture is Adam Sandler’s “Click”. Click was a movie from 2006 about a man that wasn’t happy with his life so he was given a remote control that allows him to pause, fast forward , rewind, and do other features in his life. This movie showed a future in which people were able to use technology to their benefit and able to be in full control of their life. However it proved how valuable time is and how you can’ take the easy way out of life. It shows that using this device makes people miss out on the valuable parts of life.
Hi Hope! I definitely remember watching this movie when I was younger! I thought the concept of a remote control to “play” through our lives was such a cool idea. The theme of time was very prevalent, in a sense that we control it and what we make of it. I think that rewinding moments in our lives would just seem a little redundant. Although we all think that fast forwarding through the hard times of our life would make everything better, in turn its moments like those that make us who we are.
My absolute favorite would be the YF 23 Black Widow II – the only invisible aircraft in the world. It is not only that I am an Aerospace Engineer that I love it so much, it is about the curiosity of how a gigantic aircraft could be invisible. It is a project that bring future to the present and dream into realistic product that is consider one of the most advanced tactical fighter in the world. It is even more astonishing to believe that this aircraft is complete from start to finish only 44 months. This aircraft shows that we as human are capable of doing anything.
One example of the technological world in a movie is Wall-E. A movie in the future where many things are possible such as casual inter space travel and robots to perform almost every task which is a reason why humans get fat in the movie. Another interesting thing is the evolution of robots, not only are they technologically very sophisticated but some are capable of emotions, such as love. This movie is my favorite because its cute and funny.
Hi Daniel,
I agree with your thoughts on this movie, as it is the first one that came to mind when I read the question. One of the most interesting parts of this movie, in my opinion, is the way the setting takes place in a world that has been abandoned because of the waste disposal problem we humans have created. It presents us an idea that this may come to be the actual world we live in if we continue with our wasteful habits today and fail to reuse and recycle materials efficiently. In Wall-E, it presents a futuristic robot trailing along in an abandoned world collecting waste and cleaning up our mess.
Hi Anna,
I agree with your thoughts on this movies as well. Going along with your thoughts on how waste and disposal, I think its interesting how on Earth during that scene the air looked smoggy and unbreathable. Connecting that to Daniel’s comment on the evolution on robots, I think that the world became like that because of obsessive need for technology that exists in our society today; similar to how people will get a new cell phone right when it comes out even though their own phones is about a year old and still good to use.
Hi Nicole,
I do feel the same way about today’s obsessive need for technology and Anna’s point about our wasteful nature in society today. I do like this movie a lot seeing as it was able to portray such a horrible outcome in a cute animated way. It’s interesting how the humans are depending on the ship’s technology to simply walk around and perhaps this view of society’s technology obsession will indeed play out as it has in Wall-E where humans have given up caring about Earth and an unhealthy lifestyle will be promoted. As Daniel was saying about sophisticated software and the ability to conjure feelings in robots, there have been many advanced in Artificial Intelligence that are both amazing and scary.
One example that engaged with the challenges of the electronic culture was the 2002 film with Tom Cruise titled “Minority Report”. Considering that the plot takes place in 2054, I felt this movie did a good job in representing the automation that technology is able to provide.
Resident Evil is one of my favorite movies and games that addresses the topic of the technological world. In Resident Evil: Retribution, the Umbrella Corporation creates a facility that manufactures clones and creates simulated outbreaks to show the effect of the T-virus. The technology makes the clones look so real that it even causes the characters to have emotional attachments to the clone. Even though a zombie apocalypse is unlikely to happen, I could imagine some of the technology from Resident Evil to be developed in the future world (like the crazy, cool weapons and booby traps they use). The suspense, thrill and innovative technology makes this movie my favorite.
I have been a fan of the case-solving TV drama “BONES” from FOX for more than seven years. The scientists in the drama find evidences and solve cases by using all kind of the shining equipment and fancy techniques which reflects the importance of technology today. The scientists in the drama seem to be really cool and lack of emotions, but after a long time tracking and watching, I realize that the scientists are also full of feelings and passion. The machines in their labs are the helpers in their work as well as their friends. I am a computer science major student so I feel exactly same as them. The combination of cool technology-based case-solving plots and warm emotions between the scientists is the most significant property of this drama, and it’s also the most important reason why I love it.
Just recently I watched the movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence which is one of my favorite examples of screen based media because it engages the challenge of morality within the electronic culture. It is a chilling movie about a world where humans have discovered a way to create a life-like robot that can love. In the movie, a mother is given a child robot to replace her son who is ill and to test if the robot can actually develop feelings of love. Initially, the mother’s feelings are a mixture of confusion, anger, and skepticism, but as the plot moves forward she begins to love the boy robot. Later on, the mother abandons the boy, and he finds himself among other discarded robots who are being hunted, and “killed”.
In my opinion, the quality that makes it my favorite is that it raises the question of whether it is moral to create a being with such capacities for human emotion, and then to just exploit their capabilities for our own needs. The movie speaks out to ask viewers whether they are ready to face a new side of technology.
My favorite screen based media that pertains to what we have been discussing in class is Interstellar. When this movie came out, the ratings were off the charts. If you hadn’t seen it, someone most likely talked you into getting a movie ticket. This movie thrives with human imagination of future technology. The human race is looking for another planet to inhabit. They sent multiple astronauts to survey his or her respective planet and send back information if the planet could sustain human life. What makes this movie even more interesting is that future technology wasn’t enough for the producer. This movie includes a take of the human imagination of what might happen in a wormhole. It’s a good example of how the imagination can fill holes it doesn’t understand.
Hey Connor! I love Interstellar too! One of my favorite scenes was in the beginning of the movie when they catch the drone. I thought it was so cool how they basically took control of it like pirates. Also, SPOILER ALERT for anyone who hasn’t seen it, the end when he meets his daughter and she is now really old is great. It shows how she used technology to save the human race and transport them to another planet. The spaceship in particular was amazing, how it was like a replica of the mid-west but in a spaceship and the whole thing was an inverted cylinder. Not sure how else to describe it, but awesome technology!
Interstellar is also my favorite too. I think I have watched it a total of 5 times. I believe the new planet is no more a “human imagination” because I doubt that it will become a reality by 2030 with the amount of resources and passion that we put in and also as President Barrack Obama have stated in here: (http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/11/opinions/america-will-take-giant-leap-to-mars-barack-obama/) .
Futurama is hands down my favorite screen based example of technology in our world. I especially loved the comedy of the show and their imagination of a world decades from now. Of course, the show centers around a Fry who was frozen for 1000 years! I loved the technology and medical advancements they come up with in the show that allows a sliced arm to be “lazered” back into working condition! Hopefully, we can achieve that goal in the future!
After reading this prompt one of the first things that came to mind was the animated movie, Meet the Robinsons. When first watching Black Mirror I couldn’t help but relate it to this movie. This show is about an orphan named Lewis who is in love with science and technology. He uses this love to help him figure out what his mother looks like and creates a machine that allows one to look through his memories. During the course of the movie, he meets a guy from the future who warns him of the “Bowler Hat Guy.” Lewis in disbelief doesn’t believe him so Carl is forced to bring him to the future.
The movie was one of my favorites because as a kid I felt that having planes and jets as a normal form of transportation was something that would never be achieved. In addition I felt that all the animations Looking at how our world has advanced with technology over time, it now feels like in a matter of years this would be possible. Another reason why it’s one of my favorites is because during the course of the movie Lewis was able to talk to his future self and that’s something I find really intriguing.
I totally agree with you! It really reminded me of the technological advancements from Meet the Robinsons. But I felt that Meet the Robinsons was more of looking forward to the technological advancements and Black Mirror focused on the negatives of technological advancement and about human dependency on technology.
For example, in Meet the Robinsons, Lewis was an inventor that was a little kid with a great imagination and was trying to do what he loved while in Black Mirror, the memory pill took over people’s lives and was basically a necessity daily activities as well as emergencies; such as flying on the plane or reporting to the police. But it might also be due to the times and how we interpreted the advancement of technology that both versions of media show such a different message. The message brought about from Meet the Robinsons is more about looking into the future and welcoming the new changes to come. While Black Mirror was more about people’s lives revolving around technology, for example Instagram, Facebook, or even a cell phone. It is very interesting to see the different interpretations throughout time!
Hi Clarisse! Meet the Robinsons is also an old-time favorite of mines! I really enjoyed the animated future that the movie created for us, when we were children, all imagined the future would be like. One of the reasons this is one of my favorites is because I liked the idea of the “memory scanner”. I would love to be able to go back and see all of my memories from when I was younger. I was also mesmerized with how Disney incorporated the idea of the time machine into the plot. I liked how they were changed their fate for the better after seeing all the chaos that would have happened. My favorite part of the movie was Goob and Lewis getting adopted!
The Jurassic Park movies are really great, but the one I enjoy the most is the first one. I like how the movie suggests the incredulous yet wishful possibility of how far technological advances will reach: bringing organisms back to life and genetically modifying them. I also like how the plot of the movie presents a downside to how this could play out if it were ever to become true.
Hello Gabriela! Now that I do think about it, the first Jurassic Park movie was released in 1993, that’s 24 years ago! It’s been so long, and the way the film was made back then looks so realistic in terms of the dinosaur creations. I agree with you that the movie incorporated such technology dealing with organisms and using genetically modified breeds. If something does go wrong with breeding animals, we could end up with something dangerous like the T-Rex! (not literally). I really like the most recently released Jurassic Park movie also; this brings the possibility of cloning animals that are long gone from extinction.
Hey Gabriela!
This is my favorite screen-based media about technology, and my favorite Jurassic Park movie as well! I really liked the scene where they show the consultants how they went about obtaining dinosaur DNA and how they filled in the gaps with frog DNA. The movie really shows how science and technology can make the impossible happen, albeit its a bit exaggerated. In the book, one of Michael Crichton’s main arguments in his introduction is that work in genetics has become frivolous, and he made a fantastic point. I agree that the story of Jurassic Park shows how playing with science can take a wrong turn.
Hey Gabriela!
This is my favorite screen-based media about technology, and my favorite Jurassic Park movie as well! I really liked the scene where they show the consultants how they went about obtaining dinosaur DNA and how they filled in the gaps with frog DNA. The movie really shows how science and technology can make the impossible happen, albeit its a bit exaggerated. In the book, one of Michael Crichton’s main arguments in his introduction is that work in genetics has become frivolous, and he made a fantastic point. I agree that the story of Jurassic Park shows how playing with science can take a wrong turn.
(reposted with full name)
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De-extinction, it seems that the resurrection of extinct animals is really happening, and even though this process hasn’t successfully resurrected any species, it has been used to help with endangered species.
Of course, de-extinction is not quite the same as in Jurassic Park. Furthermore, it’s not feasible to resurrect a dinosaur, because DNA doesn’t last that long.
There’s also debate on whether this process is worth pursuing. From the page linked above, it’s stated that the resurrected animals won’t be exactly the same as before they became extinct, due to missing behaviors, some of which would have been learned from parents. Another problem with the resurrected animals is that they may create problems by endangering the current animals in the world.
One of the favorite movies that I could relate to the screen-based media is Inception. It is the film that deals with the technological world and imagined world that can never happen in the real life, which gave me huge impression. This movie not only shows the great imaginary world within the use of dream sharing technology, trying to change what already happened in the past but also shows how great the technology could give a chance to sneak into people’s actual dreams.
One of my favorite movies that addresses the topic of our technological world is Bicentennial man, a 1999 American science fiction film. In the movie, mankind experiences a much more advanced technology comparing with our world, which is demonstrated clearly through widespread usage of androids. They are created to take over any hard works such as housekeeping and maintenance duties. The part I favor most about the film is the fact that the main character, as an android, can identify emotions and fall in love with his master’s daughter. Since the development of robots is a possible achievement in the near future in our life, the movie successfully addresses several real concerns that may come along with it. Besides, the ending that the main character becomes a real human and his connection with his master’s family lasts forever touches me a lot. It also leaves the audience to think that whether the thought of developing androids only for hard work is right and moral.
One of my favorite movie related to screen-based media is Iron Man. The film impressed me with the scientific and technological effects. I love when the hero interactive with the artificial intelligence assistant Jarvis. They made virtually three-dimensional. It looks so vivid and real to me as it is real world technology. You can move anywhere in the space and give order to anything just by few movements. It is just amazing and make this hero character powerful. I believe that all these was made by computer production artists after the movie shoot. However, it is still I love the technology represented and the way all the colorful and cool image they created.
A show that came to mind is a tv series called Sanctuary. To put it concisely, Sanctuary is a good show with positive messages about challenging the system through the use of technology, having an adjustable world view, and accepting everybody for who they are.
One example of screen-based media that addresses the topic of the technological world is the movie “Her”. This movie addresses the topic of artificial intelligence as a man engages in an intimate relationship with his computer which is able to actually communicate and respond with feelings to him. While the idea may seem strange, it emphasizes a reality that we are quickly approaching. One of the reasons it is my favorite is because of this fact that it may seem unrealistic but is very much possible. With new artificial intelligence quickly emerging today, it’s interesting to see how close to talking computers we can get soon.
Hi Eric,
I definitely agree and think that “Her” is a great movie that challenges the boundaries and relationships between technology and mankind. Like you, when I was watching the film I couldn’t help but notice that these possibilities of our technology evolving the way it did in the movie, is very much possible to happen in our near future. Our technology is evolving everyday that it is possible to program a computer that is capable of operating actual human feelings. Even with Apple users, the use of Siri is evolving into more complex ways. Siri can answer any of your questions, organize your phone, and even has a humorous side by capable of telling jokes, being sarcastic, etc. I can see this as an example of how a computer-programmed voice can become even more realistic and develop many emotions.
An example of screen-based media addressing our technological world is the TV show, “Travelers.” This science-fiction show explores the possibility of time travel. The main characters are known as travelers, but rather than traveling to different destinations they travel across periods in time. They do so by entering the body of a person of the past at their exact time and location of death. This along with personal information to prepare them to take on their host’s life is made available to them via digital technology, much resembling the way we can stalk someone on social media in an instant. What caught my interest is the idea that these travelers are not utilizing this futuristic technology for personal or recreational purposes but to try to save society from ruin, e.g. prevent deaths and destruction from an explosion. I am also intrigued by the way the show looks into the complexity of changing the past and its increasingly impacting effects on the future.
The screen-based media that I closely relate to the excepts watched in class is the DC comic series Flash. Although it is sci-fi and focuses mostly on the impossible, it displays the hold technology has on our society. The show begins with one scientist trying to push the limits of technology. Which in return ends up almost destroying the city and creating humans with unimaginable powers. The rest of the series goes on to explain how technology- which created the problem in the first place -is used to solve the same problem. The technology in the show is beyond what we have access to today which is another reason this show is one of my favorites.
Hi Taylor!
I absolutely love this series too! I always have and always will be a fan of both the Marvel and DC Universes, and I think that the science and technology supporting the show is incredibly interesting. They even periodically address and challenge the philosophy of space and time, which I think is just fascinating. I attached a link that I think supports your claim of technology pushing the limits of human lives:
The main character, Barry Allen, lost his powers trying to save a close friend of his. Barry’s friends and family believe they can give him back his powers utilizing the STAR Labs advanced technology, which incidentally drained his powers in the first place. Like you said, the technology depicted in this show is definitely out of our reach today, but the conceptual ideas in this show that justify their actions are valid and plausible. I think that’s why a fraction of myself wants to believe that the application of such science and technology may one day (in the distant future) come true. Maybe not to the extent of granting anybody superpowers (or taking them away), but merely the access and integration of such advanced technology into our everyday lives.
1) Barry loses his powers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDscun_N04U
2) Barry tries to get his powers back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Z-TzxqvHo
One of my favorite movies was Tron Legacy where Sam, the main character, enters a game world that is set in the future. When I was watching the movie, I wanted to be part of the movie, riding around on the bikes. Although the “game world” technology would probably not be invented, it is interesting to wonder what would happen if we could have movie/game technology within our grasps. How would the world change? How would they be better or worse?
Hey Jeffrey, Tron Legacy was also one of my favorite movies. But the game prequel, Tron: Evolution, makes the future of human interaction with technology both alluring and terrifying. It would be awesome to be physically present in the games they played (assuming both players and programs wouldn’t die if the lost) and would bring a whole new meaning to immersive gaming. I liked the idea of having an identity disk to keep track of my memories, but the threat of viruses corrupting the disc still exist in the Grid and wouldn’t necessarily change the world for better. I feel that even if we had the technology that Tron has, there will still be people who abuse it for their own personal gains.
I was just thinking of this movie! And yes, to think how movies and game technology could possibly change our world is definitely mind racking. I, too, wish I could ride around one of those bikes. Just imagine if we could all escape our reality in a ‘literal’ virtual reality? Kind of reminds me of Black Mirror, the video-game episode. I don’t want to spoil it but let’s just say it’s crazy and it honestly blew my mind.
One of my favorite pieces of media that address a technological advances is a video game called Destiny. In its narrative, humans land on Mars and discover a massive moon-like object which they called the Traveler. Upon studying this object, humanity experiences a rapid advance in technology – human lifespan triples, they terraform planets such as Mars and Venus, and settle in multiple planets across the solar system. However, what I find most interesting is that the game seamlessly blends scientific advancement with what appears to be magic. The game takes place several hundred years in future, so it makes sense that the technology is so advanced that it seems magical to someone who has not grown up with it. It is amazing to me that scientific advancement, which is grounded in logic, math, and an understanding of the universe can progress so much, that an outsider to that knowledge will think that there a supernatural or magical cause.
One of the most interesting movie is “Paprika” produced in 2006. In a world in which ream therapy is possible via the DC Mini, a device that allows a user to access another’s dreams, Doctor Atsuko Chiba uses the machine to enter the dreams of other patients as her alter ego, Paprika. In reality, in 2011, UC Berkeley scientists Shinji Nishimoto and Jack Gallant brought us one step closer to being able to view someone else’s dream. By taking the way our brain interprets visual stimuli and using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity, the data was translated into video. Just last year, researchers from Kyoto, also using an algorithm and brain scans, were able to predict the images of a dream with 60% accuracy. How amazingly technology explores the future!
