Flat Eye presents a possible future which may be neither desirable nor avoidable.

To create this world and make it credible, MONKEY MOON took inspiration from the present. There is no lack of sources: online articles, social media videos, scientific journals and more. On the team's private chat, one observation came up again and again: ""when reality goes beyond fiction."" Things that may seem a long way off or even impossible in the game may in fact have already happened, and some of the game's narrative threads were directly inspired by these true stories.
As archivist for the project, my mission, toward the end of the development process, was to gather all of these articles to create this coherent bibliography. It provides a closer look at what inspired Flat Eye, of course, but also at our present--a time of such rapid, constant change that we don't even realize it's happening anymore.
The goal of this snapshot of the world is to place Flat Eye's major themes (artificial intelligence, the future of work, social change, etc.) in their context. The bibliography sorts articles into several different categories (with frequent overlaps) and provides a summary for each. If you're only after the links and references, you'll find it all at the bottom of the page.

September 2022. The archivist.

The products of the future already exist in some R&D lab somewhere, in an academic article, or in a creative mind. And sometimes, they're already among us. They turn up when we're not looking, and suddenly we don't understand the world we live in anymore. It looks nothing like the world we thought we knew. Welcome.

An algorithm has been developed that creates artificial human DNA

Published on December 27 2021

Seen by Flat Eye team on December 28 2021

{Content in English}

Researchers at the University of Paris Saclay (France) and the University of Tartu (Estonia) used an AI to generate pieces of artificial human DNA. They see this accomplishment as useful for research: an artificial genome doesn't belong to anyone, so it's easier to do experiments on it.

https://deepfakechallenge.com/gb/2021/12/27/9022/

[WT-34] See reference details

Un écran léchable en développement

Published on December 31 2021

Seen by Flat Eye team on January 01 2022

{Content in French}

A Japanese researched has developed TTTV or "Taste the TV", a screen that exudes flavors, which consumers taste by licking the surface. Possible uses: menu choices, all sorts of games, sharing a meal via video, etc.

https://nofrag.com/un-ecran-lechable-en-developpement/

[WT-24] See reference details

Sony is Working on a 3D Scanner that will Allow Users to Put Real-World Items Into Video Games

Published on January 07 2022

Seen by Flat Eye team on January 10 2022

{Content in English}

Sony is trying to obtain a patent for a smartphone app that would allow users to 3D scan a real object and then manifest it in the game they're playing.

https://gamerant.com/sony-3d-scanner/

Note from the archivist: There are plenty of augemented reality apps that use Lidar technology to 3D scan objects (Polycam, Scaniverse, etc.).

[WT-25] See reference details

Men Are Creating AI Girlfriends and Then Verbally Abusing Them

Published on January 18 2022

Seen by Flat Eye team on January 20 2022

{Content in English}

Quotes from users of the app Replika who create virtual girlfriend chatbots for the sole purpose of mistreating them. The article expresses surprise about the fact that such reprehensible behaviors are already so widespread.

https://futurism.com/chatbot-abuse

Note from the archivist: Comment on the Monkey Moon forum: "Someday someone will need to explain that dystopian fiction isn't meant to serve as a how-to manual."

[WT-26] See reference details

La Chine développe des utérus artificiels humains autonomes surveillés par une IA

Published on February 16 2022

Seen by Flat Eye team on February 17 2022

{Content in French}

Chinese scientists are said to be working on artificial uteruses (or "long-term embryo growth devices") to make it possible for fetuses to develop without human intervention. A "nanny robot" managed by an AI would monitor development and tend to their needs.

https://www.futura-sciences.com/tech/actualites/intelligence-artificielle-chine-developpe-uterus-artificiels-humains-autonomes-surveilles-ia-96784/

[WT-28] See reference details

Prisoners Could Serve '1,000 Year Sentences In 8.5 Hours' In The Future

Published on March 18 2014

Seen by Flat Eye team on March 14 2022

{Content in English}

What if being sent to prison isn't a harsh enough punishment? The article includes several hypotheses for making sentences worse, including developing synthetic drugs that modify perception of time to make prison stays feel infinite and uploading criminals' brains to computers to make time pass a million times faster.

https://www.businessinsider.com/prisoners-could-serve-1000-year-sentence-in-85-hours-in-the-future-2014-3?op=1&r=US&IR=T

Note from the archivist: As I write these lines, it is still impossible to upload your mind to a computer and overclock it.

[WT-29] See reference details

TikTok's algorithms knew I was bi before I did. I'm not the only one.

Published on January 16 2021

Seen by Flat Eye team on June 23 2022

{Content in English}

In this article (written in Internet slang), the author talks about the TikTok algorithm and how it helped her to realize she's bisexual by analyzing the videos she watched and liked and showing her more and more queer videos.

https://mashable.com/article/bisexuality-queer-tiktok?europe=true

[WT-30] See reference details

BMW is now charging $18 per month for heated seats in some countries

Published on July 12 2022

Seen by Flat Eye team on July 13 2022

{Content in English}

Like Tesla, BMW now sells subscription-based functions to drivers. For example, a car may be sold with heated seats, but you have to pay $18 a month to activate them.

https://www.businessinsider.com/bmw-subscription-features-heated-seats-steering-5-series-2022-7?r=US&IR=T

[WT-31] See reference details

The military made a robot that can eat organisms for fuel

Published on November 01 2018

Seen by Flat Eye team on July 20 2022

{Content in English}

This 2018 article takes a look back at experiments from the early 2000s, when the military-industrial complex had financed the EATR (Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot) project. EATR was designed to carry out long-distance missions by consuming "organisms" (plants according to the official line) for fuel.

https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-tactical/robots-that-eat-people/

Note from the archivist: No updates on the project since 2009--including news that it has been abandoned.

[WT-32] See reference details

Chess robot grabs and breaks finger of seven-year-old opponent

Published on July 24 2022

Seen by Flat Eye team on July 25 2022

{Content in English}

During a chess tournament in Moscow, an articulated arm directed by artificial intelligence grabbed and broke the finger of its seven-year-old adversary. It seems the boy may have "played too quickly". And the robot swiftly punished him. "This is, of course, bad," stated the chairman of the Moscow Chess Federation.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/jul/24/chess-robot-grabs-and-breaks-finger-of-seven-year-old-opponent-moscow

[WT-33] See reference details

References