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.

Un chirurgien de l'AP-HP a mis en vente sur Opensea, sous forme donc de NFT, la radio d'une personne blessée lors des attentats du Bataclan qu'il a opéré

Published on January 22 2022

Seen by Flat Eye team on January 22 2022

{Content in French}

A hand surgeon put an NFT of an X-ray of a patient wounded during the Bataclan terrorist attacks in Paris up for auction. He claims he's doing it to "interest people" and "teach them something". The victim did not authorize the transaction.

https://twitter.com/w_chloe/status/1484896561960259587

Note from the archivist: The surgeon canceled the auction. Charges have been filed: his trial is scheduled to begin on September 21, 2022.

[WT-27] See reference details

Robot vacuum cleaner escapes from Cambridge Travelodge

Published on January 22 2022

Seen by Flat Eye team on January 27 2022

{Content in English}

A vaccuum robot managed to escape from a Cambridge hotel in early 2022. Hotel staff realized it was gone too late, so they asked on social media for anyone who found it to bring it back. People replied that vaccuum robots have no natural predators in the wild. Unfortunately for the bot, it was found at the foot of a hedge, which put an end to its wild attempt at freedom.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-60084347

[AI-16] 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

Yeah we have employee perks! / The perks:

Published on February 18 2022

Seen by Flat Eye team on February 18 2022

{Content in English}

A picture of a company break room posted on Twitter. The employer kindly provides expired cans of soda for employees.

https://twitter.com/_TechJess/status/1494530559111958532

[WOR-8] 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

A Shanghai, des robots et des drones surveillent 25 millions de confinés

Published on April 07 2022

Seen by Flat Eye team on April 14 2022

{Content in French}

This French article and video explain that two years after the first lockdown, China has updated its surveillance arsenal. Now land and air drones--a CCTV 2.0 of sorts--give orders in the streets.

https://www.nouvelobs.com/monde/20220407.OBS56783/a-shanghai-des-robots-et-des-drones-surveillent-25-millions-de-confines.html

[SUR-11] See reference details

Severance (trailer)

Published on February 18 2022

Seen by Flat Eye team on April 14 2022

{Content in English}

A company with sterile offices offers to insert a chip into employees' brains to completely separate their professional and personal lives. Severance is an Apple TV+ series that explores how two people living in the same body try to exist side by side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEQP4VVuyrY

Note from the archivist: Recommended on the Monkey Moon forum, with this comment: "The combination of hellish work conditions x shady technology x retro-future with CRT screens and alarm clocks for videoconferencing is super cool, but yet again it's the story of a huge corporation that does/makes... too many things, who knows what (food, electronics, big data, etc.). The employees don't know what they're doing either. Everything is strange."

[WOR-10] See reference details

They Hacked McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines—and Started a Cold War

Published on April 20 2021

Seen by Flat Eye team on May 30 2022

{Content in English}

Given the recurring malfunctions of McDonald's ice cream machines, start-up Kytch decided to try to figure out how to fix them. The machines are sold by food service equipment company Taylor, which refuses to give McDonald's access to the maintenance panel, where the machine can be restarted or repaired. Which means the restaurants have to call and pay for a repair visit every time. So Kytch developed a device sold to restaurants that gives them full access to the maintenance panel. In so doing, Kytch has started a war with Taylor and the McDonald's Corporation. The article tells the tale of industrial espionage and machinations.

https://www.wired.com/story/they-hacked-mcdonalds-ice-cream-makers-started-cold-war/

Note from the archivist: Kytch has since filed a lawsuit against Taylor and confidential documents were leaked. The ice cream machines are still out of order far too often.

[SOL-20] 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

References