I just watched Paprika a week ago! I didn’t know that the dream technology was an actual part of ongoing research, but a big part of that movie that I thought was interesting was how the DC mini dream system could be abused and hacked by terrorists. In the movie, people who aren’t even dreaming can be put into a dream-like state by a user that has unauthorized use of a DC mini while they are conscious, leading to very bad outcomes. Paprika brings into light the possible danger of technological advancement in a very artistic and creative way, and I hope that the scientists that are actually working towards dream visualization give Paprika a watch and take notes on the message it tries to give to the audience!
Hi Rijul,
I’m glad to hear about the interesting movie from your comment. As the movie shows the fantasy and advantage of technology, it also reflects the ethical problems existing in the development of technology. The research results of UC Berkeley scientist Shinji Nishimoto and Jack Gallant is also a excellent advancement, but if the technology is disseminated, it’s necessary to enact privacy legislate to protect the brain data.
The first screen-based media that came to my mind was the movie that came out in 2014 named “Lucy”. I can see that it both address our technological world, both real and imagined. This person named Lucy is an American who is studying abroad in Taiwan. However, she was used as a object to smuggle drug out of the country. She got overdosed and started to have unnatural human powers. As a result, she began acquiring increasingly enhanced physical and mental capabilities, such as telepathy, telekinesis, mental time travel, and the ability not to feel pain or other discomforts. It described the people’s fantasy of having super power like reading people’s mind and much more, that everyone could have ever imagine.
It caught my attention a lot, because this movie stirred up a lot of controversy; and the fact that human can only access 10% of the brain, which is proven to be false. Beside that, a lot of the effects were amazing, at least to me. You can see it for yourself with the movie trailer link attached below.
I’m surprised this has yet to be mentioned but Mr.Robot, an American drama series, is a front-runner in terms of depicting the issues of modern technology in today’s society. What makes the show so perplexing is that it excels in realistically portraying the abuse of cyber security for personal or politic benefits. An example of this is when Elliot, the main protagonist, is caught up in a drug test and must alter the records to show that he tests negative. Fortunately, it is the technology era so all patients records are kept on file electronically which means Elliot can easily hack into the hospitals database and change his medical history. However, this also means that he is able to see and possibly alter all the records of the hospital’s patients. Is this due to poor management of encryption based on the hospitals software or was there a bug in the system? These types of questions are only a glimpse of the complexity that revolves around security in technology. Here’s an article as to why Mr. Robot excels as what they do: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603045/mr-robot-killed-the-hollywood-hacker/
The Walking Dead, a show where many people enjoy watching zombies take over the world has an episode where technology is shown to be both useful and dangerous. In Season 1 Episode 6, the group of survivors make their way to a CDC company where they develop cures and vaccines for outbreaks. Once they get inside, they meet a doctor who works with a voice robot (similar to siri) who he talks to and communicates with in order to do research / experiments. The doctor could ask anything and the robot voice would answer. Similarly, the robot had the power to create a lockdown of the entire company and self-destruct itself trapping the people inside due to the loss of power, which happens because they want to kill all bacteria inside so it does not contaminate the outside world. Although the entire show series isn’t about electronic culture, this episode stood out to me because it was very similar to what we had watched in class (Black mirror, etc).
When the topic comes to technology and screen-based media, Person Of Interest came to my mind. It was my favorite TV Show for a long time. I like how Jonathan Nolan, the director and the brother of famous Christopher Nolan, manipulates the storyline with technology. My new favorite TV Show involving technology becomes Westworld. The plots and human emotions are remarkable. Watching it makes me ask myself, “is the reality I am living real?”
Hey Robert! Finally I found someone has the same favorite TV show as mine, Westworld. When I read through the prompt, the first screen-based media I thought of was Westworld. This TV show looks like telling stories happened in two decades ago, but indeed the setting time is about thirty years later, depicting how to manipulate the future technology as entertainment to satisfy human’s desire. In the show Westworld is an amusement park for rich vacationers, the guests in the park have no responsibility for their act toward the robotic hosts who are extremely humanlike. After watching it, I became suspicious about every existence. Is this thing set here? Is my characteristic set to be like this? Are our lives born to be planned? Everything in this world looks artificial for me. As the guests are enjoying in the park without any consideration of the consequence, the dark side of human surfaces.
Thank you for bringing up WestWorld. What kept me watching this show was how technology started to back fire on the characters who created the robot themselves. It was interesting how the robots started to have a mind of their own. We think of technology as something that we have total control over. However, this show makes us question that.
One of my favorite depictions of our technologically driven world is the movie “Her,” which shows a world in which AI technology has advanced to the point where real relationships can be had between a person and an AI. The movie follows the life of a seemingly awkward man and a relationship he develops with the AI of his computer system. He goes on dates with her; he has intimate conversations with her; and he becomes a more confident person, as a result of their relationship. Likewise, the AI begins to feel like a real person and grows, mentally. I personally find this aspect of the movie to be very terrifying and odd because, we as humans, automatically found love and compassion with other human beings who are physically present in our lives, but being able to do the same with a technological devices sounds depressing and scary to me. However, the way technology has advanced in this movie is pretty amusing to the public since this sort of technology is no where near the next few years, but there are some aspects of it were it resembles some of the technology we have today. For example, in iPhones, Siri is similar to the Al technology found in “Her”, the only difference is Siri sounds and acts like a robot whereas an Al sounds and portrays itself like a human being.
Given the movie’s setting and plot, it raises some pretty serious questions about our future becoming similar to the movies. For instance, advancements in AI technology to the point where we can have relationships with them. Also, it springs up the question on what sorts of complications could arise in regards to marriage, medical emergency decisions or security if Al technology were to indeed be in the unforeseen future?
I also found that movie completely fascinating as well just because the technology that built the operating system (OS) was so advanced. It’s both terrifying and intriguing how it’s becoming less and less strange this type of advancement is becoming. I find that products like the Amazon Echo is very similar to the OS technology that was presented in the movie Her. The Amazon Echo is made to be able to complete many different tasks and talk to you like your own personal assistant, which makes me wonder if pretty soon we will have something similar to the AI technology shown in the movie. Will we be able to have actual meaningful relationships with nonhumans in the near future? What I have seen is that the voices such as Siri and other computerized assistants are sounding more and more realistic, which is what brought me to believe it might be possible that Siri will soon become the next “Samantha” (the name of the OS1 in the movie). Although, having a source that can actually give you meaningful conversations may be of great help to those who need someone to talk to. Whether they decide to replace human contact with conversations with operating systems is up to them, but it might not be the worst option to have available.
The movie “Her” also comes to my mind when the topic of our technological world is addressed. We cannot find anything that resembles Google Glass or a Pebble watch in Spike Jonze’s vision of the future. Although technology is everywhere, it is quiet and unobtrusive, weaving seamlessly in and out of main character Theodore’s life. There are no keyboards in this world; everything from Theodore’s desktop to his gaming console is voice activated, including his girlfriend, the artificially intelligent OS, Samantha. Already, scientists are experimenting with ways in which tech can help human psychological problems, like robot seal pups for dementia patients. Technology as a cure for loneliness is just around the corner.
I remember seeing this movie back when a high schooler. I twas fascinated with the creativity of the storyline, but also intrigued at how the story portrayed technology. I was more so terrified and a bit disgusted of how Al fell in love with a virtually non-existent “being”. I was terrified because it reminded me of how many of us become so absorbed in this technological world , so much so that when we are waiting at a stop, we no longer spark up a conversation with someone next to us, but we look at our phones. This movie made me think a lot about technology, love, and had me curious with what is in store for us in the future.
Hey Veronica,
Your entry really called out to me. I think you are one of many in the class, myself included; who feel this tension and apprehensiveness about the future of technology, specifically advancements in AI. I think the professor gave a great situational analogy at the first lecture, brining up how almost every single one of us reaches for our phone the minute we wake up; this can be identified as a form of relationship to a certain extent. I find it interesting that the vast majority of us find AI so unnerving. Seeing how Siri, Echo, Pandora and other similar devices are essentially reflectively adaptable systems of learning. They are constantly trying to please us, a quality we would normally find highly desirable in a mate however, when it comes to a system of learning suddenly a sense of distrust arises and we turn-off or location services, and push notifications get denied for being “too pushy”. Regardless the system is doing its job, and well; for it would not flourish were there not a demand, an over abundance of sed technologies and all associated trends which markets’ yields exceptionally. Regardless of how pushy or creepy we may find this tech to be, we continue to have a natural affinity for useless information, and mindless practices. How many of you have scrolled through your camera roll during the rare occasion when you don’t have wifi, just to kill time or avoid having any kind of real interaction? It is too laborious. Too taxing, we would rather satisfy our own personal craving in that moment and receive information we feel comfortable with. Something that knows us on both on tactile, physical level and intellectually. Siri can already do that for us. Hence an old, known technology is making way for further advancement, she is continually creating a genetic algorithm for quantifying how better to please you… Perhaps the fear of AI is simply a reflection of the true face of humanity. What we see is horrifying. We chastise it by saying it is new, when in reality such technologies have existed far before us, taking on new form, taking us further into the future of development and progress. I think it is good practice to maintain a certain degree of receptiveness when taking on AI. It may not be the end all be all but at least it can make room for a dialogue about our own personhood both good and bad that is a little less threatening. As for the ripple effect suggested in your last few sentences, I believe like everything and anything a system of policies and doctrine would be made by we the people in order to protect our interests and well being. Everything within reason. Again, I think its interesting that we like to think of ourselves as separate from this technology. It has and continues to be a constant progression. Side note, there are those that already use in various combinations either sex chats, dating apps, pleasure toys, the visual yet physically disconnected use of porn. All with the exception of one are all streamed through the internet. All through an extension which is NOT human. We even have the ability to change our Siri into a sexy Australian for crying out loud. Therefore, the use of a pleasure bot/companion is not too far of a stretch. We are almost, if not already there. That is what is crazy.
“Her” also comes to my mind when talking about the challenges of technology. Similar to others, I think the imaginary talking operating system is very creative and fascinating. Still, I was a little shock when the Theodore fell in love with the talking OS. I find this talking OS similar to Siri because they are both automated assistants that are meant to help human. Maybe, Siri could evolve into this talking OS in the future as many science fiction movies had correctly predicted the future. I think that technology advancements are both good and bad because they help human connect with each other more easily but also separate us in a sense that we do not meet face to face as often. If we keep relying technology and neglect the importance of face to face communication, this science fiction movie could become true in the near future.
“Her” is one of my favorite movies, and is also a great example of a shifting electronic culture. One of the things that struck me, which I didn’t see mentioned in the other replies, was the ethical side of dating an AI. When the main character mentions to his wife that he’s dating an AI, she is almost in shock that he would do such a thing. However, as the movie progresses, we see a shift in culture where doing something like that was becoming normal.
I read most of the classmates’ reply, and I like them very much. I also like the movie, The Transformers, an American science fiction action movie. The most attracting thing in this movie is the shapeshifting from cars to transformers. The wars between Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, and the Decepticons, led by Megatron are very exciting, filled with electronic culture. Another thing that is attracting me is the battle between justice and evil.
Hi Ye!
Do you believe that our technological advances could potentially lead us down this path, realistically? In your eyes, where is technology being taken too far? Do you think that if technology does reach the “Transformers,” level will we reach a conflict of good vs. evil? I think it is quite interesting to watch these media forms and ponder whether or not that could be futuristically applicable to our own world and/or society.
Hey Madison! I actually read through your comment and I loved Transformers. I also agree with some of your points. When coming into movies knowing that the future of technology and today’s world are combined I can’t help but think “when is this going to be real.” It would be pretty amazing to be driving through the freeway and suddenly you see a car turn into an autobot.
I have been watching this show called Trollhunters that came out recently and although it is not my favorite show yet, it has been growing on me at a rapid pace and I think the reason for it is the message it shows about technology. Trollhunter is about a hidden specie called trolls that have been living right under the human world for centuries, but have remained hidden until the troll’s Trollhunter (guardian of the human and troll realm) was killed in battle by an evil troll named Bular. The strength or power that grants a troll to become the Trollhunter is an amulet that, when given the proper incantation, will give the user a magical armor and sword called “Daylight.” Up to now all Trollhunters have been trolls, but this time the amulet has selected a human to become the new trollhunter. That in itself is a revolutionary prospect to the Trolls, because humans to trolls, are considered weak. However, as time passes the trolls begin to respect the human, Jim, because of his achievements. Jim is only able to accomplish each task because of the combined technology the trolls and humans have.
This show demonstrates the strength of technology and how necessary it is for people to have today because it is the gateway to knowledge. I have read in some posts that people find technology more of a liability than an asset. However, if we look take a look at the trolls’ technology: The Amulet – that piece of machinery is similar to a computer as it has the capabilities to decode, search and store information to be used for later. Its ironic that for a civilization that lives underground could conjugate an innovation like The Amulet, but yet again we as humans had a similar startup and yet created these amazing technological advancements. Although technology has some negative aspects, the positive aspects far outweighs the negative. The ability to connect, research, and strengthen our own development is because of how technology has been shaping our daily lives and the show Trollhunter shows these effects well. The benefits of troll technology on the humans as well as the humans technology on the trolls has shaped both cultures in a positive manner.
The first movie that this topic reminded me of was Tron: Legacy (2010). This movie follows a computer programmer, Kevin Flynn, and his son, Sam, as they embrace the digital world. The father is a computer programmer who created his own virtual reality and eventually started living in his own work. His son then goes into the virtual reality world to find his dad because he thought his dad was missing. After entering into the world, he finds that his dad is doing well and questions why he never reached out to him. Sam finds out that the portal between the two worlds is broken and they can’t return. The rest of the movie focuses on Sam’s journey in trying to find a way to restore the portal and being successful. My favorite thing about this movie is that it shows how much impact technology has. In this movie, we get to see how technology has influences over people. For example, Kevin gets betrayed by his close friend over a possibility to advance technology. Aside from that this movie allows its audience to see what the future of technology may look like. The chance of there being a virtual reality created sounds extremely crazy, but with how advanced technology is becoming it doesn’t seem that way anymore.
I was wondering when TRON would come up, since its setting is essentially inside the virtual world of a computer system. It’s interesting how people are able to transport/digitize themselves into this hidden universe and interact with it.
I wanted to expand on the “what the future of technology may look like.” TRON: Legacy’s visuals are quite stunning—see this visual effects breakdown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh7wUS7qU_Q. The world is lined with blue neon lights, and immediately from the start we see technology such as the flying gate (apparently called a “recognizer”) that picks up Sam. It’s an immersive atmosphere. There’s also futuristic motorcycles that can be transformed from a baton you can carry easily. I almost want to visit this place sometime… so long as I don’t die there, haha.
The video shows that almost everything is CGI, from the thunderstorms to the lightcycle matches. Also, it turns out, the character Clu is actually the same actor as Flynn but with CGI in place. Both are played by Jeff Bridges. Clu’s face is really a digital rendition of Bridges’ face, and edited to be a younger version of himself.
I’ve read from a few places online, and it seems that the original TRON may have been the main factor for pushing the use of computer graphics in movies, and it’s very obvious to see how far computer graphics have come when you compare original TRON to this sequel, TRON: Legacy.
Hi Sammy,
Did you hear that there was going to be another movie after Tron: Legacy? Apparently there were working on it, but stopped because the producers were also working on another show. Imagine how much more advanced the graphics would have been! The difference between the two movies would be so obvious because six years is a great amount of time for technology to advance.
Hi Thao,
No, I didn’t know there was going to be another one. That’s disappointing…
A screen based media that predicted a future technological advancement with impressive accuracy was Total Recall(1984). The film tried to give the audience an idea of how the world be in 2084, a hundred years after its release. It predicted the creation of the driver less cars by 2084. However driver-less cars might be in the market in the next few years. The movie also showed instances of injecting foreign bodies into the brain, as artificial memory, which seems to be vague even today, just how driver-less cars was back then. But, it wouldn’t be surprising if this invention takes place.
Reading all these posts, I see some Anime entries. For me, Chobits would be my favorite film that addresses this topic. The story of the film might be cliche in the beginning; a farm boy goes to the city and observe almost-human robots. He can not afford one but eventually finds one in the trash. These robots act just like humans and it is like a companion. What I like about the technology in this film is that robots already exist today. It is just a matter of time that these robots will actually look like humans and act like us. We already have robotic companions such as Siri and Alexa, but this film shows Siri and Alexa in human form doing humanly activities. All these technology is great, but they honestly frighten me.
According to me, a very interesting instance of the same is presented in the movie ‘Equals’ starring Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult. It depicts our society in the future where every human is considered healthy as long as he follows a set routine. The two leads get involved with each other and this ability of compassion and and emotion is considered a sickness.
This movie was particularly alarming for me because I somewhere see our world moving towards a similarly structured society.There are several other things that our shown in the movie. Since emotions don’t exist in this world, people don’t have families and live alone. Commanded by artificial intelligence systems, they don’t cook, no form of entertainment exists (they solve puzzles in their free time) and they are all dressed in white. Here’s a the link to its trailer – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW-0wmuNBto
Movies and PC games are my favorites. Moreover, I like those screen-based media including some kind of future technology. For example, the superhero movies, such as the Marvel’s Avengers. When I sat in the theater watching this movie, I felt like I made a time-travel to the future. As enjoy experiencing the feeling of future world and technology, the newly-sold game Overwatch which designed by Blizzard becomes one of my favorite PC games. The Blizzard sets the story of the characters in the game happens in one century after, so all the maps and characters in the game impressed when I first played. The reason I prefer those media may be due to my interests and my major. To be an electrical engineering student, our goal is to design and create some high-tech products and I dream to make those scenes in the movie become true during my lifetime.
Although I haven’t played overwatch, it is quite famous. The problem is I don’t really think I get the relationship between PC game and the human race future. Could you provide more details?
The forms of media and technology, regardless of their content, cause profound changes in the electronic culture. Technology is important in today’s world because it serves a variety of functions in many of the most important aspects of modern society, like education, communication, business and scientific progress. One of my favorite movies that deals with our technology has to be Gravity. Gravity is a 2013 science fiction adventure film talks about astronauts Dr. Ryan Stone and Matt Kowalski are in space doing maintenance on the International Space Station when a debris field wipes out their shuttle and strands them miles above Earth. As Stone and Kowalski struggle to get home, increasingly intense challenges makes it difficult for them.The movie opens with a splendid vista of the earth viewed from outer space. The movie constructs each space vessel from the buttons to dials to design with admirable accuracy. The sheer wonder of human technology, our capacity to master our environment, is vividly on display and it has set a new bar for visual graphics.
