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by Cam Tracy ('93) (ctracy@uu.edu)
No, Kevan isn’t talking with a very polite roommate. He’s talking with CARL, his virtual personal assistant, through the bedroom terminal located on the wall in front of his bed. Through this terminal, Kevan can communicate with the world and can ask CARL to perform multiple information and entertainment retrievals from across the Omninet (the successor of the Internet – so named because of its constant presence in our everyday lives). But Kevan’s interactions with CARL are more than simple retrievals. CARL listens to Kevan, remembers their interactions, and can often predict the way Kevan will react in a situation. Through these interactions that have happened over a 10-year period, CARL has become one of Kevan’s most trusted friends. This artificially intelligent agent is available to Kevan throughout the day via multiple terminals across campus and his wrist device (that looks very similar to the “Dick Tracy” video watches predicted in the 1930s). Kevan is a 16-year old student living in the dorms at Union University in the year 2051. Kevan is an Engineering major from Colorado Springs, Colorado who took his first year of college through the Omninet from a collection of Christian colleges around the world. He decided to attend Union after thoroughly enjoying a class taught by Union professor Dr. Kaylen Mallard. He was looking for a face-to-face environment that would stimulate him spiritually, socially and academically. After graduation, Kevan plans to live in Denver and provide engineering consulting to IMB (Intergalactic Mission Board) missionaries throughout the universe via the Omninet. After Kevan’s morning devotional, he gets up to get ready for class. He asks CARL to start playing his favorite radio station from Berlin that plays modern tuba music. The music will follow him from his bedroom to the kitchen to the bathroom – carefully volumed as to not disturb his sleeping roommates. He enters the kitchen and grabs a quick breakfast bar that tastes like scrambled eggs with bacon and French toast (without all the cholesterol and fat). Most real food has now been reserved for special occasions such as family get-togethers and dates. For those who prefer the food experience though, the General Electric Food Replicator can easily replicate a healthy meal that looks and tastes like their 20th century fatty counterparts. Kevan washes his breakfast bar down with New Milk – a dairy product that has a six-month expiration date due to genetically-engineered cows. He then jumps in the steam shower where he receives a refreshing pore cleansing and hair rejuvenation. This chemical-based steam shower has taken the place of “water” bathing because of its positive long-term aging effects on the skin and hair. The shower dries his body instantly, but he steps out of the shower to style his hair with his gentle-drying hairbrush. His young face doesn’t really need it yet, but he lathers up with cooling gel and runs his Norelco laser razor over his upper lip for good measure. The razor quickly removes the buildup of peach fuzz and the readout on the razor says he shouldn’t have to shave for another three months. Finally, Kevan takes a mouthful of MouthRight, the all-in-one mouthwash that completely removes plaque from the teeth and strengthens the enamel and gums – all this while freshening his breath for the day. Kevan throws on his “Union: Class of 2053” t-shirt and a pair of vintage parachute pants he picked up in a retro shop last week in New York City. (The newer knock-off parachute pants just don’t have the same feel as that weird fabric from the 1980s). These old pants don’t provide the body odor neutralization that the t-shirt does but he decides to risk it today. Stumbling out into the living room, Kevan finds his four-year-old Nike LunarAir sneakers made of a neo-leather fabric that is guaranteed to last for 10 years. He slips them on and decides to grab his St. Louis 2048 Olympics ball cap to finish off his ensemble. After returning to his room, CARL informs Kevan that his girlfriend Liva called and left a holographic message on his holophone. Kevan picks up the page-sized panel to playback the 3D transparent likeness of his girlfriend who reminds Kevan of a dinner date they have with her friends in Nashville. She says that the dinner will be at 5:30 p.m., so they had better leave on the Music Highway magnetic-levitation train by 5:00 p.m. so they can make it in time. As Kevan leaves his dorm room, he activates his room’s Hoover Cleaning Robot who makes his bed, puts away his dirty clothes, and vacuums up any crumbs he might have left. These cleaning robots have become all the rage in college dormitory life and are often graduation gifts for high school seniors. Kevan’s robot was a gift from his parents and is actually in the form of Union’s mascot Buster the Bulldog. Enjoying the walk to his 9:25 Arts in Western Civilization class in Dockery Hall, Kevan takes time to enjoy the beautiful day around him. Ever since Union installed the clear dome over the campus (nicknamed “the Union Bubble”) due to the excessive ozone depletion problem, the air has seemed crisper and plants have grown greener. Rumor has it though that additional oxygen is pumped into the dome during special events and finals weeks to keep people wide awake and stimulate thought. Kevan sees a new model Volkswagen Beetle flying car pass by, and he wishes he could afford one. Flying cars, introduced commercially in the 20s by Toyota, have taken over much of the skyline and a majority of the commuter parking lot. They allow speeds of up to 300 mph utilizing a national Small