In contrast to the modest statement made by Solaris last week, we look at 2001 A Space Odyssey and cannot help but observe stark contrasts between the outlooks of Tarkovsky and Kubrick on the aesthetics of outer space. Key assumptions which make up the storyworld aesthetics in Kubrick’s film include:

voice identification
interplanetary travel
“portait-oriented” video phone
international space station
cryogenic hibernation
luxury space travel
scientific outpost on another planet
monolith
HAL 9000 – artificial intelligence / ubiquitous computing
transparent optical computer memory cards
lightweight space suits
artificial gravity

Solaris is a meditation on humanity and its attempt to connect with the cosmic. Particularly haunting is the notion of our inability to establish contact with other worlds because of our desire to see ourselves reflected.

Some of the characteristic visual decisions include filming paintings as symbols for earthly nostalgia;

Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Brueghel

… as well as constructing a space station which is in disrepair …

… Akasaka, Tokyo is used as a setting for scenes depicting the city of the future …

As much a psychological thriller as a science fiction film, Solaris builds its story world on fantastic assumptions depicted in a starkly realistic manner;

interstellar travel
space stations on other planets
disembodied alien intelligence

Our brainstorm reveals the distopic and non-specific future world of THX 1138 to be composed of many assumptions;

neurological and biochemical surveillance
biochemical conditioning
torture
brainwashing
androids subject to malfunction
nuclear powered androids
cyber religion
obilgatory sedation
obilgatory abstinence
sterile environment
stimulus neutral
underground city
references to a “superstructure”
artificial light
persecution of criminals is limited by fixed budgetary constraints
gunless society
energy weapons
mass conformity
heirarchical social structure
automated mating
artificial births
molecular cuisine

The animated universe of Tron depicts the fantastic interior world of a computer system contemporary to the early 1980s era of the film’s release. Some of the assumptions which constitute the film’s look and feel:

artificial intelligence
virtual reality
teleportation
translation of atoms to bits
computer system with many separate programs
computer voice synthesis
text to speech interface
touch screen interface
computer is 2415 times faster than human
terminal results from videogame play

Next year’s Tron sequel looks like it may take the original film’s aesthetics to another dimension with a fully digital process:

Set in 1999, The Matrix presents an alternate reality for the present, which — incidentally — is now 10 years in the past!

Kevin Kelly gives some insights into the future of the Internet and what he calls the “one machine”.

Here are the assumptions we’ve identified for the story-world of The Matrix:

machines depending on humans / humans depending on machines
machines / artificial intelligence (AI) rules the world
machine can simulate sensory stimulation (dominance of virtual reality)
the neural/silicon barrier has been broken
human being as source of electrical power
AI is hostile
AI has emotions
thin line between humans and AI
AI lacks intuition
human colonies under the surface of the earth
advanced hovercraft vehicles
sentient robotic lifeforms

Set in an alternate, dystopian present, Brazil brings together a number of assumptions to create the look and feel of its story world;

retro-futurism
police state control of civil society
enormous “papercratic” bureaucracy
automatic household appliances
ID scanning
megalopolis
robotic surveillance
cloning
extreme plastic surgery
electronic restaurant menus
molecular cuisine
mundane terrorism
renegade heating engineers

Retro-Futurism

An interesting current fashion trend, inspired by Brazil and its ilk, is steampunk, characterized by this modified personal computer:

Set in an alternate reality in the near future of 2010, the primary conceit of District 9 is that aliens have been living in a refugee-camp-turned-militarized-ghetto in Johannesburg, South Africa since 1990.

Further assumptions which create the film world of District 9:

energy weapons
interstellar travel
human contact with extra terrestrials
ability of humans to understand extra terrestrial spoken language
specie-centric bigotry of humans towards aliens
possibility of inter-species transformation
mechanized battle armor
holographic gesture-controlled computing interfaces
DNA-controlled technology
interference of international weapons manufacturers in domestic policy

Set in an indeterminate time at the beginning of the 22nd century, the story world of Alien relies on numerous technological assumptions, including:

commercial space travel
interstellar travel
suspended animation / cryonics
alien higher intelligence
industrial or hazardous space ships
android in collusion with corporation
valuing human life less than scientific advances

See also this fascinating Alien fan’s analysis of the film’s fictional timeline.

Technological and cultural developments envisioned for the fictional year 2019 in Blade Runner as compared with a survey of current technologies in 2009 reveal the following:

videophones

While public videophone terminals exist, Skype has proven to become a virtually ubiquitous solution for videophoning on personal computers, and many mobile phones can also serve as videophones. This Wikipedia article sheds some light on the history of the videophone.

genetically superior humanoid androids

While the Human Genome Project was completed in 2003, androids are still primarily mechanical not biological. For instance, there is an android of Philip K. Dick, the author of the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep on which Blade Runner was based. Check also other advancements in humanoid robots on the android Wikipedia article.

sexual relations with artificial humans

Much of the drama in Blade Runner centers around Deckard’s complex feelings towards the android Rachel. This documentary called Guys and Dolls is available to watch in five episodes on YouTube. It explores the lives of men who have relationships with artificial female Real Dolls (note: this link contains explicit adult content).

high resolution photo scanning and editing

While consumer grade document scanners and Adobe’s Photoshop software go above and beyond the  image processing technologies in Blade Runner, research at Adobe shows promise for even further dimensionality and manipulation of traditional videos and photos:

flying cars

Private helicopters and jets have maintained luxury status and meanwhile Moller International claims to have created “the first and only feasible, personally affordable, personal vertical takeoff and landing vehicle”.

media facades

Renewed interest has been taken in the concept of media facades, spurred by developments in LED technology. Consider for instance last year’s Media Facades Festival in Berlin, Germany, or this T-Mobile facade in Cologne, Germany:

off-planet colonies

Colonizing other planets is not a reality yet, however organizations like the Mars Society are dedicated to advocating exploration and settlement. Here is the Mars Society’s Dr. Robert Zubrin giving his impassioned opinion on the future of humanity in relationship to space and freedom:

We’re open for additional comments on these themes:

voice identification
motion-activated interior lighting
squats
toy robots
epic skyscrapers
photo printers
evidence of widespread Asian cultural influence
omnipresent urban garbage

How does the process of visualization relate to actualization? Can we identify examples of real products and places whose design has been influenced by the fantastic technology in science fiction films? If “the future is now” how does that affect our ability to imagine the future? What constitutes science fiction in the first place?

Our team of researchers will collaborate with students at the Berliner Technische Kunsthochschule this winter semester 2009/2010 and explore these questions. We will use our collective intelligence to “fact-check” the assumptions and predictions made in science fiction films, analyzing today’s technology and culture to see how it compares to the fantasies in the films. At the conclusion of the class we will make our own predictions about the future.