My favorite example deficiently is the movie Wall-E. It is one of the most amazing movie I have watched. In the movie, some parts of technological things are imagined, but some of them are not. I think that the reason why the movie is so attractive is that it not only show us a technological world, but also engage us to think what would happen if human depend too much on technology. Technology indeed can do a lot of things for us, but it does not mean that we should depend too much on it. And the movie also encourage us to pay more attention to our real world. For example, we should spend more time to talk and stay with our family and friends rather than using smart phone or technological devices all the time. Even though technology provides us a totally different and convenient world, technology also, to some extent, blocks us to communicate with people around us.
Hi Hongyu!
I really connected with your post. I think a huge issue with technology is the sheer fact that our everyday lives are almost completely consumed by technology, which causes individuals to lose track of the truly important things like: meaningful relationships, interacting with people without the distraction of technology, and being glued to our phones. Do you think that the world will start to see the dangers of technology and back away from it, or do you think the world will continue move towards technology because of outside pressures? Do you think technology is more of a positive or negative impact on mankind? What do you think is the biggest danger of technology is?
When I think of the word technology I also think of the movie Wall-E. As the story progresses we are able to see a world that has been heavily dependent on technology. We see the people that live on the ship have become overweight and are not able to do anything without technology. They have allowed technology to completely run their lives. However, as the movie continues on people begin to realize that their so much more to the world then just technology. They begin to interact with each other and notice that they don’t need technology in every moment of their life. Technology causes people to forget what is important in our lives. Yes, technology can be a big help in our every day lives but that does not mean we have to let it control our lives. Everyday I see people on their phones instead of talking to the person next to them and I see how much technology is affecting our lives. Whats important in our lives isn’t on our phones but our family and friends that surround us. Wall-E shows this in a entertaining and clear way. This reason is why it is my favorite example to address technology in our world. We don’t need technology 24/7. Instead we should focus on the world without technology influencing us.
One of my favorite movies that addresses this topic is “Her.” The premise of the movie is Theodore — a lonely, introverted man — ends up falling in love with a computer named Samantha. In the movie’s timeline, technology had advanced so much to the point where artificial intelligence systems were smart enough to think and respond like people. This piques my interest in numerous ways. At the rate technology is advancing, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see an actual Samantha during my lifetime. Imagine all the possibilities of computer systems that can mimic/operate like regular humans do. For example, in many restaurants we have already seen self-order kiosks, but imagine if we start seeing automated robot waiters, cashiers, and cooks being commonplace. This is for good and for worse — good as in we can make for a more efficient society, but bad as in less job opportunities.
Going back to the computer girlfriend notion from the movie, Japan is actually working on such a thing right now so to speak. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcCHYLIRayk demonstrates the many purposes of a home robot. While it’s not intended for an actual relationship replacement, I can see buyers becoming overly attached and treating it as if it were their own girlfriend.
I really liked this movie because it shows how overly attached one could get with technology. While most people on Earth aren’t like Theodore who is in love with a computer, many people are attached to many technologies, ranging from social media to video games. Myself included, I love playing video games and thinking about this movie again has reminded me to not be so attached.
There are numerous examples of screen-based media which highlight the possible advances that our technological world may take in the future. When thinking of an example of such screen-based media, the first movie that comes to mind is Transcendence. This thriller/drama focuses on Dr. Will Caster’s attempt to innovate the area of artificial intelligence. He attempted to develop a machine capable of having a human consciousness which turned out to be a powerful innovation. One of the qualities that I like about film is its ability to illustrate the strong passion humans have in technological innovation. Each and every day, the world of technology seems to be growing extensively and making what seemed to be impossible possible. This is precisely what the film Transcendence reflects. It shows how something impossible to believe would excite becomes a reality. However, as the saying goes curiosity can kill and in the case of artificial intelligence as is shown in the film, the fear that one day technology can overcome the human knowledge is something that many think about in our world today. It can be hard to image the great advances that technology has made up to today and the direction in which it is headed. Films such as Transcendence have been a clear indication that humanity does not lose track of the consequences which may arise from more advance technology to come. These types of films also have offered a clear idea of the strong dedication behind the world’s passion to one day be able to simultaneously integrate mechanical and human characteristics.
When first watching Wall-E as a kid I didn’t really understand the true meaning of the movie. Watching it years later made me realize how technology really is affecting the world and this movie embodies how it can help us but at the same time also hurt society.
Not sure if anyone has used this movie as an example yet since there are many to scroll through, but I believe “WALL-E” is a prime example of our world further progressing towards a heavy technology-reliant society. It is more of a film that shows the dangers of what is to come if we continue to rely on technology for EVERYTHING. Although more of a film catered to younger people, I, to this day, still enjoy the movie since it serves as a wake up call to all of us to avoid a life like the people of the movie.
Wall-e is also my favorite media that addresses the topic of our, in this case, imagined technological world. Just as how you stated, this film shows a negative hypothetical scenario of a heavily technology based world. A quality of this film that makes it my favorite film that has a technological world is the fact that these robots have the ability to think on their own and build relationships with the humans. However, I feel that this quality can also be alarming as you wouldn’t be knowledgeable on what they can and or would be up to which could possibly lead to dangerous situations.
One of my favorite movies that addresses this topic is “Her.” The premise of the movie is Theodore — a lonely, introverted man — ends up falling in love with a computer named Samantha. In the movie’s timeline, technology had advanced so much to the point where artificial intelligence systems were smart enough to think and respond like people. This piques my interest in numerous ways. At the rate technology is advancing, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see an actual Samantha during my lifetime. Imagine all the possibilities of computer systems that can mimic/operate like regular humans do. For example, in many restaurants we have already seen self-order kiosks, but imagine if we start seeing automated robot waiters, cashiers, and cooks being commonplace. This is for good and for worse — good as in we can make for a more efficient society, but bad as in less job opportunities.
Going back to the computer girlfriend notion from the movie, Japan is actually working on such a thing right now so to speak. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcCHYLIRayk demonstrates the many purposes of a home robot. While it’s not intended for an actual relationship replacement, I can see buyers becoming overly attached and treating it as if it were their own girlfriend.
My favorite movie that addresses the topic of a technological world would be “Transcendence.” It encompasses a futuristic society with advanced AI technology where anti-tech groups exist. I like this movie because it questions whether it is right for AI to have human emotions and the ability to convert the human brain with all of its memories intact to a piece of hardware like a computer.
One of my favorite animes that addresses the technological world is Sword Art Online. In the series, technology had advanced so much as to having readily available VR headsets in which players can immerse themselves into a digital world. Our VR technology is not quite up to speed with the one in the anime, but there have been many showcases demonstrating how close we are to fulfilling such technology. The fact that people are able to separate themselves from reality and into a virtual world is something beyond belief. This video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G33pMjfU28, gives us a clear idea of the many possibilities of the current state of VR. It’s a little unreal to see what we thought was impossible to achieve many years back actually come to fruition. At the rate technology is advancing, I have a strong belief we will get something similar to the virtual reality game in Sword Art Online in my lifetime, and I am very excited to experience it as I am also a gamer.
Hi Kevan,
I really enjoyed reading your post about Sword Art Online. It brought back many memories of how excited I was to watch each new episode that came out. I was astounded by the technology in the anime and often wondered how long it would take before I’d be able to play a game like that (without the dying aspect of course). It has not been that long since the anime first came out, but I’m surprised to see how far we’ve advanced in this field. I’m really glad you linked the video because otherwise I wouldn’t know that we’re actually that far in the field. Based off what I saw in the video, I’m so amazed by how far technology has advanced. You brought up the point that something like Sword Art Online could come in our lifetime and I couldn’t agree more. If technology were to advance that far, I wouldn’t be surprised if it could benefit other fields as well.
When mentioned about “Technology”, the first movie that comes up to my mind is “Social Network”. The movie talks about the how Zuckerberg came up with the idea of develop a website called “Facebook” and the foundation procedure of the website. Before the arise of Facebook, there are no such websites that give you the opportunity to know each other and make friends through the Internet. You can share your lives on the website and others can see what you are doing recently and if they are interested in you, they might send a request and asked to make friends with you. The foundation of Facebook has opened up a new world for social networking, and since then, there appear many other websites that allow you to have various different experiences of making friends through the Internet.
The advent of a technological world is greatly seen in the movie, the “Matrix.” This movie paints a vivid world in which humans are incarcerated in a false reality. In this movie, humans are encased and confined to slime pods while their minds are regulated by the Artificial Intelligence in a virtual reality world. The slime pods and cables of the Matrix represent the limits placed on humankind. These devices keep man’s mind constricted, so the only perspective that he knows is the one the machines allow him to see. I enjoyed this movie because it symbolically reveals how vital it is for humans to become educated and informed, so they can escape from a senseless reality and make intelligent decisions about their world.
one of my favorite movies that deals with our technology has to be Gattaca. This movie is about how our technology to change DNA creates a different world in the future. One of the main issues that appear in this movie is that there becomes a divide between people that were “artificially” created in the sense that they were genetically modified before being born and the people that were born naturally. I really loved that we got to see the two sides of these “types” of people created. we were able to see through the eyes of two brothers, but each were born a different way. one of the brothers was genetically modified and is seen by society as the superior, but later in the movie we find that the “natural” people could still compete with genetically modified people. Issues like these are already appearing in our own timeline. For example there has been controversy with genetically modified plants. Out of the many movies that deal with technology, this one does not seem too unrealistic which makes it one of my favorite.
Star Wars is probably one of my favorite series of all time. Set in a galaxy far far away: it is set in a world where they are far technologically advanced, compared to the current world. There are all kinds of druids that have multiple functions such as C3P0 (translator of almost all languages) or R2D2, (who can access or modify, anything he’s compatible with). Not to mention R2 can fly. They communicate through holograms, and their ships can go through hyperspace. Hyperspace is in short, a fast jump to a destination in space. Their weapons include “blasters” as guns and my personal favorite, lightsabers. The lightsaber is shown to be the most useful and dominant hand to hand combat weapon. For example, Master Yoda has taken out Droid armies by himself, and a couple of wounded clonetroopers. That would never happen in modern warfare. The last thing I want to write about is the Force. It would not be a Star Wars post without mentioning the Force. Although I cannot think of any direct technological association; considering the Force has been around for a very long time, it is still used by the Jedi. The Force brings a different aspect into this technological world. It shows that Jedi, sonetime need to go back to their roots, and use their own strength the overcome their obstacles. There is so much to talk about, so if I’d anyone reads this and has none idea what I’m talking about; there are now 8 total movies, and multiple shows, readings you can watch to immerse yourself with. I recommend starting with “A New Hope”.
Star Wars is my favorite movie series. It came to mind when I was thinking about this prompt. I think the Force is a good example of how humans want to believe that no matter how advanced technology gets, we have control over it. This ties into what we talked about in class regarding the idea if we are driving technology or if technology is driving us to make more and more advancements. The Force in star wars is a retaliation to this because it places something non-technological as the most powerful entity. On the same token, it is an imaginative property. You can also argue that technology has overcome humans because our only way of feeling above the need for advancement is an imaginary power.
In addition to the two examples of screen-based media that engage the challenges of electronic culture, I found the movie Elysium to offer a similar message. In this movie, a Utopian world full of technology, with luscious greenery and abundance of resources in outer space is compared to a sandy and desolate world on earth where the people are performing hard labor to survive and struggling to eat. The reason why this movie is interesting is because it addresses the negative effects that technology can have in our world. In the Utopian society, technology has become the supreme being in the center of the ecosystem where people from the lower class are shot down by the Utopian’s defense system for trying to enter their atmosphere. Similarly, resources such as the medical-scanning-recovery machine that could fix any health problem are only for the Utopian residents who have a registered barcode. At the end of the movie, one man, risks his life to save the world by overriding the core brain of the technological ecosystem. By doing this, the Utopian space ships and soldiers were sent to earth to help the lower class with medical resources and food.
Although I do believe that technology has improved our lives in a numerous amount of ways, an overbearing technology can have negative effects. In the movie, specifically, technology separated mankind from each other, creating a two-tier social class.
I am loving all of the posts so far! I definitely now have a lot of new movies to watch! I am wondering if any of you can think of examples that deal with technologies of today and not necessarily the future? Here’s one I thought of. . .
A movie that addresses the issues our society currently faces with using technology is called Men, Women, and Children. It focuses on the lives of a variety of characters of different ages and the ways in which they utilize technology such as the internet, phones, social media sites, dating sites, etc. and how it affects their relationships. It shows both the benefits of this technology as well as its downfalls. For example, one mother is helping her teenage daughter to become a model by posting scantily clad pictures of her online and continues to justify this as being beneficial because of all of the followers she has gained. Another mother is hyper sensitive about technology and closely monitors her daughter’s phone usage to the point where her daughter has created a fake identity through an online site her mother can’t track. This same daughter is developing a close friendship with a boy at school with the help of technology. Through text messages, they are able to start to get to know each other in a less intimidating way and actually portray more of who they really are. This movie very accurately highlights how as technology has become more and more a part of our lives, we are still learning how to navigate it as well as navigate other human beings through the use of this technology. I think it also really highlights the generation gap between parents and children as parents are trying to understand how this technology that they are not fully familiar with affects their children.
Here is a link to the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCb8tIQkWfo
I think that Soma, a science fiction survival horror game, does a great job addressing our technological world and where we could be heading in the future. Soma provides an interesting concept of transferring the human brain into data to be copied and used in a variety of ways. The reason why it is so interesting is that it the main protagonist gets his brain copied into the form of data and is later then transferred into a mechanical being in the future. The game then shows that copying the human brain and transferring doesn’t necessarily mean being the same person. In fact, Soma brings up the point of what if the new copy of that person is actually another life. Soma provides a great idea and sheds new life in the way we handle our minds and technology and sheds light on the potential future of the A.I. industry.
When talks about movies addressed the topic of our technological world, the first comes into my mind is definitely Iron Man. I remember when i first saw it, i was attracted not only to its story but also Its high technology. Tony, an inventor, build himself an armored suit with some kinds of artificial intelligence called J.A.R.V.I.S, it is kind of like Siri in our society. J.A.R.V.I.S is connected to the international network and it can access any resources anywhere anytime so that It helps Tony with his tasks. In addition to that, J.A.R.V.I.S is also kind of like Tony’s secretary, it controls Tony’s home and office with automatic speech recognition, when Tony wants to do something or need something, all he needs to do is speak and J.A.R.V.I.S will do it for him.
I agree with you. Iron Man is a great example of a fictional story that is build on a fictional innovation that is on it way to coming into the real world. Not only is J.A.R.V.I.S what Siri aspires to be, Space X CEO Elon Musk (who’s often called the inspiration for Tony Stark’s character), has been working on a way to replicate a virtual work space like Tony’s lab. Last year, he showed off ways to design rocket parts with hand gestures; he tries it out with a Leap Motion controller, an Oculus Rift and a projector. Musk believes this tech could revolutionize design and manufacturing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNqs_S-zEBY
I also agree with you, Yongga. Connecting to reality, not only is J.A.R.V.I.S what Siri aspires to be, Space X CEO Elon Musk (who’s often called the inspiration for Tony Stark’s character), has been working on a way to replicate a virtual workspace like Tony’s lab. Last year, he showed off ways to design rocket parts with hand gestures; he tries it out with a Leap Motion controller, an Oculus Rift and a projector. Musk believes this tech could revolutionize design and manufacturing. In another corner of the world, interaction designer Jinha Lee is experimenting with ways to make the computer screen nonexistent. His prototype for SpaceTop is the computer desktop re-envisioned as a portal you can reach into to manipulate digital objects. Both Lee and Musk are tackling how humans could interact with computers and digital objects in a more natural way.
Jarvis is definitly a shiny spot in the iron man. It perfectly coneys human’s need for artificial intellegence. The future of assistant from computer utterly can process more unerroring precisions. Ability of automatically recieving orders could be translated into performances. This is incredible! and also achievable. So far, the achivements of intelligient robot is created in the market as reaserch basement but I still believe it will show up later or soon.
One show that comes to mind is the show of the Jetsons. This was an older show I saw reruns of as a child. The show had so much to do with the idea of living in a world of advancing technology. The show was about a family that lived in a futuristic world that involved flying cars, robots, and of course modern inventions. The show first aired in the 60’s but now knowing that for its time it had some accurate ideas to what we have now, for example, touch screen monitors and even video chats. I loved watching this cartoon when I was younger because everything from the cartoons clothes to their way of living was different and very futuristic.
One great example that came to mind with the implications of a technological world was the story of “Ender’s Game”, which also has a movie, in which the main protagonist, Andrew Wiggins, is enlisted in a crash training program in which he and a couple of other children complete a series of games which progressively got harder. On Andrew’s final test he is put in the most difficult situation he has had to encounter and sacrifices his fleet in hope for ending his final battle. After the test is completed he is informed how he has finally ended a real war and that the games he had been playing had real people fighting and that the fleets that had been lost contained the lives of some those he was close to. I find the premise of this story intriguing because of how so many children have been exposed to violent war games and have become numb to the idea of killing and if for some twisted reason our government decided to use the tactics of players to commit the killing that many real soldiers have difficulty dealing with then perhaps we will end up living in a world in which we are truly blind to the actions we commit.
I think Star Trek is a great example of a technological world, with its warping technology, transporters, and more. First coming out in 1966, there has been so much technological advances that science fiction is just technology that hasn’t been created yet. The future looks bright and peaceful, but with an advanced tech society, the threats are much greater and comes from all sorts of places and people, which I think is an accurate depiction of a more interconnected world, (or galaxies :)). I think it’s my favorite because it explores a lot of tech possibilities which is always fun to watch. I’ve provided a link to a video on youtube that talks about how some technologies have actually come true.
Apparently, to access the link, you have to click on my name. Here is the link again! -> ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZFkZzScknc )
The first movie comes into my mind is “Source Code.” It is a kind of science fiction movie,which gets through the grief process with an comparatively subtle happy ending.When it comes from the light and the scene,the strange plot is expressed brazenly by the director. Capitan Colter Stevens ,a soldier waking up in Commuter Train in Chicago,found himself in another person’s body. He knew his task,that find a dynamite and the offender in the train in 8 mins after dieing from explosion.If he can’t ,go back to move in cycles. Finally he found the chief culprit ,at that time he wanted to get in bizarre world to rescue whole people in the train,but in the principle of Source Code,the reality can not be changed.Luckily, out of sympathy for him ,Goodwin said yes and put the button.
