It has become almost a reference when talking about a new technology that is a bit crazy or worrying: black mirror. Created by Charlie Brooker in 2011, this anthology series, premiering June 15 on Netflix for Season 6, features episodes with unique space-time settings. From cutting-edge technologies to everyday tools, many topics have been covered during the series’ 6 seasons and 27 episodes (not counting the interactive movie bandersnatch).
But the universe of technologies is constantly evolving, the once futuristic or utopian innovations of black mirror they are not so today. Overview of the series’ multiple technologies and their application in real life.
rating company
How not to evoke one of the most emblematic episodes of the series: “Nosedive”, an episode of the third season that presents the almost perfect life of Lacie, in a world where personal notes govern the lives of the inhabitants. A bad deed? The average goes down, and vice versa. Impossible, for example, to fly with a bill that is too low or to rent the apartment of your dreams.
In real life, notes have also changed the way people consume and act. Valuing a restaurant, a hotel or a movie has become something common on the Internet for several years. This can sometimes have consequences for certain establishments. A few weeks ago, the unions denounced the proliferation of reviews on Google about schools, lamenting “the frenzy of evaluations and likes”.
But can these ratings have an impact on the lives of the consumers themselves? Technically yes. Proof of this is the VTC passenger rating system (Uber, Freenow, Bolt, etc.) which offers an average of 5 stars to all customers. Even if some companies refuse to admit it, a bad average (usually below 4.7) can lead to limited access to the best drivers.
A situation that happens to the protagonist of the episode of black mirror: the latter seeks to rent a car to go to a wedding but due to her bad grade she only ends up with an obsolete electric car that breaks down quickly.
Souvenirs available and chips galore.
black mirror Ultimately, it was quite visionary, given the recent announcements made by some tech giants. The most recent example? The Vision Pro headphones introduced by Apple in early June. In its presentation video, the brand shows off one of the features of its “space computer”: the ability to relive photo and video memories “as if you were there.”
An innovation reminiscent of the third episode of the series, “Toda tu historia”, which reveals a society in which each inhabitant has a chip behind his ear and a box that allows a subjective vision to be revived and transmitted at all times. of every moment lived.
A flea behind the ear? It is also the ambitious project of Elon Musk with his company Neuralink that intends to implant chips in human brains. The goal set by the billionaire is to offer brain-computer interfaces that allow remote control of equipment simply by thinking. A solution intended primarily for people who are paralyzed or suffering from neurological disorders.
and in black mirror, French fries are used in all sauces, particularly to place children. Season 4 episode 2, “Arkangel,” for example, shows a mother who decides to install a surveillance implant in her daughter.
In reality, there certainly is no chip of this type, but more and more parents are dedicating themselves to real-time monitoring of their children, in particular with specialized applications. At the same time, Apple AirTags have also become real trackers for some parents.
Killer robots…
Other technology presented in black mirror and already half present in real life: robot dogs. The company Boston Dynamics has specialized in making robots that look like canines, capable of dancing, jumping and exercising. In the series, the vice goes further: the episode “Metalhead” (season 4, episode 5) shows how this four-legged robot intends to kill a young woman in an apocalyptic universe, even managing to equip himself with a knife.
However, “bad” robots are never far away. In 2022, a Russian company presented a robot dog at an arms fair. Presented as a true military machine, the ninja robot revealed on its back… an RPG-26 anti-tank rocket launcher.
…and conversations that kill
From the macabre to the funereal, there is only one step. And the season 2 opener, “Be Right Back,” offers up some pretty special, even murky technology: the power to converse between the dead and the living. In the series, the episode “I’ll be right back” tells the story of Martha, whose partner has just died. She then decides to use the services of a company that uses the Internet history of the deceased to simulate conversations between the dead and the living. The young woman then begins a second real life with this undead digital husband.
And as sinister as it sounds, real people or companies offer these kinds of benefits. Artificial intelligence has made it possible for several years to create virtual clones of dead individuals. The American journalist John James Vlahos, for example, set up a “dadbot”, a chatbot created from old conversations with his late father and that allowed him to continue talking with him.
Always more advanced, innovative or distressing, can new technologies still surprise us? This will be the whole challenge of these five new episodes of black mirror, which must show originality to renew itself and go beyond reality. Before he reaches her again.
Source: BFM TV