Aircraft Transportation System maintained by NASA that coordinates flying patterns. Automobiles still exist, but steering wheels have disappeared as cars have become artificially intelligent devices for moving from Point A to Point B. After dodging a few classmates on AntiGravity Boards (levitating skateboards), Kevan enters Dockery Hall and catches the airlift to the twelfth floor in seconds flat. He bounds down the hall and is stopped in his tracks by something he’s never seen before – someone has posted a flyer made of PAPER to advertise something. “How wasteful,” he thinks. Most people either record something as a hologram and let it loose on the campus or they just upload their message to the virtual bulletin boards that appear on walls all over campus. The paper flyer is an ad for a Summer GO Mission Trip on the moon. After NASA discovered how to control the moon’s atmosphere, they were able to initiate earth-like weather patterns – making the moon a tropical oasis. Many of the craters filled with water and produced some of the universe’s most spectacular beaches. The flyer said that students would have the opportunity to live and work with vacationing kids all summer – truly an experience of a lifetime. Kevan takes a quick digital photo of the flyer with his wrist device and heads to class. Upon entering his Arts in Western Civilization class, he can tell that today will be a virtual field trip because his professor already has her laservideo goggles resting on top of her head. While Kevan touches base with a few friends, the professor ushers the students into the gymnasium-sized experience studio and starts passing out the laservideo goggles along with the accompanying skin-tight sensory gloves to the rest of the class – stating that today they would be visiting Leonardo DaVinci in his studio. The laservideo goggles are rounded sunglasses that contain a laser video device that writes video images directly onto the user’s retina. This complete visual stimulation coupled with the audio device in the earpiece and the physical-touch sensory gloves allows the student to virtually experience multiple stimuli and feel like they’ve entered another world. Building upon the virtual reality systems of the last century, VirtuallyReal had capitalized on the edutainment market by introducing multiple modules that exposed users to historical/biblical figures, microscopic organisms, foreign cities, and multiple other rare experiences. Kevan thoroughly enjoys his time on the field trip and even tries out DaVinci’s Flying Machine. After the two-hour class, Kevan heads to lunch with a few friends at the Lexington Inn in the new university conference center. On his way, Kevan passes by President Thornbury who asks about his parents’ recent trip to the underwater Titanic Wreckage Museum. Kevan says that they had a wonderful time and that they even brought him back cologne replicated from actual samples found on the sunken vessel. Finishing up his short conversation with the president, Kevan heads off to meet his friends. He is particularly interested to see his friend Jorge who was involved in an AntiGravity Skating accident over a year ago that precipitated the amputation of his hand. Recently a doctor at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital was able to grow a biologically-matched replacement hand from Jorge’s DNA, and Jorge was supposed to be back from the attachment surgery today. As he approached his friends, he could already see that Jorge was showing off his new hand by playing a heated game of thumb wrestling. While Kevan downs a few hamburger capsules and drinks a designer caffeine drink called a Juan Valdez, his friends talk about stories their parents tell them about the “good ole days” when they could be “unavailable” and have “private time.” Kevan’s friend Hether says she doesn’t know what she would do if she weren’t connected to the Omninet at all times. She adds that it gives her a feeling of comfort to have the world at her beckon call. They often discuss how technology affects the quality and quantity of their life, but they continue to realize that it’s their connection to Christ and each other that gives their lives meaning. As Kevan finishes up his Valdez, he bids his friends farewell and heads to his on-campus job in the campus movie theater. While technology has allowed everyone quick access to all media ever recorded, sitting in a dark room and focusing on a large screen with friends has continued to be a popular event. Today the theater is having a special screening of refurbished Buster Keaton movies from the 1920s. The theater is an older building built in 2015 made of a lead-based compound that blocks all incoming or outgoing transmissions – making sure all possible external disruptions are removed. These types of buildings were a popular wave during the early part of the century because of the continual increase in gadgets that kept people from enjoying a movie. Kevan’s job at the theater is to make popcorn using an old-time kettle with vegetable oil. Since most popcorn at movie theaters is now replicated with flavoring to your liking, the scene of someone actually making popcorn is as much a treat as seeing a 130-year-old movie. When the festival ends, Kevan cleans his kettle and races back to his
dorm room to get ready for his evening in Nashville. He reflects back on
his day and realizes how lucky he is to be in a place that allows him to
develop a healthy view of the world in the early stages of his life. He
knows that his experiences at Union will definitely prepare him for the
next 200 years of his life. Items loosely based upon multiple articles from Wired Magazine, January, 2000. |