My favorite film called Resident Evil addresses the topic of technological world. At the beginning, the computer program called Queen wants to protect human beings when human beings are transferred to zombies because of T-virtues. However, she gradually finds out that it is human beings who cause human beings to become zombies and damage the environment of earth. She realizes that killing all humans being is necessary. When the Queen decides to kill the rest of people who do not become zombies, all survivals get together and give up their feuding to defeat the Queen. The reason I like this film is that high developed technology can help human, but it also threaten human’s life as well. Before applying highly developed technology, human should carefully think about wether or nor it can be controlled.
One of my favorite movie that address the topic of the technological world is Ex Machina. It tells a story that a robot asks a programmer to free her. They make a plan and kill their boss, her creator. At the moment that everyone thinks they can run away and live together, the robot betrays the programmer. She locked the human in the room she used to be locked and back to the society pretending like a human. The whole story is like a Turing Test. The boss excepts the robot’s betrayal, but he doesn’t know that his employee has some special feelings with the robot and plans to help her. In other word, although the development of technology is so fast, even make threat to our human beings, it’s still predictable.
I also really liked “Ex Machina.” I think that movie also gets to the point that Professor Jackson was trying to make when he asked us if we all wake up and immediately look at our phones, and yet none of us thought this was a good thing. Technology is constantly evolving but it’s not always good. In Ex Machina, they both thought this advancement was good until she betrayed them.
I also enjoyed the move Ex Machina. I thought the most interesting aspect of the movie was that technology, characterized by Ava, the female robot, can be seducing and turn against you. Although I do not believe in any theories stating that artificial intelligence will take over the world or betray us, I do believe it is an important metaphor for how technology controls our life. For example, through easier communication like text messaging and social media, it is definitely easier to stay in touch with friends. However, the average ability to socialize and effectively communicate with others is slowly deteriorating because we are always behind a screen when communicating with others. In that way, technology is betraying us by slowly robbing us of our inclination towards face to face socialization.
Technological culture also impacts greatly on cartoon. An excellent Japanese carton called Psycho-pass. In the future, people created a psychological states rating system. When the score is lower than a particular number, this person will be caught by the police. The score also can be used to help person know their strength and weaknesses so that they can choose the most suitable and comfortable job for them. The character was a police. Though the system seems great superficially, she also finds out the vulnerability of this system. A score cannot determine one’s life, career and living style. People should not rely too much on technology. Self-identity is the best illustration of people themselves. Nobody can judge a person definitely. Cartoon, as a kind of ignored art, also changes our perspective on society and improves ourselves.
Hi XI!
I have never heard of this cartoon, so it is very interesting to see how Japanese culture is sharing commonalities with American culture, in terms of the way that technology is being conveyed. Similarly to American culture, the Japanese cartoon seems to be expressing the notion that technology is being taken too far and once technology does reach this point, people will lose their freedom to express their individuality. It is my belief, at a certain point all individuals who succumb to the world of technology will become one dimensional and robotic.
Hey Xi,
When I thought about the use of technology in the future after watching Black Mirror, Psycho-pass definitely came to my mind too. The Sibyl-system, which is the law enforcement agency that overlooks the citizens in the city is presented as a flawed and even corrupt system, because criminals are determined using a personal crime coefficient, which is a binary system in which a coefficient over 300 marks a person as a threat to society. However, when we find out that this coefficient changes drastically with the circumstances someone is in, we begin to question if a numerical value can be used to judge a person’s sanity. For example, when a woman gets assaulted by an actual criminal, her crime coefficient rises past 300, which was most likely caused by the situation she was in rather than her turning into a criminal or losing her sanity at that moment. In the show, there are even instances of people who don’t have a coefficient at all, and therefore cannot be marked as criminals even though they perform criminal acts. These people are invisible to the law, which further criticizes the effectiveness of the crime coefficient. It’s been a while since I watched the show, put the first season definitely is definitely a great example of how a ubiquitous piece of technology can be misused.
One of my favorite movies is Her, which is related to technological culture. It is about the love between a robot and a normal person. A man fell in love with the robot like a human being. It should have been a romantic love supremes the gap between a robot and a human. Nevertheless, the great turning point is that the man finally noticed that the robot was in relationships with 3000 men. Technology-related movie not only brings more imagination to audience but also brings up the question about the nature of humanity which is the difference between human and robot, such as loyalty, love and other human nature.
My favorite example of a movie that addresses this topic is a movie called surrogates (definitely not my favorite movie). This movie is about everyone using a “surrogate,” like an android, that they control from their home with their minds. With the surrogate, they can do anything they want and be whoever they want to be. The only people that do not have a surrogate are poverty-stricken people, but the majority of the world control surrogates, so it is basically a world filled with robots rather than humans. A scene in the movie even shows surrogates are used for war, and the surrogate is controlled like a video game. This idea of a surrogate is a scary, but a somewhat probable thing that could occur in the future. With the growing Virtual Reality items that we have, surrogates could be something that we later invent, and something that everyone would use. Hopefully we do not come to this!
One of my favorite movies is Enemy of the State, which involves the introduction and campaign for extensive surveillance across American agencies like the NSA to help combat crime and terrorism. Although it was filmed in 1998, I believe it is a movie ahead of its time because it shows astonishing resemblance to our present day where privacy and security are two priorities that our society is struggling to balance. In the film, their surveillance technology is able to track every person’s movement via satellite, intercept communication such as phone calls and bank accounts, and basically infiltrate every inch of someone’s life. While this type of technology might have seemed unrealistic and even impossible, the Snowden-PRISM leak in 2013 revealed that similar surveillance programs have been established by the U.S. to monitor American citizens as well as foreigners.
My favorite movie is “Now you see me”. I believe it is a popular movie that most of the people know. I like to watch visual effect in the movie，but an important I have noticed that whenever they advertise their magic or claim a new，they will use youtu to inform prople. I think this software plays an important role on art. Basically，art is a thing that is abstract. It is hard for people to notice and understand it. However，now，information can be known easily through app or any other electronic devices. It helps art to develop.
Hi Yujie!
I found your post very interesting, especially when you mentioned that art can essentially be accessible through social media or another app. I would agree that this is one of the positives of technology. However, I also believe that sometimes it is hard to truly appreciate the art that is presented on social media domains, such as Instagram, because we have this instant access to all forms of art, all day long, at our finger tips. Additionally, being someone who is heavily devoted to photography, I have noticed that when I was not displaying my photographs on Instagram, people looked at me like I was crazy and “behind the times.” As a result, I think this highlights what the professor mentioned about Facebook and that if you do not have Facebook then you are likely to be forgotten.
After I had read the prompt, the first thing came to my mind is a 2009 Japanese light novel series “Sword Art Online” written by Reki Kawahara. The series focuses on various virtual reality massively multiplayer online role-playing game worlds. In the novel, people can control their characters with their minds by using a helmet called NerveGear which can scan user’s five senses via user’s brain and transfer data to the game. This is my favorite novel because I really like playing games, and expect that the game system in the novel will be realized in real life. As the technology developed, many game companies developed VR headsets such as Sony’s PS4 VR and SteamVR. Although we still need a controller to play games now, I believe we can lay in bed and play games with our minds like the novel described in the future.
This is what I thought about first too! Like the falling asleep while holding a smart phone phenomenon, this is something that can be viewed with fear by society in that we’re almost being controlled by something that isn’t even biological. The fact that a VR sort of machine can in a sense take control of our brains and we can play games while just lying down would be something rejected by society until it happens of course. Right now we have the HTC Vive and Occulist Rift working on projects but so far all the games produced all require actual movement of the body; seems like we’re still quite a ways off from what SAO technology depicts but then again if you told everyone 5 years ago about how attached people would be to the smart phone, I imagine most people would say “maybe in 50 years.”
I feel as if being controlled by something that isn’t even biological is going to become an increasing topic of discussion in the years to come. We already have VR which will most likely see improvements in its future and it’s very likely that people will get so caught up in VR that they interact more with that technology than they do their own actual lives.
For example, I saw a video online (unfortunately I can’t remember the name or anything) and people spent their lives living in a simulation game. It looked exactly like real life until the viewer saw points accumulating on the screen when a person was at the grocery store. Someone ended up hacking into this person’s “life” at the store and they were thrust into actual reality and had to start all over. That’s exactly the kind of thing that we would think to declare is never going to happen or would happen sometime not in our lifetime but like you said, I’m sure 5 years ago people would have scoffed at the idea of being overly attached/dependent upon a smartphone.
I thought the concept of “Sword Art Online” was amazing. I really liked the anime series. I love the idea of discovering new worlds and places, real and imagined, since we are in a generation that is “born too late to explore earth, born too early to explore space.” I loved how someone could just create a world and its economy and ecosystems and people can go, visit, and live in the imagined world. You can also see this concept of putting yourself in a technological world in another Black Mirror episode called San Junipero which is my favorite Black episode (i spam watched them this fall).
I also think it is really cool how in 2009 we thought VR was just a fictional concept, but now there are “VR” headset phone converters being sold in all places, even places like Urbanoutfitters (http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=40166258&category=SEARCH+RESULTS).
I would also like to piggyback on this comment. In the series, technology had advanced so much as to having readily available VR headsets in which players can immerse themselves into a digital world. Our VR technology is not quite up to speed with the one in the anime, but there have been many showcases demonstrating how close we are to fulfilling such technology. This video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G33pMjfU28, gives us a clear idea of the many possibilities of the current state of VR. It’s a little unreal to see what we thought was impossible to achieve many years back actually come to fruition. At the rate technology is advancing, I have a strong belief we will get something similar to the virtual reality game in Sword Art Online in my lifetime, and I am very excited to experience it as I am also a gamer.
I too enjoyed the anime series, “Sword Art Online,” where technology had advanced to the point where one can experience true virtual reality gaming with all five senses. In this anime, players wear a sort of helmet called a NerveGear which enables them to fully link into the game as an avatar while their body is laying on a bed, sleeping in the real-world.
Here is an example as to how the NerveGear works (SKIP TO 1:15): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=linOy1htbZQ
Like the NerveGear, a headwear used for virtuality gaming, we currently have the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift VR which allows gamers today to see their gaming world. However, this technology is a big step away from the NerveGear. Sword Art Online is my favorite example of screen-based media that addresses the topic of our technological world because, as a gamer myself, being able to immerse into a game as if it were a reality where I could, not only see, but also feel, taste, hear, and smell, is a dream. The idea of being able to exceed the human capabilities with my own “body” from flying to slicing dragons in half, absolutely fascinates me.
The funny thing is, after watching the episode, “Playtest” from Black Mirror, I am afraid of trying something like the NerveGear once it becomes a reality. I do, however, hope to experience this kind realistic virtual-reality gaming one day when it proves reliable.
Although it is one of the biggest disappointments of 2016, the video game No Man’s Sky is still one of the few projects that have caught my attention in years.
The sci-fi first-person shooter puts players in a giant universal sandbox game that is literally the size of the universe. Players must collect resources to survive and enhance their inventory (weapons and ship) in order to reach the center of the universe. There is an estimation of 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 planets to explore (that’s 18 quintillion) and each planet is the size of an actual planet. It is insane how it would take years for players to walk around on just 1 planet, making it impossible to explore all of the game’s content. No Man’s Sky is one of the most unique games to date for its premise and size. However, it is a disappointment due to its technical bugs and glitches and conventional gameplay that becomes dull too quickly. No Man’s Sky can relate in today’s world. With the latest advances in aeronautical and space technologies, we, as human race, are progressing at a high pace. We are discovering new stars and galaxies and it wouldn’t be a surprise that we will eventually explore Mars on foot. Unfortunately, just like No Man’s Sky, we are not perfect. Along the way, we will encounter technical glitches and major issues that will draw us back from reaching our own “center of the universe.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGy8HIYBwV0
One of my favorite movies is Meet the Robinsons. This movie is about a boy named Lewis. He is an orphan and an aspiring inventor which prompt him to make a memory scanner that will potentially show his mother’s face if his invention is successful. Due to other events, he was taken to the future to fix a time machine. The movie takes a turn when he found out that everything he saw were his inventions and everyone he met was his future family. This movie involved a lot of futuristic ideas like memory scanners, time machines, and using bubbles as means of transportation. This movie is interesting because one of the main antagonist, Doris the Helping Hat, was Lewis’ old invention that has gone rogue. What makes this movies one of my favorites was because of Lewis’ will to not use his invention to look at his past and decided to accept and live his life in the present and “Keep Moving Forward” (one of Lewis’ motto).
Meet the Robinsons is an incredibly inspirational Disney movie that highlights the consistent need for technological innovation to achieve a brighter future for all. The film showcases several inventions far beyond our current capabilities including: time machines, transportation pipelines, bubble travel, and “insta-buildings” that are incorporated into daily life. These technologies bring to light the potential positive contributions made to society by an imaginative individual who seeks to improve the well-being of others. I love this movie not for its beautiful animation or comedic puns, but its portrayal of a promising future that results from years of dedication, failure, and eventual triumph. Such advance technologies arose from the identification of a public concern or desire. Often times, children are chastised for their unrealistic ideas to address societal needs, but this film puts those negative perceptions to shame as it encourages dreamers to continue in their pursuit. In the present, we see various vehicles emitting gas, construction sites causing long-term disruptions, and smog encompassing the city air. As the scene transitions to that of the future, the entire mood changes as more environmentally friendly technologies have replaced their outdated predecessors and the general public exhibits a happy demeanor. It represents our own hopes for the future while also portraying the various wonders of the world through the eyes of a child who has yet to be face the confines of reality.
One movie that particularly sticks out for this discussion subject is Coraline. Granted, this movie is about a young girl and her adventures into another twisted world, but there is one particular scene that is subtle, yet quite meaningful and powerful.
The scene goes like this: Coraline initiates a conversation with her mother, who is preoccupied on her laptop. The (summarized) conversation goes like this:
Coraline: I almost fell in a well yesterday, Mom
Mom: Uh huh
Coraline: I could have DIED.
Mom: That’s nice…. Coraline, I don’t have time for you right now*continues to look at her laptop*
I thought this scene was interesting and quite relatable. Like how Coraline’s mother was too preoccupied on her laptop, many of us follow these actions throughout our everyday lives — e.g. parents are talking to us, but we continue to look at our phones (vice versa), while walking to class- our heads are down as we almost bump into something that was clearly in front of us, and lastly, texting and driving.
As I continued to watch this movie, I began to notice how neglectful Coraline’s parents were. They used much of their time on their laptops– which causes Coraline to enter into another world where she gets to meet these fun, yet creepy, new parents. This movie was released in 2009, 8 years ago, and we can arguably see that this sort of “distraction” is increasing with the ever increasing innovations in technology. It makes me wonder if these innovations will cause people to be more distant (like how Coraline’s parents were to Coraline) and if people are willing to do something about it, considering the fact that many of these “distractions” are entertaining and an “escape” from reality. This particular scene depicted how humans easily, yet unknowingly, give more attention to technology rather than their relationships, and in turn, create problems within that relationship.
I thought I’d point out that Caroline was made from stop-motion that utilizes 3D-printing, which has become very popular for creating almost any item. The 3-D printing varies from props for this movie, as well as seeing how well it would work for other things like a valve to be planted in us humans for example. There are people trying to expand the 3-D printing, which could or is in process of changing how things would work. If you could just create a long lasting item of whatever it is you need whether it be movies, surgery or any other thing.
Hey John,
Thank you so much for bringing up this point. It’s been so long since I’ve seen the movie Caroline, but not once did I think that the movie used stop-motion with 3-D printing. All this time I thought that everything was just animated like other movies. Technology is advancing so quickly that unless it’s pointed out to us we might not notice until one day it’s so far advance that we might even become part machine as well.
I mean. the 3D Printing was made and helped make it easier, but they still had to make the movie shot-by-shot which is very time consuming. Just to quickly point out because it still did take a lot longer than probably a different movie because of how the decided to make the movie
Sarah, I liked how you included a short passage from the movie to facilitate my understanding of your proposal. I completely agree with your statement on how many of us follow through on the example illustrated by the film released eight years ago. I believe that matters have only gotten worse and will continue to go down hill as we overly invest our time and attention to our phones and laptops. Things have definitely changed compared to a decade ago. For instance, most of today’s generation can spend an entire day in front of their computers without stepping outside to breathe the fresh air and intake the natural sunlight that the generation during my parent’s time have been exposed to. I can also see how Coraline’s escape into another world correlates to a fairly new technological advancement in today’s society – virtual reality! It is undeniable that it is an escape from reality through entertainment measures.
A movie that relates to this topic and comes to my mind is Back to the Future (1985). Since technology was definitely not advanced during this time, directors who came up with the ideas of flying cars, hover boards, self-lacing shoes, and video calling were a huge foreshadowing of the future. Though flying cars are still not a thing to this day, the rest of the other technological advancements that have occurred makes us question whether flying cars can actually be a thing in the future. Hover boards to this day are not as identical to the movie, but the fact that they made it their own way proves to be a technological success. As for the self-lacing shoes and the video calling (FaceTime), it comes to show that if several of these inventions can happen in later years, does anything that you put your mind to eventually become a reality? Overall, I just really enjoyed how realistic these items were within in the movie when technology was not a popular thing during this time and how most of them were eventually invented.
I also thought of “Back to the Future” in relevancy to this prompt. The movie did indeed made some bold predictions of what kind of technological advances would exist in 2015. Even though some of the technological devices depicted in the movie do not exist (yet), our anticipation to see how these technological advances (hoverboards, fingerprint recognition devices, self-tying shoes, and etc.) transition into being a norm in today’s society makes it a worthwhile movie to watch. The fact that the directors and writers were able to come up with the ideas of the hoverboards, wearable technology, videocalling, tablets, and automated gas stations amazes me. Within a 30 years span, the movie creators’ “imagined” world is now our reality. This comes to show how quickly our society adapts to technological advances.
I also agree that a movie that relates to this topic of imagined technological culture would have to be the film “Back to the Future”. This movie was able to predict many technological advancements that we now have today. Such predictions include flying personal drones, tablets, mobile payment technology, fingerprint recognition on cell phones, self-lacing shoes such as the famous Nike shoes called “Air Mags” from the movies, and hoverboards. It is fascinating to think that these once imaginary advancements became the reality of today and how much more technology there is to come in the next decade.
