The first generation of brain-computer interfaces reached the consumer market in around 2010. This technology was crude and limited to begin with: more of a novelty than a serious application. Devices could perform only the simplest of operations, such as directional commands.
Some university experiments were successful in creating text messages, using thought power alone, but were slow and required bulky equipment to do so.
Advances by 2020 enabled the sending of messages via wireless headsets and visors, but the process remained sluggish and unreliable, often demanding a high degree of concentration.*
By 2030, however, exponential progress had been made in mapping and understanding the brain and its neuroelectrical signals. This was filtering down rapidly to the consumer market. Detailed, real-time messages were becoming possible, using non-invasive methods. The graphical interfaces used in composing messages had also been much improved, with more intuitive navigation and features.
By 2040, the technology is largely perfected for everyday use. It works well and is cheap enough to have spread to even developing countries. Privacy and security issues have been resolved, with personal firewalls able to restrict any unwanted intrusion or hacking attempts. The headsets, visors and earphones necessary for users have been miniaturised and made more comfortable. Whether for business or personal use, people everywhere are now enjoying a faster, more sophisticated, more private way of communicating.
This form of "synthetic telepathy" - along with the convergence of other network-based technologies - is radically reshaping society and culture during this time.
Humans are becoming intimately merged with machines in 2045
In some fields, the pace of technology has become so fast that humans can no longer comprehend it - unless they augment their own intelligence. This is particularly true of computing, nanotechnology, medicine and neuroscience, all of which have seen exponential progress.
The typical home PC of today has an integrated AI system equivalent to over a billion human brains. This machine can think for itself, communicate with its owner and suggest new ideas in ways that surpass even the greatest minds on Earth. Due to the flood of data being exchanged on the Internet and elsewhere, these computers receive literally millions of emails, status updates, news reports and other alerts each day.
The only way for a user to interpret this avalanche of information is to merge their consciousness with the machine. A growing segment of society is now turning to on-person hardware to achieve this. The most advanced method involves the use of microscopic, wireless, implantable devices linking neural activity directly to electronic circuitry.The latest versions are capable of marrying AI with human intelligence in ways that combine the best aspects of both.
No monitor or projector of any kind is required for the latest generation of computers. The nanobots instead produce a virtual image of the screen which is augmented in the user's field of vision.
This operating system is controlled by their thoughts - and those of the AI - running at speeds vastly greater than a real time physical version would allow. Thousands of individual actions can be initiated within a microsecond, thanks to the robust wireless connections between the nanobots and neurons.
If necessary, the user's entire sensory experience can be instantly shifted to a full immersion virtual reality. This is a popular choice for gaming and entertainment, but also has many practical applications in the world of business. Meetings and conferences can be hastily scheduled between vast numbers of participants from around the globe - sometimes with barely a few second's notice - and lasting only a few seconds in duration. Communicating at this speed is no longer possible using conventional means, which is creating an enormous divide between those who have the technology and those who don't.
For many people, nanobot implants are becoming permanent and essential - rather than temporary and optional - due to the bewildering speed and level of information now being encountered in day-to-day situations together with the explosive growth of AI. Military personnel, scientists and medical staff were among the first to take advantage of them, but mainstream society is now following.
People are merging with machines in various other ways, too. Nanobots can boost immune systems, for example - helping to exterminate pathogens. They can also regulate blood pressure, or repair some of the damage caused by the ageing process, or accelerate the healing of wounds. Cybernetic organs are now available that almost never fail and can filter deadly poisons. Brain-computer interfaces are increasingly used in middle class homes to open doors, control lighting and operate everyday appliances.
The most extreme cases of enhancement involve people opting for "decentralised" circulatory systems - along with a form of synthetic blood - reducing physical vulnerability still further. This particular option is only available to the rich, as it involves a highly complicated procedure that radically alters their internal anatomy. The end result is that a person can survive multiple gunshot wounds or other damage relatively easily. Certain politicians are taking advantage of this - especially those in unstable regions - along with gangland bosses and career criminals.
The line between man and machine is starting to blur. Later this century, there will no longer be a clear distinction.
Robots are a common feature of homes and workplaces in 2049
Robots are now appearing in mainstream society in a wide variety of forms and functions.Mobile androids are especially popular amongst the elderly, widowed and those who are disabled or incapacitated - in which role they serve as companions, guides and carers. They are also popular amongst the lonely and socially anxious, who can develop relationships without the fear or hang-ups normally associated with human company. Those seeking "alternative" lifestyles are also making use of androids.
The cheapest android models are available for less than $1,000 now, and are stocked by many high street retailers - including hardware stores, department stores and electronics shops.
The robots are customised in the factory beforehand - decorated with skin, clothes, hair and other desired features (pictured above is a bare generic model before this process has occurred). All of the personal information required to cater for their "owner" is pre-programmed into the android's brain.
Government legislation regarding these machines is complicated - and requires years to be fully implemented - but in every country, without exception, the machines adhere to three basic laws. These were postulated almost a century earlier by the science fiction writer, Isaac Asimov:
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm
2. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law
In urban locations, robots are usually powered by wireless energy transfer. In more remote outdoor environments they can utilise internal super-batteries and photovoltaic polymers coated on their bodies. Piezoelectric meshes in their skins - which generate small amounts of electricity through movement - provide a tertiary source of power.
Practically every warehouse and factory in the developed world now has operations run entirely by robots - which can navigate their way through aisles and shelves, identify products and load them onto delivery vans with little or no human intervention (and at speeds and efficiencies which far outpace the latter). Even most delivery trucks are now automated, thanks to advanced AI and road traffic systems, with robots unloading goods when the vehicle has reached its destination.
One particular fad at the moment is for robot cats, dogs and other domestic pets with highly realistic movements and behaviour, often indistinguishable from the real thing. These have a number of advantages - such as never getting sick or dying, never requiring food or water, never scratching or biting their owners, and never leaving a mess around the home. Certain species of tropical fish are also popular in robot form, especially those which have recently become extinct. In museums and outdoor exhibitions, breathtaking recreations of dinosaurs and other prehistoric life are now on display.
Almost every large office and corporation features robots now - from wheeled models which distribute post, to those in reception-based roles which meet and greet visitors and assist with queries, to more advanced models capable of handling security and maintaining facilities.
In hospitals, delicate procedures involving nanotechnology devices are given over exclusively to robot machinery, capable of far greater precision than human hands.
Agriculture and food production is heavily reliant on robots. With much of the world's arable land turning to desert, hydroponic "vertical farms" are a common feature of urban centres. These carefully controlled environments are tended by robots and automated systems, and often require the analytical skills of machines rather than humans.
The physical side of military operations is handled extensively by robots now - on land, in the air, and at sea. Formidable humanoid machines equipped with a plethora of devastating firepower can be sent deep into enemy territory, left to operate autonomously for months at a time if necessary, and serving in a wide variety of roles; from solitary patrol and scouting missions, to offensive strikes involving thousands of machines working in unison. Human enemies stand little to no chance against this kind of onslaught, which is giving developed nations an overwhelming advantage over terrorist renegades.
In space, robots have probed and explored hundreds of moons in the outer solar system, and are playing a key role in the Mars colony.
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