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.

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

Rainwater everywhere on Earth unsafe to drink due to ‘forever chemicals’, study finds

Published on August 04 2022

Seen by Flat Eye team on August 10 2022

{Content in English}

A study by scientists at the University of Stockholm has revealed that rainwater all over the planet--even in Antarctica--is polluted with "forever chemicals", which are stable synthetic polymers that do not degrade and are toxic for humans. Rainwater is now unsafe to drink.

https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/08/04/rainwater-everywhere-on-earth-unsafe-to-drink-due-to-forever-chemicals-study-finds

[WT-36] See reference details

Plastic-munching superworms offer hope for recycling

Published on June 10 2022

Seen by Flat Eye team on September 12 2022

{Content in English}

Zophobas morio, also known as the "superworm" has two advantages. First, the one we've known about for some time: it's easy to raise and works great as reptile food in pet stores. Second, and this part is new, it can thrive eating nothing but polystyrene. "Superworms are like mini recycling plants, shredding the polystyrene with their mouths and then feeding it to the bacteria in their gut," explains Dr. Chris Rinke of The University of Queensland in Australia. Scientists plan to study superworms to isolate the enzyme that enables them to digest plastic. The enzyme could then be used in recycling.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-61727942

[WT-35] See reference details

Director Jean-Luc Godard, who ended his life on his terms, brought forth the long-drawn debate on assisted suicide

Published on September 14 2022

Seen by Flat Eye team on September 14 2022

{Content in English}

French daily Libération revealed that Jean-Luc Godard, who was "simply exhausted", had turned to assisted suicide--which is legal in Switzerland where the Franco-Swiss director lived--to hasten his passing. The Mashable article notes that Godard was "fascinated by suicide" and suggests that his death will bring social debate on end-of-life care and assisted suicide back to the fore, particularly on social networks.

https://me.mashable.com/culture/19839/director-jean-luc-godard-who-end-his-life-on-his-own-terms-highlights-the-long-drawn-debate-on-assis

Note from the archivist: On September 13, 2022, the same day Jean-Luc Godard's death was announced in Switzerland, France's National Ethics Committee delivered an opinion favorable to "ethical application of assisted suicide" under certain conditions. That same day, just one month before Flat Eye's release, the French president announced he would host a public debate on end-of-life options. A citizen's convention on the issue will be held in October 2022, with conclusions expected in February 2023. France's legal framework could be modified by the end of 2023.

[WT-37] See reference details

EPS Statement on DNA Phenotyping

Published on October 06 2022

Seen by Flat Eye team on October 06 2022

{Content in English}

To find the perpetrator of an unsolved sexual asault from 2019, the Edmonton Police Station in Canada decided to create a suspect sketch using DNA phenotyping. The police called on a specialized company, which claims it can not only obtain general characteristics like gender and skin color from DNA, but also precise details that enable it to create a physical representation of the suspect. In reality, the resulting portrait shared with the media was of a nondescript Black man, which led to concerns about unjustified racial profiling and racist arrests. Faced with a flurry of criticisms of the method on social networks, the Edmonton Police Station decided to remove the sketch from all the sites it had been published on and apologized for not having properly weighed the associated risks.

https://www.edmontonpolice.ca/News/MediaReleases/StatementonDNAPhenotyping

Note from the archivist: Could the rest of the world just take a break from using technology in terrifying ways for a minute, or even better, for about two weeks? We have a game to finish and it would be a shame to have to start over so close to release day!

[WT-38] See reference details

References