I wanted to see how some of these technologies look like today, so here’s a few links.
Hoverboard
Segway’s “hoverboard” (self-balancing scooter) : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-balancing_scooter
So this is something that has become popular quite recently, and I’ve seen them used around campus. Not quite a hoverboard, since it has wheels, and you don’t stand on it sideways, like on a skateboard…
Lexus “Hoverboard” : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwSwZ2Y0Ops
Apparently this park was built specifically for this hoverboard. The way it works boils down to magnets and liquid nitrogen, so… it’s not a hoverboard you can use anywhere, and not quite practical either.
It seems hoverboards aren’t quite here yet.
Self lacing shoes : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NimGxU4Qnhk
Nike released their self lacing shoe on November 28, 2016. I had no idea this actually exists, and, well, I guess it’s convenient to have the shoe tying done by the shoe itself.
Comment on flying cars:
I have to wonder how flying cars will be handled, if they ever come to existence. For example, if everyone flew their own flying car, wouldn’t that cost more energy compared to current cars (I’d imagine just keeping them hovering in the air/countering the effects of gravity would be the problem)? And if flying cars became the norm, what rules would they be following? Are they allowed to fly anywhere unconstrained? I can see that being a problem, with increased risk in crashing. I can also see a problem with the cars polluting the sky/blocking the sunlight. Also, how will they land? If they take off like planes, they can’t really easily park in current parking lots. It seems like a lot of problems just to have flying cars…
Hello Kelly,
Back to te Future Part II, in my opinion, is one of the most applicable movies that predicted our lives/society in the 21st century correctly. Though, to try and answer your question whether anything that could be imagined would eventually become a reality is rather a far shot from happening. I believe that today, our society is split between consumer and producers whereas back in the days, or yet better, when Back to the Future came out, the “consumer” society was still developing as the as a technology was not holding a great role of people’s daily lives. On the other hand, today, we see (and live) the exact opposite. People are consuming more technology to a point where there is always “new” inventions coming out (i.e. a ‘new’ iPhone every fall) to fulfill people’s technological needs. In a nutshell, many imaginable things could be created, but if the consumer society does not like it then it becomes useless; therefore, producing ideas that help satisfy the consumers can become a reality, but vice versa is not true. Wearable smart watches, in my opinion, are a complete waste for the society 🙂
I’m sure everyone was forced to read The Giver at one point of their educational career. The book was actually adapted to a movie and even though movie is no where near as good I still think the concept is awesome.
It’s interesting to see a society willingly give up their rights, emotions, and memories just to ensure structure and order. Because although I definitely agree hate, anger, jealously, greed can make a person do crazy and horrific things, eradicating emotions and memories takes away the very thing that makes us human. A thought provoking question that is asked throughout the whole movie/novel is if ignorance is really bliss? Would I rather give up all my emotions or go along with life never knowing how pain, sorrow, and regret feel like? It’s an interesting concept to think about…
Hi Lauren,
I totally agree with you on The Giver giving an interesting perspective on what would happen if society decided to forgo our own desires. The technology shown in this movie was advanced in terms of the community they lived in. Everything was monitored and they were watched very closely to ensure that there were no people who would stray from the standards they set. The government had the power to pop into their living rooms and they threw away those who seemed unfit to live in their world. Only ‘the giver’ and his successors were allowed to have knowledge of the past to be able to guide society towards a future free of mistakes. They chose to live for whole instead of their own individual wants and they even take medicine and aptitude tests to keep their feelings in check. I think this was an interesting adaptation of the book and a dystopian society outlook is becoming a popular trend in movies. I especially like The Giver because they are allowed knowledge of their past to ensure a brighter future, but all their desires are given up willingly and everyone in the society seems happy. It is a little different from other movies about dystopia because they are still able to have family units who all work in different areas and are not separated by wealth.
Great analysis, Jacqueline! I loved the movie “The Giver” and I agree that it definitely applies to this discussion. In the movie’s setting, the world is so different to the one we know today because of technology. They have used technology to alter society’s way of thinking and feeling; as you said, they take medications and tests to suppress human emotions. This society’s citizens have become like robots. This is a feasible plot and scary to think about the possibility of this type of world. The world is constantly striving to advance and make life as easy and machine and technology-driven as possible, but this movie shows the potential downside of this outcome: a homogenized society where perfection is most important.
Many other people in this thread mentioned Ex-Machina, a film about Artificial Intelligence and how terrifyingly convincing the movie’s version of AI to be human. I remember watching that movie in the theaters and found myself heavily reminded of this PS3 tech demo that was made in 2012 called “Kara” ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPCw09-DNFg ). Kara, the female android, shows the capability of self-awareness and original thought, something (that in this particular universe) an android is not supposed to do. She manages to save herself from being disassembled by crying out that she was scared, and the man couldn’t bring himself to destroy her because of that. I’m a fan of this tech demo because it not only showcases an AI with an almost uncanny resemblance to human emotion, but it also summarizes humanity’s disposition to technology. The unseen male voice believed that Kara was just a thing, a tool, something to use- not a ‘someone,’ and he was shocked and eventually showed compassion to Kara when she showed genuine fear.
Three years after this tech demo was released, it turns out that this idea was not abandoned and the video game, Detroit Become Human, is being made. (Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEPzofGKSNE ). The universe is further expanded and explained here, and I thought it was interesting to actually see human society’s reaction to androids, and whether or not these androids are things or people.
I just recently watched the sequel in the Maze Runner series, The Scorch Trials which I felt was a perfect example of our struggles with technological future and a dystopian twist. The Scorch Trials is centered around a dystopian world that has been struck by a solar flare leaving everything the world once knew in complete wreckage and an extremely dangerous plague for the remaining survivors to fight off. An authoritarian, oppressive survival group named WCKD has discovered the cure (as we find out in the second movie of the series) but it requires harvesting the brains of the brightest teenagers who survived the Flare. The technological advancements in the scientific methods of testing who of the survivors are the brightest and most resourceful is where the film shows the possibly near technological future for example programming the maze and the beasts who test the survival skills of the Gladers (the potentially immune teenagers) in the maze. Also it is shown that the ability to harvest the brains of the Immune while they are still living is possible with the scientific advancements in this dystopian setting. These scientific advancements in creating this elaborate experiment to test for Immunes to the virus using very intelligent test subjects is a haunting future yet incredible for the advancements of studying the human mind and all of its intricacies in problem solving. The portrayal of possiblities of the human brain and the better understanding of its function was my favorite aspect of this futuristic film.
One movie that came to my mind was Predestination (2014), based on one of my favorite short stories All You Zombies. This movie has great time line with full of twists and turns, which is l fell in love with myself, I gave a birth to myself, and I left myself at Cleveland Orphanage. All heroes Jane, John, baby Jane, the agent, and the Fizzle Bomber are the same person. This film is a small sic-fic film about time traveling, but it has great depth. I think Predestination is a movie that you should pay attention to while watching it, it is a little heavy film.
I do not watch much screen based media that focuses on the challenges of electronic culture. Mostly because the idea of how far technology can go and consume our lives terrifies me. However, I do remember watching a Disney movie when I was younger that had always stayed with me whenever I thought about how electronics could one day evolve into. The movie “Pixel Perfect” was about how a boy had picked out and chose different body parts of different women to make his own perfect woman. After, he downloaded her down and was able to make a hologram of her that was able to move around and communicate like any other person. She had her own mind and opinions and the boy soon forgot that he the woman he made was actually not real. The idea of creating another person and having the ability to make that person become your own best friend is an intriguing concept that I’m sure a lot of people have thought about at least once in their life. However, the reason this movie had such a lasting impact on me was because the idea might one day be possible. Basically having robots with such knowledge and having their own opinions could be dangerous to us, as a lot of other movies have shown. “Pixel Perfect” was the first movie I had ever seen that showed me this concept.
Ever since I discovered his artwork, the Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag always brings fresh ideas to the table that is speculative art. His digital paintings are set in an alternate version of the 1980s and often include 80s-era Swedish vehicles and monstrous pieces of futuristic looking technology. The colors he uses are incredible and the thoughts that his pieces evoke are those of wonderment and nostalgia. Merely glancing at his art is probably something you won’t do; his pieces just suck you in, and you soak in every detail that he puts in.
Here’s a link to his website if anyone is interested: http://www.simonstalenhag.se/
My favorite screen-based media that engages with the challenges of electronic culture is the animated movie Wreck-It Ralph. This movie depicts a world in which video games come to life behind the screen when there is nobody watching. What is particularly interesting about this film is that it shows how interconnected the arcade video game characters are, as they battle through different stages from various games. I think this movie addresses the technological world because it plays with the idea that these video games and the characters within them have a mind of their own and are independent from human interaction. It is one of my favorite movies because it has the quality of technological experience when no one is present. Although we know the truth about what happens after we turn off our gaming systems and go back to bed, the movie helps our imagination run and question what could really happen in the video game world after we shut down our consoles and put them away.
A screen-based media that addresses our technological world that I find really interesting is the game, Watch Dogs. The game allows you to explore an open world where you have to ability to “hack” into anything because everything is interconnected. It makes it possible to find the personal information of random strangers and being able to remotely control certain objects in the environment. This is interesting because people tend to recklessly give away their personal information to companies in return for their products. They don’t know where their information goes to and how it’s used which can make anyone question the security of the apps and websites they are using. There is also the “cloud” where people store their personal/important files. In addition to accessing personal information, Watch Dogs also addresses the internet of things. We have smart cars and other smart objects that are connected to our smart phones. This game makes you question the power of someone who has the ability to access all of this data.
Here’s a real life incident involving internet of things:
http://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/51726/cyber-crime/ovh-hit-botnet-iot.html
According to the article, at least 150,000 IoT (internet of things) devices were compromised, and at one point used to simultaneously attack a hosting service, in an attempt to bring it down. The IoT devices included cameras and DVRs.
It’s rather scary to think that there are so many of these unsecured devices connected to the internet, and the people who own these are completely unaware of the activities their devices take part in. It’s not obvious to them that anything like this is happening at all, and even worse is that many manufacturers don’t put high priority into securing these devices.
Sammy,
This is very eye opening, thank you so much for sharing! I know as a college student I am a little more naive then I should be when it comes to the dangers of cyber crime. However, I did recently discover after watching the “Today Show,” that hackers are now taking photos of individuals who are posing with the “peace sign,” and gathering finger prints from that digital photo. To me, that is something I would have never thought about happening, but I believe that is important that we stay informed and aware of the dangers and risks of technology and the way people are utilizing the technology.
http://www.today.com/video/here-s-why-flashing-a-peace-sign-could-make-you-vulnerable-to-hackers-853295683983
One of my favorite movies depicting the technology filled world we live in is actually a classic, Short Circuit. Although released in 1986, this movie showed an example of what could happen if a robot became sentient and began becoming comparable to humans. This really opened my eyes and made me look at our own culture today as we rapidly approach the point at which robots and humans may be on the same level. As we get nearer to that point though, the questions of ethics and morals and about the creation of sentient and intelligent life must finally be answered. It’s these questions that the world has yet to answer, will the world turn into a Blade Runner esque civilization, or will humanity learn to coexist with the life it has created.
One of my favorite examples of screen-based media has to be that of the movie “The Fifth Element” which was filmed in 1997 but contains many very interesting concepts about the future. For starters, there are various scenes of flying cars which is actually quite impressive for a movie that was made in a time where technology was not very advanced at all! Things such as smartphones were created about a decade later and even after 20 years, airborne cars are not a thing. What makes this idea so interesting to me is the fact that I LOVE cars and the fact that I saw the possibility of a flying car as a child totally raised my enthusiasm for the future! Of course there were many other moments in this movie that displayed how humans interacted with this technology of the “future” but the idea of flying cars was definitely a thriller 🙂
Black Mirror is a TV series that has been introduced to me during the winter break and it has been a show that has caught my attention to continue watching. When watching an episode of both Black Mirror and Blade Runner during class it has led me to think of the technological innovations that awaits for us later in the years. My favorite example of a screen-based media is Wall-E because it shows how mankind’s reliance on technology led to the growth and advancement in robots and mechanical inventions. This led to the overall conclusion of how life as it was imagined could be like if people relied on technology. It gave an overall effect on how people not only lost their ability to be self-sufficient but it illustrated how life of a human being was all through a computerized screen. How technology did everything for them, solved things for them without the necessity of having them develop skills of their own. This Pixar film had many different qualities that made it my favorite. The graphics of this film led to a lot of innovative ideas that technology can advance into. It also gave a glimpse of what the world would turn into if humans no longer became inhabitants of Earth. In this case the quote that I would think of is “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure,” with the slight change of it being a small robot where all the things that people forgot due to such advancement in technology made something so small and simple so important to a little robot like Wall-E.
I also thought about WALL-E. That film gave a very interesting viewpoint on what could possibly happen if the human race becomes too dependent on technology. I think it shows examples that some might see as beneficial (like not having to walk or having robots cater to your needs), but it also shows that too much technology can take away what many define as a great part of about life – human interaction. I feel as a society we are already losing this through social media, texting, and even online video chats. WALL-E showed the true extent that these traits can bring and I think ultimately highlights the fact that technology has many practical, productive uses, but that too much of it can become problematic or make us too attached or dependent. I’m sure as a human race we are still far from achieving some of the technological advances depicted in WALL-E, but nevertheless the film could easily be taken as a warning to innovators of the potential downsides of certain inventions.
When I first read this prompt, Black Mirror was the best screen based media that I could possibly think of. I know technically we were supposed to choose something that Professor Jackson didn’t already discuss, but I personally think Black Mirror is by far the best depiction of our future world. Similar to you, I was also introduced to this show over winter break, and I finished the entire first, second, and third season within a few weeks because it was THAT good.
Black Mirror is by far the scariest thing that I have ever watched, solely because it had the most realistic content. Ghosts and demons and monsters aren’t really things that I believe in, therefore I don’t find horror films scary. But between virtual reality video game testing and an obsession with personal ratings, to even being watched through your desktop camera, every episode of Black Mirror captures a realistic technological advancement and our human ability to take things to the extreme. There are so many twists and turns in each episode that I can barely even binge watch the show because the content is so deep and intense I feel like I need a nap after I finish one episode. Besides the fact that Black Mirror contains amazing and intriguing content, the directors, producers and actors have done a really good job with developing the story and its characters in only one hour. Every time I watch an episode, I feel as if I just finished watching a two and a half hour movie. This show has become a huge wake up call for me and I really hope they continue to make more episodes!
Although I already posted a response, I recently watched the movie “Why Him,” and I could not help but bring it up. Even though this film is not science-fiction, but a comedy, it highlights a couple of technological advances that I believe we could see in the next couple of years.
In the film, “Why Him,” one of the main characters named Laird, is a video game developer and a billionaire, who lives in a mansion, which contains advanced technology. For instance, Laird has installed a feature in his house, which is called Justine (who’s voice is Kaley Cuoco) and the device records everything and anything that individuals say within his home. The recordings can be played back at anytime. Furthermore, Justine will actively respond and make remarks to individuals who are speaking to her or just speaking out loud. I believe that this device is similar to the Grain in “Black Mirror,” in the sense that memories can be brought back to the individuals at anytime, but these are auditory memories, instead of visual. I hundred percent believe that this technology will arise in no time at all, because it is so similar to Siri and Amazon’s Echo. The second technology brought up in the movie was the automatic toilet system. The toilet required no toilet paper and would actively respond to the amount of water it should use when “taking care of the mess,” according to what was in the toilet or the individual pressing the button on a screen/iPad with the corresponding function they desired. The toilet would highlight the “target area” on the screen/iPad, which would have the individual’s bottom on it.
It is my belief that this film took comedy and inserted some modern technologies within it, to suggest perhaps the way that technology could cross the line. For example, the technological device Justine is highly intrusive and breaks the boundaries of personal space. Furthermore, the toilet is somewhat laughable and appears outrageous, but I would not be surprised if we saw this technology in the near future as well.
Though this film was highly controversial on its validity, I have always been a fan of the drama film The Social Network. Being a millennial who grew up in the world of “likes”, numbers of “friends”, and “poke wars”, I had never really stopped to think about how this entire social media era arose. The Social Network covered the span of Facebook’s prominence – from its conception starting with a college student just like me (okay maybe Mark Zuckerberg is just a little bit more brilliant than I am), to its first glimpse of profitability.
This film tackled the taxing reality that is the battle for monetary rights to intellectual property. During his process of coming up with a society-changing media platform, Mark Zuckerberg sacrificed his friendships and relationships for the rights to his technology, a concept probably foreign to those who grew up in a time without patents and copyrights. It’s not surprising that everyone is looking to create the next greatest thing. What is shocking to realize is how competitive our society has become in order to put a price tag on these technological advancements and keeping everybody else from stealing any bit of their fame and profit.
I’m really impressed with the variety of media mentioned, and yet I am surprised that no one has mentioned my favorite video game series, Metal Gear Solid. In this series, you play as a super solider enhanced with nano technology, but what makes it different from most warfare based games is that it’s strongest component is that it serves as a lecture against the way technology and combat are interlinked. When you complete the first game, it provides you with an essay on the history of nuclear weaponry. As the games go further, you are invited to think about the implications for what will happen next and to reflect on the constant state of war the United States have been in since the end of World War 2. What moves me about these games is that they reward you for finding non violent solutions to the games combat based problems. If you win without killing anybody, including the bosses, you are rewarded significantly.
In the second game in the series, you are in the future and you play a character named Raiden who has had training implanted into his brain, and then has done several hours of VR exercises but has no “real world” experience. As you play through the game you begin to uncover that more has been implanted into your brain than just training. You are being manipulated and controlled with false memories. The world is not what you expect it to be. It begins to become a little bit matrix like in that by the end of the game you have to defeat the computer in your brain, but it’s more about abusive technology than the matrix, which focuses more on technology as a metaphor for systemic oppression.
When this assignment was presented in class, Metal Gear Solid was the first thing that popped into my head!
What always struck me about the series alongside the implications of technology within the game world is their meta approach to the technologies addressed in game and how self-aware the games are about being games themselves. Specifically, for example, the second game in the series relies on the player’s familiarity with the world created in the first game, and uses elements specific to the video game form (such as giving and taking control away from the player) to discuss and inform its themes in a way not dissimilar to epic theater.
For those who don’t know, I think the creator, Hideo Kojima, is considered one of the pioneers of using the idiosyncrasies of the medium of video games to great spectatorial effect–on the subject of Black Mirror, in the episode “Playtest,” the strange developer Shou Saito is a parody of the creator of this series, known for being a weirdo.
One of my favorite examples of screen-based media that address the topic of our technological world would be a throwback Disney Channel show called Phil of the Future. The show revolves around the time traveling Diffy family, who get stuck in present time from the year 2121. With them they bring a plethora of futuristic gadgets, which provide them with an easy alternative to everyday life. For example, the remote gadget, the Wizard, has the ability to morph a person into another and change one’s voice. There is also the “New-Ager”, which can turn you into any age. When I was younger, Phil of the Future was one of my favorites because it made me hopeful of what cool gadgets we could have in the future.
This post made me smile because it took be back to being a kid and watching Phil of the Future. Similarly to you, I used to be very hopeful that the same gadgets would arise in the “real world,” and I believe today we are seeing a variation of those technological devices today. Although we do not yet have a human morphing mechanism, I would not be surprised if we saw that in the next ten years. Just as the professor mentioned, it is not so crazy once it has been done and it is my belief that technology is only going to get more advanced with time (as we are witnessing), and in a sense I no longer believe that is positive anymore in a lot of regards. Sadly, technology is being taken to the next extreme and that could be extremely detrimental.
Now that you are experiencing new “gadgets,” similar to the Diffy family, how do your thoughts compare to when you were a child to now?
When I was a child, I would say that I was more hopeful, thinking that there could be gadgets for anything and everything. Now, I would say that I am more realistic when I consider what “new” thing we have and how technology continues to evolve.
I also watched Phil of the Future when I was young. Right when I saw the topic of this discussion, Phil of the Future came to mind right away! I remember thinking how cool the spray food cans were, and wishing they were a real thing since it’d be so convenient and there would no longer be a need to cook. The “New-Ager”, as you mentioned above, also caught my interest and made me hopeful for seeing a device like this at some point in my life. Life would definitely be very convenient if all the gadgets on Phil of the Future became a reality. Unfortunately, present day technology does not seem close to developing gadgets such as these. As mentioned in class though, technological advances can be made at an exponential rate, so only time will tell.
If you or anyone else is interested in seeing the spray food can I mentioned, here’s a clip of it at around 11 minutes. Hope you enjoy the throwback!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DccxAIZNx9c
One of my favorite films that addresses the imagined technological world is Christopher Nolan’s Inception starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The whole idea of a dream within a dream, and being able to infiltrate other peoples’ dreams is mind blowing (along with other Nolan directed films). Inception questions the existence of reality itself, especially at the end of the movie when DiCaprio’s top is left spinning, allowing interpretation for whether we can prove we aren’t dreaming.
Hey Crystal!
I also had the inception as one of my favorite films that could relate to. I thought that this movie has given huge impact on showing the great imaginary world within the use of dream sharing technology. I do agree with you that being able to infiltrate other peoples’ dreams was amazing since it shows how great the technology could be.
Speaking of dreams, here’s something Google has created:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeepDream
It’s a program that, after feeding it some images, creates really bizarre, dreamlike version of those images. Some of these look more like nightmares than dreams, though.
My favorite example of screen-based media that addresses our topic of AI and technology is a show called Fringe.
One of the main reasons why it is one of my favorite shows is because it address just how interconnected and reliant people today are of technology. It depicts how constant technology is changing and how people have to adapt with those changes as well. It has everything from time traveling, to doppelgängers, to alternate universes. And in all of that, the one thing that remains unchanged is how technology has consumed people to the extent where they would be willing to make huge risks in their life to make sure their product or social status can be at its peak. The show also explores what it means to be human. In a way it is asking, just because an artificial intelligence/robot has a conscious, “real” memories, and/or a heartbeat, would that make it human too? I don’t know, I think it is an interesting theme that is explored over the course of the show and makes me wonder just how far people are willing to go just for the sake of technology.
Although without context this clip might not make too much sense, but I feel like this is a good representation of the series as a whole and of the theme we were talking about in class as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlAWeVI64b0
My favorite example revolving around our technological world would be from Grey’s Anatomy. Specifically a certain episode within the series, where there was a heart in a box. Typically organs are thought to be rushed quickly to the patients once an organ becomes available because otherwise it will go bad. However, in this episode it showed that the heart was being artificially pumped . It was allowed in this box that allowed it to stay alive by pumping it for awhile until the patient was available to get it, which seemed to be a few days. I don’t actually know if that’s true medical science or not, but the ability to keep an organ longer than just putting it on ice is revolutionary in cases of transplants that are held more viable longer for people to receive them.
I also watch Grey’s Anatomy and remember this episode very well! I love that you brought this example up, as it would be extremely beneficial to medicine if such an advancement was made to transplanted organs. I’m not sure either if this is a real thing, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it were or if such a box were being developed at this moment. Grey’s does a really great job at imagining medical advancements that could potentially be in our future; a large reason why I love and list it as one of my all-time favorite shows. Another advancement that stands out to me is the Alzheimer’s trial that Derek and Meredith partake in (I hope this doesn’t spoil anything for you). Spoiler alert again: Although this wasn’t a success, it’s still nice to hope for a future in which Alzheimer’s has a cure. This would obviously be a huge medical advancement that could save the lives of many.
Here’s a link below if you’re interested in checking out the Alzheimer’s trial on Grey’s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDww_zj-aaE
Yess!!! I love this tv show! With the show airing for over 13 seasons, it has been around for 12 years!!! It is so interesting to note the differences of technology from season 1 as opposed to season 13. From large changes like charts being electronic rather than physical, or new surgical methods to even just their small phones. It honestly it quite astonishing to see how fast technology advances in such a short period of time. Not only that, but how much technology impacts our lives!
To add on that Patrick, If you remember, technology became so popular that *SPOILER ALERTS FOR GREYS ANATOMY* When Yang had left to a different hospital to continue her journey as a cardiothoracic surgeon she came across an older man who was trying to be forced into retirement because he would not listen to his other peers about doing his surgery differently. His peers were more technologically advanced which were being forced onto him or attempted to, and because he wouldn’t catch on with the latest trends they wanted him out of surgery. So, although medicine is being advanced it doesn’t always mean it’s better and has consequences.
I agree with you John. Grey’s anatomy is a great show and does a good job of addressing our technological world. My favorite example is when Burke and Christina use a heart hologram to observe the heart they were working on. It allowed them to see the heart, floating in space, at all angles. Moreover, I feel like the hologram provided them with a very thorough representation of the actual heart, making it easier for them to see where their patient’s problem was occurring. This would be great for modern medicine, and I do not doubt that this will become evident soon.
I absolutely love Grey’s Anatomy. One of my favorite episode is Episode 10 in Season 11: The Bed’s Too Big Without You in which Meredith and Joe use a 3D printer to create a version of the tumor they are going to soon operate on. When watching the episode, I thought that this technique could be path breaking and really helpful for surgeons. But since 3D printing is extremely common these days, I’m assuming that this has already become a common medical practice.
One of my favorite shows, and something that I feel portrays our topic of technology would have to be The Flash. This show has the technology able to give people super powers, including the main character, The Flash’s speed. It is seen that those with the ability of speed, called “speedsters,” hold the ability to not only travel fast, but fast enough to travel back in time. The whole show revolves around the fact that science has progressed far enough to give people powers. With these powers, The Flash is able to save others; however, there are dire consequences as he abuses his power using time travel. The show makes it clear that time travel is extremely dangerous as it can alter the timeline in the future. Why this show is one of my favorites is because of the alterations of the different timelines. You expect an event to happen; however, you end up back where you started as someone travels in time, altering the expected outcomes. This repeats over and over as different speedsters travel back in time in order to change the future.
One of my favorite games is Portal, which is a game that strongly revolves around the influence of technology. The setting is apocalyptic in how the main character Chell finds herself awake and alone in the abandoned Aperture Science facility with the self-aware artificial intelligence GLaDOS as the antagonist. The world of Portal is one where technology has been established as formidable, given the invention of the portal gun that allows Chell to travel to impossible places and GLaDOS outliving most of the scientists who created it by being the cause of their deaths. What is most appealing about this game to me is that the goal of the game is to outsmart GLaDOS by using the technology of the portal gun against it, and also the fact that GLaDOS’ dry critiques of Chell’s efforts is hilarious as well as an interesting insight into the growth of artificial intelligence.
I’ve always wondered what the scientists at the facility were thinking when they decided to add an *anger* core to GLaDOS. Especially considering how GLaDOS managed the entire facility – did they not think about how they were going maintain control if something went wrong with the AI? It seems the scientists either abandoned the facility or all of them died as a result of GLaDOS’ push for science (Chell basically went through all the chamber puzzles without encountering any scientists, and only heard GLaDOS’ voice.)
I love the movie, The Maze Runner, most for its high-tech version. The change of the maze reflects the change in the real world, including the economy changes, and society changes every day. The reason I like it because I like dystopia and sci-fi. It can reflect the cruel reality, which impacts me a lot. The huge and profound maze gives people inside great shock. Many of them choose to stay and wait for death. This gives the youngs a big warning of struggling rather than take things they are. But the leader, Thomas, gives them an alert and asks them to fight for their lives with him.
One of my favorite examples is from a dystopian role playing game called Shadowrun.
Shadowrun campaigns often have settings that run parallel to that of Blade Runner, either placing characters in re-imagined future versions of actual cities or just those that are spawned by the imagination. While they are not always bounty hunters Shadowrunners are those who work as black market agents, providing services to anyone that has enough money or benefits to offer. One of my favorite elements of Shadowrun is “Essence”, which is described as “the measure of a soul’s connection to the body it inhabits.” Characters within the Shadowrun universe may have cybernetic enhancements such as robotic limbs, reinforced skeletons, or even modifications that closely mimic those seen in Black Mirror. Characters with more augmentations have a lower Essence rating and though it is not uncommon for characters to have some type of modification there seemingly is an invisible line that many try not to cross. Characters with low Essence scores are disconcerting in appearance, being described as being in a meta-human sort of state where there more human parts begin to degrade and fall apart. I don’t know how long it will be until humans start regularly utilizing such augmentations but I think Shadowrun’s use of Essence quite accurately captures the fear of combining man with machine. It brings up the hazy line that society draws regarding technological advancement and the fear of becoming so bound to technology that we begin to lose our human essence. How far will we go until we finally hit a true barrier where we can no longer progress?
I have to say I throughly enjoyed reading everyone’s comment so far. For me, when I think about a screen-based media that addressed the topic of our technological world, I instantly thought of the movie Passenger which recently released. In this movie, a spaceship carrying 5,000 people ventured off into space towards what is essentially “Earth 2.0”. This voyage is supposed to take roughly 80 years, but two of the passengers, due to damages to the ship, were forced to wake up too early from their pods. Without a way to go back to sleep, I enjoyed seeing how they interacted with all the futuristic technological advancements that we’ve yet to see in our own world. I loved seeing all the advanced technology in the movie and the way they presented themselves. In a way everything seemed really far off and yet it seemed possible for us to achieve this kind of technology within our lifetimes. It was funny to see how the main characters were in the mess that they were in due to failures in technology, and yet they still trusted and used technology all throughout the movie. My absolute favorite thing about this movie has to be the cyborg bartender that blew me away by how close it was to being an actual human being. I also greatly enjoyed the ability for passengers to literally explore space with just the use of space suits, as if it were any other vacation activity such as scuba diving.
One that comes to mind is the video game series, Deus Ex, particularly the game, Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
In Deus Ex: Human revolution, advancement in technology have paved the way for something called augmentation, artificial organs embedded in humans that allow them to greatly improve their bodily performance. Just playing through the game, unlocking new augments, and utilizing them was enjoyable and made me imagine what if we created something like this. But something like this comes with a price of morality. On one hand, the ability to enhance your performance with just technology can be mindblowing. But on the other hand, the question of how human are you really once you implant augments. I believe this question of morality already exists in our world. People want technology to evolve, but don’t want it to get to the point where it has the potential to control us.
My favorite screen based media is Black Mirror and specifically, I want to back the “The Waldo Moment” episode in season two because in that episode a original fictional cartoon character manages to run for politics and the main idea from that episode is that even though that animated character was not experienced in politics, that thing was able to get the attention of people and get supporters for him. I feel like that episode can be relatable to real life because our president elect is Donal Trump and he did not have any political background or is not a politician, but he was able to get society to support him based on his views, comments, beliefs and the same thing happen to Waldo in Black mirror, a fictional character stated his belief and his views and people loved the fictional character. If anyone wants to know about this episode, here’s a review by Huffington Post, “http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/sam-parker/black-mirror-review-the-waldo-moment_b_2764672.html”. Furthermore, I will talk to about Tesla Car and the reason for that is because Tesla has managed to build self driving cars and ten or even thirty years ago, there has been media, whether it is television shows or movies that predicted this and was portraying this.
One last thing I will to add is that Black Mirror is a great show to watch because, anyone that is interested about how society would response if a certain event happened or if a certain technology was present on Earth, then they should watch it because in each episode the show is portraying a futuristic technology or certain events and what positive and negative impacts it is having on human beings. In my opinion, by seeing a visual media and thinking that this might happen in the future in my world is haunting because, we managed to construct virtual reality, there are companies constructing augmented reality, drones, robots, which will help with chores and keep the community safe. but at the same time, we do not know the consequences of the technology that is currently being created, but this show is portraying to society those negative outcomes. Lastly, the reason why I mentioned Tesla in the above response is because, Tesla is a company that is trying to be different than other car companies and that’s why I like to read about the latest news and products because before Tesla, there has been prototype self driving vehicle, but Tesla managed to get in the market and successfully persuade customer to purchase their cars and Elon Musk stated in October of 2016 that cumulative miles that Tesla car in auto-pilot mode has passed more than 220 miles. If anyone wants to know more information about Tesla and the safety about Auto-pilot, than there is an article “http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1106613_how-safe-is-tesla-autopilot-parsing-the-statistics-as-suggested-by-elon-musk”, which everyone may read.
The most recent show that I could think of that plays with the future of technology is “Westworld.” I find this show very interesting because it addresses both the problems of the real world and the imagined world. People visit this theme park to find an escape from their own reality by interacting with hosts and a multitude of storylines that feel and look so real. However, these “hosts” or robots follow scripts and are programmed to follow their storyline and thus, not making them real human beings. But the most exciting part of this show is that it tackles the possibility of these hosts gaining their own consciousness and understanding that they are being controlled to feel pain and go through awful experiences while some visitors tend to forget that this fake world is not real. Therefore, this show brings up the question that as time goes on do we just create and advance technology in order to make the world a better place or do we use it only to run away from our problems?
I also thought of “Westworld,” as an example of a show that addresses the topic of our technological world both real and imagined. Westworld is a theme park designed for people to enjoy their desires. There are hosts who are robots designed to keep guests coming back to the park to enjoy the experience. These hosts have narratives and specific actions. (Spoiler Alert) This show is my favorite because it explores the idea of robots becoming conscious. The hosts are not real but it is hard to remember that since they start becoming more aware of who they actually are and more in control of their actions. I find myself rooting for them even though robots could be a potential threat to humanity. Technology is meant to help us but at what point does it go too far and backfires?
All these examples are great!! One show I have recently gotten into that also ties into the AI theme is West World. West World, a show on HBO, is a theme park that holds hosts. These hosts have been programmed to be complacent and allow the guests to discover their ” inner true self”. The guests really are just experiencing an alternate universe where there are no rules and everything is fair game such as murder, rape, assault etc. The show caught my attention due to the fact that sometimes the audience doesn’t really know if the hosts have gained consciousness or if they’re just following their programming and their given story line.
I found this pretty awesome thought video that sums up the ideas behind the show.
There are many examples of screen based media that engage with the challenges of electronic culture. My favorite example of screen bass media was the movie Smart House. It was where a family moved into a house that was programmed by a woman who was a voice, but she controlled all the operations in the house and followed but they were supposed to. Until she started craving attention and wanted to be the children’s mother. She became really controlling and she destroyed the house with the big storm. Even though she was there to help she began to develop a human mind of her own which craved love and affection. I think that this film could actually be possible in the future. Where a robot response to the commands of one. The qualities that make it my favorite is that I love to see how efficient the children’s lives were with Pat (the robot mother). Really makes me think about the future and if this is gonna come to real life. It would be amazing if this happen but in the end of the movie we learned that it’s not good because we don’t want robots controlling every aspect of our life. Although they are very helpful we should not give them that power and I think that’s what this movie strived to teach its viewers.
Hi Zarina!
I believe that I vaguely remember this film. I find it extremely scary reading your description because it reminders me so much of Siri. Additionally, the robots remind me of the robots they are creating in present time to operate and simulate mankind. I find this not only disturbing because it is invasive of our privacy, but I have a bad feeling the robots could take over a lot of human jobs and tasks, in which humans will become less needed. For example, there has recently been a robotic farm created. Most individuals believe that with this technological capability, there will be no reason for humans to do farm work, and to me that is scary.
http://www.popsci.com/worlds-first-fully-robotic-farm-opens-in-2017
The moment I read the prompt for this discussion, I instantly thought of the movie Smart House. This movie is also my favorite example of screen-based media that addresses the topic of our technological world. I remember watching the film as a young child and thinking that everything I was seeing was so cool. I thought it was such an amazing and creatively thought-out movie because the reality of having a house that practically does everything for you seemed impossible at the time. Now, with all the new technological advances that we are all aware of, having a house that does everything at your command, doesn’t seem so impossible.
At the time, the creativity of the story was a quality that made it my favorite movie that addressed our advancing technological world. I could watch the film over and over and not get bored of it. Today, the movie does not amaze me as much. Rather, it somewhat scares me that once what used to be fiction is turning into reality. Smart House reminds me of the device “Alexa”. Alexa is somewhat like Siri, but a device that is more extreme and perhaps a little intrusive, depending on how you look at it. Alexa is like a digital assistant. When connected to WiFi, Alexa can play music from your phone, turn on and off the lights in your room, add an appointment to your schedule, and even operate appliances just with a simple voice command. These are just a few examples of what Alexa is capable of doing. Alexa is much like the computerized home in Smart House. It is interesting, and little terrifying to see that what once used to be a fictional movie is unexpectedly turning into our reality.
When I saw the post about Smart House, I immediately thought about the new Google home that everyone is raving about. Google home is a digital assistant that can help answer questions, make reminders, and anything you ask it to do. Although it isn’t like Pat, a 3D digital mom, in most cases it does everything Pat did for the house. It is interesting to see how old movies like this one are actually coming true with the current technology. It’s like in Black Mirror how the show foreshadows the future of technology, we see this through Smart House and our technology now.
I’ve seen Smart House as well and believe it is a very good example of a movie that engages with the challenges of electronic culture. It depicts very well the possibilities of the advancement of technology in showing a house that is programmed to pretty much do everything for you . I like this movie a lot because this is something that sounds pretty cool to have and seems like something that would be useful and handy. It also depicts some of the terrors of the advancements in technology when the house ends up gaining too much power and takes over the family. She becomes evil almost which can be another perspective of technology and its detrimental effects.
My favorite example would be the film “Her”. I liked this movie because it was about a man who falls in love with a talking operating system with artificial intelligence. It was interesting to see how the AI could adapt and evolve into something a person could fall in love with. Watching this movie also made me feel bad for the protagonist because he became completely infatuated with the AI to the point he could not live without her. This made me realise how technology is advancing and people are becoming more and more reliant on it.
I also love the movie “Her” a lot. Of course a part of the reason is because how robots can have emotions and intelligence to get involved in love affair with actual humans fascinates me so much. Another reason I like the movie is that it makes me contemplate about the relationship between people in the real world. As the informational technology develop in the 21th century, people are easier to connect with and feel more attached to each other. Seems like people are getting closer because they are seemingly so reachable through social media. However, people gradually realize that such conveniences actually alienates them from other people in the real life. People tends to feel harder to handle their loneness and fear of being unsocialized as they rely more on smart phones. The movie makes me rethink how we can balance our own life with the virtual world and how we can avoid being overly conscious and nervous about the virtual social relationships.
I also agree that Her is overall an amazing movie. I think the best part of it would be kind of how believable it is. The technology while it is advanced it builds upon the technology we already have instead of something completely new. Even the setting of the city is very realistic in that it is only a slight change of the reality we have now. There’s no flying cars or ridiculous outfits. It makes it so real like that the reality of ‘Her’ could be a possibility in the near future. It really does give thought of how intelligent AI’s will become which gives the question of how valid a relationship with an AI would be.
A show that I really enjoy watching that is in the sci fi category is Orphan Black on BBC America. The show follows a girl named Sarah whose life changes one night at a train station. At the train station, she witnesses a woman who looks exactly like her set down her purse and heels and then proceed to step in front of an incoming train. After witnessing the suicide Sarah then sees an opportunity to steal the woman’s identity. The gist of the show is Sarah realizes she is part of an experiment and that the woman whose identity she stole was actually her clone and not only that, she finds out that there are more clones of her out there.
In relation to electronic culture and our technical world. The show pushes the boundaries in regards to our human biology and evolution as a species. Throughout the show we see how the antagonist which is the institution responsible for these experiments on humans use technology and the powers they have in the modern world to modify and push the boundaries of how we can evolve as a species whether we agree with the methods or not.
I thought of WALL-E, where robots have been programmed to address every daily need a human could have. Although at first you might think that it was just the humans being dependent on robots, but in a twisted sense robots also relied on humans to give them purpose. Robots became a part of human existence, like a new arm or leg that humans needed to function normally in daily life. It’s a bit of a warning of how dangerous it is to rely so heavily on technology, but there is also a vision of great potential for the future of technology.
I was thinking of WALL-E as well. I really like that movie because of the way they incorporated robots and artificial intelligence into it. In the movie, the robots get so smart that they want to be the ones in charge and with the humans being so dependent on them, it makes it easier for the robots to take over. It makes you wonder if this is a real possibility in the future because technology is becoming more and more advanced each day. I think it is important that people do not rely on technology too much and are careful about what parts of their lives they let technology into.
I also thought about WALL-E:
To quickly recap, in the movie WALL-E, earth has essentially become a planet-sized landfill. People have moved up into space, while robots (like the one named WALL-E) are left to clean up, in hopes of there being a time when life is once again habitable on earth. So immediately at the beginning of the movie it can be seen that: 1. don’t litter, but also, 2. technology can do things humans can’t (in this case, trying to clean the entire earth while trying to live would be totally infeasible).
In WALL-E, technology automates everything in the space colony. Everyone is always sitting and never walking—there is transportation everywhere. Food is even delivered by machines, cleaning is done by the machines. Everyone talks to each other through a screen, instead of face to face. These conveniences are better labeled as inconveniences. No one is healthy; all of them are obese. People might even forget how to walk, needless to say exercise. People only know others through pixels on a screen, and never really get to know the world beyond the screen. This *reliance* on technology to *do everything* has caused everyone to become lazy and, well, people have become slaves to their own technology—their only perception of the world is through technology. They don’t need to work, they don’t need to create, they don’t need to *think* – and if that’s the case, what’s left of a human that can be considered human?
Anyways, because of WALL-E and EVE (who are both robots), a plant is found living on earth, showing evidence that earth is actually habitable. This leads to a series of events ending with people returning to earth, to begin life anew. Technology can really aid the course of humanity if done correctly.
I absolutely agree with you on this post Sammy, and you did a great job at recapping the movie. I like your ending, “Technology can really aid the course of humanity if done correctly,” and would like to elaborate a bit further. It’s ironic that the robots were the ones who found the plant, and through their “memories” of TV shows, they were able to figure out that the plant was so precious and valuable. The robots are bit more advanced than how we typically see robots, where they’re simply told what to do. Eve and Wall-E went to extremes to try to take the plant to safety, and for others to see that there was still hope for the planet. The robots were more preoccupied of saving the planets than humans were, because humans were basically zombified, and zoned in to their technology. Which is something that we see today, often we don’t look around when we’re out, we’re glued to our phones, and instead of interacting with others, we check social media…and this may be causing us to miss out on what’s truly important. WALL-E shows how great technology can be on one hand, but how destructive and detrimental it can be on the other hand.
An extraordinary film addressing our powerful and encroaching technological world is the 1997 science fiction film, Gattaca, which I had the pleasure of watching in my AP Biology high school class. This film centers around the daunting idea that our DNA, that presents itself in an array of forms such as a single strand of hair, a drop of blood, or saliva, will basically determine everything about us – who should we marry, what type of career path, and what we are capable of achieving.
Vincent Freeman, played by Ethan Hawke, borrows another man’s identity, that is the genetically perfect Jerome Morrow, at the expense of hiding his own in the hopes of fulfilling his dreams of traveling to space. Freeman was not conceived within the eugenics program that draws upon genetic manipulation to ensure perfectly made humans and thus, is destined to be a menial worker according to his imperfect DNA.
How does this largely biology heavy film relate to the ongoing topic of electronic culture? Well, the film successfully pinpoints reproductive technologies for eugenics and portrays the constant battle between society and its individuals who are fighting to break the stagnant barrier of their predetermined destiny based on their genetic makeup. A genetic registry database is employed along with biometrics to separate the “valids,” or the genetically mutated ones, from the “invalids,” or the natural born babies. With a society so heavily based on advanced technology, such as the one seen in Gattaca, perfectly constructed individuals become the norm and anyone else who does not follow this “trend” of eugenics becomes the outsider and limited to their potential for achievement.
The plot itself with its dynamic characters easily categorize this as one of my favorite sci-fi movies. The portrayal of these “not so distant” technologies in the film also visually paints a more tangible picture in my mind about how the future of our technological world may look.
One of my all time favorite films, and I’m sure to many others too – Avatar, came to mind.
The movie is set in the year 2154 but was released in 2009. I personally like this movie a lot because though it is very futuristic and is within the Sci-fi genre, it is still relatable. In the film, humans have depleted Earth’s resources leading to an energy crisis and thus have resulted in space exploration where they find a moon called Pandora to harvest its resources. Both the depletion of Earth’s resources as well as space exploration are two topics that are very momentous right now allowing for the audience to connect with the film. In addition, Avatar in my opinion was the first movie that took the step into successful 3D technology and effects and did it the right way. With both technological advances seen not only within the movie but also the production of the movie itself, has resulted in Avatar becoming one of my favorite movies, not to mention a movie that addresses the topic of our technological world.
Initially released in 1987, the film RoboCop(a fan of the 2014 remake but I have to go with the original) is set in the near future in a dystopian city of Detroit, Michigan, where the Omni Corporation sets out to replace the police force with enforcement droids(ED-209). Following a tragic malfunction of the ED-209, the RoboCop cyborg design is initiated and implemented on officer Murphy after fatally injured by a gang. The cybernetic design allows for enhanced strength and motor/sensory abilities which serve as the perfect way to fight the crime in the city. As we see in today’s world, technological advances have paved way for the development of bionic prosthetic limbs for the human body. Although it may seem like a great distance from cybernetics as we see in RoboCop, I wouldn’t be surprised if technology continues to accelerate at a even greater rate for the years to come.
In addition, I am fascinated with the advances in the development of exoskeletons!
A film that addresses one of the possible outcomes of our advancing technological world, as well as the growing dependence our society has on technology is the Disney Pixar animated film, Wall-E. The film is set hundreds of years from today, and depicts Earth as a planet that is no longer habitable by humans since its resources have been exploited and all land is completely covered by dumps of trash. Because of this and the society’s futuristic technology, humans were able to evacuate Earth and live on giant spaceships. What’s also alarming is that all humans have become obese since they no longer have to walk to get from place to place — they each use hovering chairs to get around and communicate with each other through holographic screens and video calls. Assistant bots are always available to give the humans food whenever they need. Even though this human dystopia is an exaggeration of what our lifestyles might become in the future due to our ever-changing and growing technological world, it does make viewers think about the pros and cons of technology and its effects, which connects to the whole point of this class. The quality that causes the audience to think and reflect deeper, as well as tell a sweet story that takes place in an unpleasant but also cute-looking, animated setting, is what I enjoy the most. Here is a link to a YouTube video that depicts the future human society in Wall-E: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1BQPV-iCkU
One movie that came to mind when thinking about our topic of the technological world is Elysium (2013) set in the year 2154. As people are divided into 2 separate worlds, where the privileged live in Elysium and everybody else lives on Earth. Those who live in Elysium can closely monitor what the people on Earth are doing and their every move. They use technology to such as police robots to secure Elysium to make sure that people from Earth can’t get through and destroy what they have. I feel like this is somewhat prevalent today because people are being divided into groups based on their social class and if we keep this up, this is what the future can turn into.
My favorite screen-based media would be the science fiction movie called “Avatar,” which is written and directed by James Cameron. Avatar is a film that takes technology to the next level with its 3D animation. Not only is the technology impressive, but the plot is something that I believe everyone can learn from and witness the dangers of the way, we as humans are destroying Earth. The film takes place in the 22nd century, where mankind has destroyed all of Mother Nature’s energy sources and they are having to explore Pandora’s atmosphere to mine for energy sources. Pandora (a habitable, gas moon) is currently a home to the tribe Na’vi and potent place to humans. As a result, the scientists within the movie creates these avatars, which are the hybrid versions of the creatures Na’vi and then virtually controlled by humans. The mind of the avatars are controlled by humans, but the body appears to look almost identical to a Na’vi. This allows the humans to interact with the Na’vi tribe, without appearing as a threat. As the story unravels, it becomes clear that the scientists do not have the right intentions with their exploration of Pandora and they take their mission too far. When the avatars continue to explore Pandora at a more expansive degree, it threatens the existence of the Na’vi tribe. This places yet another battle between humans and nature. This film not only illustrates how far technology has come in the film world, but it demonstrates that if mankind does not take care of Earth, we could very well be placed in the same situation in the future. Additionally, the film highlights the idea that with the help of technology, humans could be placed on a whole different planet and virtually created and presented as a whole different creature than we truly are.
Similarly to Black Mirror, I believe that the film Avatar shows mankind the dangers of technology when it is taken too far. The idea of mankind going to explore another planet with the use of technology is a really neat idea on the surface, but when the technology is utilized to do harm to another colony, it is one step too far.
https://youtu.be/d1_JBMrrYw8
My favorite screen-based media would be the science fiction movie called “Avatar,” which is written and directed by James Cameron. Avatar is a film that takes technology to the next level with its 3D animation. Not only is the technology impressive, but the plot is something that I believe everyone can learn from and witness the dangers of the way, we as humans are destroying Earth. The film takes place in the 22nd century, where mankind has destroyed all of Mother Nature’s energy sources and they are having to explore Pandora’s atmosphere to mine for energy sources. Pandora (a habitable, gas moon) is currently a home to the tribe Na’vi and potent place to humans. As a result, the scientists within the movie creates these avatars, which are the hybrid versions of the creatures Na’vi and then virtually controlled by humans. The mind of the avatars are controlled by humans, but the body appears to look almost identical to a Na’vi. This allows the humans to interact with the Na’vi tribe, without appearing as a threat. As the story unravels, it becomes clear that the scientists do not have the right intentions with their exploration of Pandora and they take their mission too far. When the avatars continue to explore Pandora at a more expansive degree, it threatens the existence of the Na’vi tribe. This places yet another battle between humans and nature. This film not only illustrates how far technology has come in the film world, but it demonstrates that if mankind does not take care of Earth, we could very well be placed in the same situation in the future. Additionally, the film highlights the idea that with the help of technology, humans could be placed on a whole different planet and virtually created and presented as a whole different creature than we truly are.
Similarly to Black Mirror, I believe that the film Avatar shows mankind the dangers of technology when it is taken too far. The idea of mankind going to explore another planet with the use of technology is a really neat idea on the surface, but when the technology is utilized to do harm to another colony, it is one step too far.
https://youtu.be/d1_JBMrrYw8
An example that came into my head was the usage of virtual reality technology in the television anime series Sword Art Online. In the show, characters were able to put on a helmet-like item called the NerveGear that enabled them to connect their conscious brain to the internet and play a virtual reality game. However, once users were connected to the NerveGear, the creator was able to trap the conscious brain in the game. Virtual reality gaming is currently developing fast and increasing in popularity with products like the Oculus Rift or VR headsets. The only difference between virtual reality now and in the show is that we have yet to connect the user’s brain into the technology. But the development of technology that would be able to connect and communicate with our brain does not seem too daunting or unrealistic to me anymore with our fast and always changing evolution of technology. If and when this technology arises, humanity will have to decide the acceptable boundaries from the positive and negative potentials that it can bring.
The first thing that came into my mind when I read the prompt was VR headsets as well. The technology revolved around virtual reality is expanding so rapidly that I am really interested in it in general, and I wonder how it will affect people in the future since it has both pros and cons. When I watch those videos of people playing different games with VR headsets, I am always fascinated, but at the same time, it’s scary when I think of the possibility of one’s excessive reliance on certain VR games may lead the person to live in that imaginary settings rather than the reality.
An alternative to VR would be AR(augmented reality) in which an example would be Pokemon Go, where we would still be able to differentiate and distinguish between the real world and virtual content. However, if you actually want to be mindblown, the Microsoft HoloLens is another example in which it encompasses both VR and AR to create a “mixed reality” which allows you to merge both physical and virtual worlds together. This allows for the user to actually change the real world in a virtual sandbox. For example, you could change the color of your car while wearing the gadget and create holograms you can actually hold and move around.
The first thing that came to mind for me was also Sword Art Online; a class I took before talked about this series and the usage of virtual reality technology. The effects of technology on human physical activity is prominent in the 21st century where many things can be done simply by pressing a few buttons. In the anime, the exuberant world in the game and the lifeless and still reality of life draws quite a sharp contrast and personally, I find it quite terrifying. The main character is valiant and heroic in the game but is literally lying idly on his bed for days. I think this series does a good job at depicting what could potentially be our future, in which we rely and depend on technology to the point of complete immobility and negligence of our surroundings.
I thought of Sword Art Online as well, and I completely agree with your statement regarding the fact that one day, we may be so dependent that it results in immobility. We’re relying more and more on technology today, and it’s interesting to look at how advanced it’s getting. For example, it’s possible for a Tesla to navigate on its own, with no effort required from the driver whatsoever. These advances in technology are making it possible for people to put in less effort in day-to-day things.
I literally could not think of anything because I basically only watch anime and am so glad I saw this post. Sword Art and even its counterpart Accel World I feel are super great examples of tech really augmenting how we view the world. While Sword Art we are shown individuals diving into a virtual world in Accel World the virtual world is intertwined with reality. This is shown in the form of electronics literally embedded into ones nervous system. In affect your phone is computer are not longer in your hand but rather in your mind/eyes. This plays with the whole idea that memory and experiences are affected but that is for another time. In another show I watched a while ago (Reborn!) the main character was equipped with a contact lens that let him gauge outputs on his attacks, Google Glass may have been a failure but there is work on taking that technology and actually making a fully functional contact lens that will let you live alongside your social media.
I thought the same! I also basically watch only anime and thought of Sword Art Online and Accel World. The idea of embedding ones nervous system with technology is definitely fascinating and is something I can see possibly happening in the future, considering how fast technology is advancing these days. However, I can’t help but wonder what harms it could pose. If the technology is not developed properly, I can see it harming the user’s health. Also, if technology makes it to the point where virtual reality is intertwined with reality like in Accel World, I am curious as to what users would distinguish as reality. Would virtual reality become reality?
I was also on the same page! The NerveGear in Sword Art Online is a good comparison to the VR headset and a possible outcome of advanced virtual reality. I just want to add that besides its popular use in gaming, VR has simulations that can be used for training purposes, such as training soldiers in the military. Also I believe that VR can been used for therapy, such as treating people with certain phobias. I have seen people play simulation games (like Surgeon Simulator) and I was intrigued by how real the games look. With Sword Art Online in mind, I am also anxious about a future where VR can strip away people’s awareness of their surroundings.
Wow! I saw so many of you thought of SAO. Based on the VR device, I strongly agree that the story of Kirito may become true one day. It will change the definition of games as by using VR technique we can achieve lots of things such as driving and traveling at home. Actually, it is so different from other screen-based media but I believe more and more people will enjoy this.
Personally I’m not the biggest fan of any sci-fi related shows, but this prompt reminded me of Divergent, although it might not be my favorite of all times. The movie portrays a world that is implemented with technipologies that detect our thoughts and project on screen, as a way to test and determine somebody’s potential. In a further step, the leader found a way to “shut down” people’s mind, and manipulate them with commands.
Hi Lexi!
Firstly, I want to thank you for bringing up Divergent. I not only believe that it displays the advances in technology, but that it highlights how technology can not only be utilized as a tool to take over somebody’s mind, but it also highlights the notion that if we as society are so consumed with technology we will fall victim to it and let it become entirely who we are. For instance, we will ultimately lose the ability to think critically own our own, because someone else will be controlling our thoughts and actions through the act of technology. Furthermore, the film touches upon the idea that the individuals who are not conforming to this technological world are targeted and seen as a threat to society, which is ironic because it is the other way around. I belief this could foreshadow our feature and that we must be cognizant of our own beliefs and be true to ourselves, instead of allowing technology take over our lives.
My favorite example of screen- based media would be the healthcare robot, Baymax from the Walt Disney film, Big Hero 6. Baymax is a big, white inflatable robot that could detect distress or any healthcare needs with a single scan. The healthcare programmed chip installed into Baymax gives him access to on-the-go medicine and medical equipments. Similarly, another chip was programmed to give Baymax some fighting moves to defeat the villain.
The reason why Big Hero 6 is my favorite because not only is Baymax a big, huggable robot, but he is also the future of healthcare– I mean Baymax is walking healthcare!
I agree with you! I feel like in the future, someone is going to create some sort of robot that will be able to care for humans in a way that real humans can’t care for each other. This would become a quicker process of healing someone because a robot would know exactly what kind of help a person needs to get better.
Big Hero 6 is my favorite example too!
I think the idea of a personal robot taking care of a human is going to one day become a reality. I like the idea of Baymax because it is personable and custom-able to every person. This could possibly save a lot of lives because people wouldn’t have to call 911 and rush to the ER for certain emergencies. Baymax is basically portable healthcare and that will be extremely useful for people of all ages, especially old people who can’t really do much.
I’m not really into science-fiction/into the future type of movies, but when I do come across them occasionally, I find them to be very interesting. I have seen Big Hero 6, and I couldn’t agree more with your comment, Le Tran. I do believe that eventually humans will be assigned a robot that will be portable, on the go health care assistance. Also, for those who are older and may be lonely, this robot can serve as a companion for that individual. Given that Baymax is quiet large, if majority of people had this type of technology, the robot would have to be portable and expand when necessary (needed). Even though this may be the future of health care system, I still believe that these robots will be limited in their actions. There will still need to be human health care professionals to combat the limitations of the service robot.
I’m a huge fan of Marvel and I love all their movies and shows because of the new and advanced technological ideas they present. Both S.H.E.I.L.D and Hydra have profound control and surveillance over everyone, but they use it in two very different ways. On one side, S.H.E.I.L.D uses this to help people and save lives, but Hydra uses this technology to do harm and benefit only themselves. This concept is very much prevalent in today’s world, with a few powerful (and corrupt) people controlling the world with the technology we have. Imagine for a moment what we could do with the technology that Marvel has, whether it is for good or bad.
I agree!! Another cool thing to note is how superheroes like Batman and Ironman aren’t actually superheroes per say, but still keep up with the likes of heroes with superpowers like superman. Goes to show how important technology is and the potential of how powerful it can be!
I also love Marvel films for their comic actions brought to live action through amazing stunts and CGIs, but what comic book lack compared to the movies is the controversies behind the Avengers. Although comic has a clear “Big Bad Villain” that must be defeated, recent films like Iron Man 3, Avengers 2, and Captain America: Civil War touches on the gray area of technology and the fine lines that defines heroes and villains. Iron Man 3 shows Tony over-reliance of his suit of armor to protect himself from physical and physiological harm. It is when Tony decides to blow up all of his suits and take out the Arc Rector when he limits his over-reliance in his suits. Avengers 2 brought the controversies behind AI’s and their potential harm toward human as Ultron learns of human’s history of inflicting harm towards themselves. Lastly Captain America: Civil War drew the gray line between heroes which brings sense of realism in the accountability of heroes and their potential harm towards the people they are protecting.
I think it’s interesting to note that the government is all for building/creating a superhuman (like Captain America), but once they get too powerful the government wants to fully destroy them/get rid of them (similar to The Incredibles). Also, this whole idea of enhancing humans for military purposes is actually already happening! The Pentagon’s DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) has been researching how to genetically modify humans to create a super human army. It’s scary to see something we believed would only happen in movies begin to expand and grow in real life.
Something I also found interesting was the technology in Captain America: The First Avenger. Since it takes place predominantly during WWII, this means it technically took place in the early to mid 1940s. The idea of having technology that is able to create a superhuman is astounding to me. Since Steve Rogers was injected with ‘Super-Soldier Serum,’ he went from a regular, scrawny male to a super strong, almost invincible person. What makes it even more amazing is that that kind of technology seems so advanced – especially if the movie takes place almost eight decades ago.
On a side note, although it is present day technology, I found it very cool how the producers and editors were able to make the scrawny body double for Chris Evans before he was Captain America to look incredibly real.
Marvel movies are also my favorites. They entail some of the most advanced and futuristic technology. It’s crazy to think that some of the devices they use in that film might actually be available in the future. One of my favorite marvel movies is Captain America: Civil War. This action packed movie talks about the dangers of advanced tech use because most of the characters in the movie has some sort of technological enhancement of their own such as body armors that’s equipped with dangerous weaponry and and a sophisticated AI. This is one of my favorite movies from Marvel because it didn’t really have a huge villain in play since the heroes of the movie were fighting against each other due to differing views.
I am a total movie guy so all of these comments include some good ones but one that I think stands out is The Matrix. This movie was totally ahead of its time, it came out in 1999 before most of us even watched movies like that. It covers a few points of A.I. including the common technology take over and the old “brain in vat” question. It uses technology to bring into question our being human and, similarly to Blade Runner’s question of whether Deckard is in fact a machine or not. Whether you’re a fan of techno martial arts fighting scenes or not, its a great film that echos classic philosophical questions.
One form of technology that I’ve always been fascinated by would be Vocaloid, a singing voice synthesizer that has inspired a variety of screen-based media such as music videos, commercials, and computer games. The concept of being able to notate one’s singing to have perfect pitch and tone has always made me wonder about the future of music and the entertainment industry. Bands that have no singers as well as songwriters that cannot sing now have the ability to showcase their media at minimal drawbacks. The company itself has released several different characters with different voices, languages and unique design, boosting it’s popularity around the world.
Interestingly, this music technology has already begun making steps from the electronic world into the real world. There have been holographic concerts featuring some of their most popular characters in several conventions, each time drawing a fully booked venue with live audience (link below). As this technology advances, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this program’s singer to surpass the sound and performance of actual singers, eventually devaluing them. On the other hand, I could also see artists adopting this technology to have similar voices to themselves and allowing them to hold multiple holographic concert at once. Whatever happens, I am very curious as to how the music industry will progress in terms of music technology.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhl5afLEKdo
One of my favorite sci-fi movies is Ex-Machina because it shows the extent humans would go to improve technology to the point of insanity. The creator of the humanoid robot, Nathan Bateman (played by Oscar Isaac), went through insane lengths to try to make the robot as human as possible and perfect. He made the robot feel mentally (on a human level even though she doesn’t fully understand human emotions) and sexually. What I liked about Ex-Machina was that it exposed human weakness and vulnerability. Our actions are sometimes commanded by our emotions but we don’t realize the consequences immediately. Ex-Machina reminds me of the story of a Tokyo man marrying a video game character and he chose to do this instead of marrying a human being. Imagine if the video game character was a humanoid, how would that man’s life be? It is bizarre to even think about but artificial intelligence is the future and perhaps in the near future, what the Tokyo man did will be normal but with humanoids.
Hi Joanne!
After reading this prompt I immediately thought of Ex-Machina as well, as I had just watched it over break. I really liked what you said about how the use of AI in the movie really points out human weakness and vulnerability, as our emotions play a huge role in the actions that we make on a daily basis. Here in this movie, it repeats a common fear that many of us have: Robots having the ability to take over, as we see that the AI is able to escape by outsmarting the humans and in the process killing her creator as well as locking the other in her place where she was locked up to be studied. Although I did enjoy the movie, this one along with various others are ironic yet frustrating to watch because as humans we are shown as the inventors of AI, and many times in movies, it is predicted that the AI will be able to outsmart humans and take over.
Holy cow that was such a good movie….so darn good. I don’t know if you’ve heard of the movie Her, but if Ex-Machina is your cup of tea, I think you’ll appreciate it as well. Both are at the top of my favorite sci-fi movies list because they deal with the theme of substituting human company/love with that of AI.
With “Her”, if you were to tell someone from the 1900’s about Tinder (an all too familiar app on university campuses), they’d probably laugh – tell somebody today about falling in love with a virtual personality, however, and the response would probably be less comical. Her exaggerates our personal dependencies on technology to where instead of serving as a means of connection, humans connect personally with a product of technology itself. The level of depth of how this was executed and the attention to detail is where it really shined. You’ve got a story that not only deals with the obvious social aspects of having a such relationship with a computer (between friends and previous significant others), but also the logistical implications too – how a date would play out, what it would be like to spend time together, and the even existential issue of having to eventually die versus not. Things like physical touch, sex, software updates, having machines purely serve humans vs. maintaining a healthy relationship, jealousy, being omnipercipient vs. only having two eyes…..all of the bases are covered. It was an amazing piece of work!
Westworld is my favorite screen-based media that deals with evolving technologies such as artificial intelligence. In the show the “hosts” are 3D printed artificially intelligent robots that appear just like people in the Westworld park where guest may interact with them in any way they’d like. The show raises many similar questions raised in Bladerunner such as what it means to be “human” as well as how to deal with revoking any given consciousness.
https://youtu.be/DGIMai53SYo
The 100 on the CW has to be one of the best television shows depicting how humans even with the most high grade technological advancements are unable to survive at the most basic levels. The show centers around the theme of survival, survival on the ground as apart from survival in space. By using their understanding of the physical and technological resources around them or knowledge of from life in space, the 100 tries to create a society on the ground. Yet the show examples how even with such intelligence, survival calls for more than just technology. Humans also need the resource of physical communication skills and relationships to foster alliances and trust in order to build a functioning society. I guess I just really enjoy the central theme of how survival takes in account so many factors, with technology being a major one, but not necessarily the aspect that solves the major conflicts faced in the show. Especially when the show parallels our own world and what could come of it if we solely rely on technology to pave the way for the survival of humans and the whole entirety of the world.
I definitely have to agree with Maia, The 100 on the CW is a very compelling show (that is also on Netflix!) that presents the relationship between technology and survival. The world was first considered “unlivable” because of a nuclear explosion contaminating the air and that is the series first take at how technology can actually turn into something bad. The 100 people sent to live on Earth is a punishment (crazy to think about since we all live on Earth right now) and encounter issues with the survivors of the nuclear apocalypse (the Grounders and the Reapers). Some of the 100’s problems are fixed with natural medications from the Grounders and it shows quite a contrast to a civilization that is so used to technology (living in space on a ship called “The Ark”). The question is not particularly which is better, but perhaps poses the idea that a cohesive balance between the natural and technology is what is best; too much technology brings the problem of the nuclear contamination and too little poses the problem of no progression.
Westworld is my favorite screen-based media that deals with evolving technologies, particularly with Artificial Intelligence. In the show, the “hosts” are artificially intelligent robots that seem just like people. They are created with what looks like 3D printers (which we actually have today) and interact with guests in a “park” where guests may do whatever they’d like with them, whether that is talk, make love, or kill them. This show definitely reinforces some of the same ideologies from Bladerunner as far as what it means to be “human” and how to distinguish that from artificial intelligence. It also deals with the prospect of creating consciousness and how to deal with revoking that privilege as well when the robots have feelings, desires, etc.
My favorite example is the original Terminator film with Schwarzenegger (1984). The technology prevalent is an Artificial Intelligence which became self-aware and wanted to eradicate the human race. It was applicable back in the 80s (as home computing was becoming a possibility) as well as now. We are dependent on computers making our decisions today like Siri, computer-aided design, and even self-driving our cars.
Since you brought up Artificial Intelligence, one of my favorite movies about AI would be Ex Machina. It explores the idea of a human actually being able to interact and relate to a machine takes on the appearance of a human, but it also explores the idea and potential danger of how machines may actually be able to develop true intelligence and turn against humans. On another note, there is an episode of Black Mirror titled “Be Right Back” that also talks about Artificial Intelligence; however, it looks at AI from a different and somewhat of an opposite perspective from Ex Machina. The episode is about a woman whose husband (who is also the protagonist from Ex Machina) dies and turns to AI to cope with her loss. Talking to him through a computer isn’t enough, so she buys a humanoid robot that looks exactly like him and even has his smallest facial details. However, as time goes by, she realizes that the AI is too artificial to ever recreate the genuine personality traits and behaviors of her late husband, and she later regrets her decision as she cannot get rid of the robot. This episode, along with other Black Mirror episodes, shows that although some future technologies would seem convenient or revolutionary, there’s always a consequence or downside to having that certain technology. It also questions how far we should go with the creation of new technologies; however, it also reminds us that we should not take certain aspects of life, such as actual human interactions and memories, for granted.
Hi Frances, I had really similar media ideas! When I read this assignment I first thought of Ex Machina, as I recently just watched this movie over break. And honestly, it was really eerie to me to see this level of AI and just how “real” it was. This idea that robots could fool you into believing they aren’t machines and actually humans shows you just how powerful they can be. I liked how you tied this with the episode of Black Mirror, “Be Right Back.” After Professor Jackson’s request to watch some episodes of this Netflix series, I watched this particular one and it left me with the same feeling after watching Ex Machina. The idea how one can essentially bring someone back to life and be able to talk to the dead through technology is crazy. And then to not just have communication through email or phone, but then to have the actual physical body present is really quite creepy, for lack of a better term. Both of these media examples showcase the power of technology, but also advise you to take caution of the consequences that may come with these advancements.
My favorite media on this topic would have to be films such as I,Robot because it is so realistic and it is something we can see happening in the future. Most of the technology we see in that movie seems like its within reach to us now. I also like how it has the overlaying theme that we are always creating new and improved technology which everyone wants and how far is too far when dealing with advanced technology.
I thought that I, Robot shows a great interpretation of the possibilities that might be in our own future. In the movie, they had self-driving cars on autopilot and advanced AI technology. An example would be the tech/car company Tesla, who introduced cars with similar capabilities to the cars shown in the movie.
Not only the typical consumer robotos like self-driving cars but also the advancement of production methods. With now the use of machines to help make production more efficient, firms are able to cut costs in the long run by investing in technology. Though with the increase, with technology can bring many disadvantages too, this could include things like unemployment due to laying off staff. In addition, as seen as your movie example, iRobot, technology can actually take over our world. We are already seeing this where as professor said, the first thing we do when we wake up is check our phone.
A great example of a screen-based film is the movie iRobot, where actor Will Smith lives in a world in the future with robots and self-driving cars. The movie is based on the year 2035 where human-like robots serve humanity and humans are protected by the robots according to the three laws of robotics. I like how the movie shows robots being very friendly with humans and helping them with day to day functions.
A game that I used to play a lot when I was younger was The Sims. I bought multiple editions of The Sims computer games, a couple editions for the Playstation 2, and played a bit on the Nintendo Advanced. The Sims is a game that allows you to create virtual characters and control their lives. You build their homes, monitor and control their relationships, and choose their career paths, and determine what they do on a daily basis. I never really reflected on what was so intriguing about this game for me, but I think it’s always fun creating characters, starting a new life with a new family, and seeing them be successful (thanks to you). You’re able to stack them with tasks to do, and then fast-forward time. Similar to real life, your Sims are only able to live luxurious and fun lives if they have money. However, in the game, there are cheat codes you can use to gain free money. I think the only exciting part about the game is the beginning of each new family you create… because there’s no real goal to reach in the game, and you can never really win. Perhaps it was fun for me and others because you’re able to live the life that you may not live in reality–and you’re able to start over with new characters, a new home, a new career, a new life whenever you’re bored or tired of your existing one.
I am impressed with the progress Virtual Reality Gaming has gone through. I remember buying Playstation Move and being excited because I was able to move a motion controller and the characters in the game replicate my movement. It was similar to the Nintendo Wii but a little more advanced and it came out in 2010. Six years later and the Playstation VR has now been released. It utilizes the same motion controllers but it now includes a headset that allows the player to move their head and look into the game as if they were actually there. This comes at a time where other Virtual Reality headsets are being released such as Oculus Rift and HTC’s Vive. I am excited to see what comes out in the future and I am looking forward to what Virtual Reality can actually become.
I completely agree! With the introduction of the Nintendo Wii, Xbox Kinect and PS Move, and now the introduction of VR, it seems as though entertainment or games are becoming more and more realistic!! This is amazing as obviously this is indeed the aim to provide a better gaming experience. However, I’m curious to see how VR can actually be adapted to other areas of life other than entertainment!
One of the examples that came to mind was Big Brother from 1984 where every citizen is under surveillance through telescreens. As technology advances in our society it seems like Big Brother has the potential to become a reality. For example, The Amazon Echo speaker is always listening for voice commands so it makes you wonder what Amazon is doing with all the audio it records.
Hi Stacey!
I instantly thought of this example as well. I think the example you utilized is excellent. Another example that came to mind was the webcams on our computers and the belief that individuals have that we are being watched at all times. Do you believe that society will ultimately come to the point where our freedoms are restricted and we are always monitored?
My favorite example would be game app called Ingress. It uses similar technology as Pokémon Go but I believe Ingress was published first.
When it first came out it was mind blowing how real world landscapes were transformed into a game.
I love Bladerunner.
(Note to the class: I’m not really cheating here — I picked Bladerunner is the first place! But you should introduce us to something new.)
One of the things that I particularly love is the versioning — the way that the different “cuts” have changed over time, and how these changes reflect our evolving anxieties. What’s frightening is how much darker the current film is compared to the original, suggesting that we’re much more receptive to darkness we were in the past.
On another note, check out this amusing take on the Esper machine. We’re not quite there yet…but it’s only 3 years until 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCDU8r7Tcfk
And needless to say I’m extremely stoked for Bladerunner 2049.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDscTTE-P-k
(This is what a nested comment looks like.)