Resurgence of the Cinematic Dystopia

Apple Vision Pro – Resurgence of the Cinematic Dystopia

By Eduarda Machado

Every dystopian promise made by the cinematic oracle is slowly being fulfilled; decade after decade, we’re witnessing gradual change. This time, we may be seeing the greatest revolution in human productivity in front of us, but also the greatest revolution in the structure of human activity and inter-relationships. The Apple Vision Pro glasses launch has revived all the concerns worthy of a cinema screen related to XR, VR, and AR (extended, virtual, and augmented reality).

Virtual reality glasses were first launched in 1968 by Ivan Sutherland and a student of his, Bob Sproull. Inspired by the experiment by Morton Heiling in 1950, which mentioned the possibility that by orientating an activity on a screen, the observer could live all the experiences as if they were real. Although primitive, it was innovative, and other attempts followed. Between 1970 and 1990, VR was mainly developed for military or medical purposes. It was in 1990 that VR began to be commercialised in the entertainment industry, mainly by video game companies such as Sega. But in the 20th century, specifically in 2014, the harbingers of the transformation of reality according to cinematic prophecy appeared. Firstly, Sony launched Project Morpheus (suggestive name?), or PlayStation VR. In 2015, the smartphone cardboards supplied by Google appeared (three years later, in 2018, Steven Spielberg’s dystopian film Ready Player One was released), which quickly multiplied with different suppliers. Meta also launched in 2019 a very improved headset, Oculus Quest.

Fig 1. Ivan Sutherland and Bob Sproull machine.

The evolution since then has been remarkable in perfecting the devices. They have been developed to be an efficient tool for scientific investigation, business, and medical usage, but also to amplify the immersion produced in a determinate enviroment so that the experience is ever more accurate, in the case of the glasses made as recreative gadgets. But how real?

Apple launched this month its new product that aims to transform the way we interact with reality, Apple Vision Pro. For those who don’t know it, Apple Vision Pro is a computer or interface that combines augmented and virtual reality. In a nutshell, it allows you to interact with all smartphone or computer apps using only glasses. While contracting all the activity and digital life we have today, it allows all that activity to become spatially present. By achieving this milestone, Apple is just a few steps away from blurring the lines between real and virtual life.

The dilution of one reality into another, has a special place in dystopian stories. The most famous one with a place in philosophy manuals is The Matrix. The film portrays what happens after the dilution, better still, after the exchange between different realities. Reality becomes what one’s not aware of, giving way to an artificially constructed reality based on nefarious assumptions. The film also carries an efficient metaphor for the relationship between mind and reality, and the ontological value of fiction, which at the limit of redundancies always points to the virtue of what one wants to establish as true reality, following values of virtue and truth.

This is why resolving a problem always involves becoming aware of, and that inevitably leads to a choice. Notably, Neo chose to be The One breaking the “false” system, which means, proposed to understand the problems of both systems, and to reconstruct a new one based on different values. The Matrix is not just dystopian science fiction, as everyone knows; it’s an apologia for living in the Truth and dying for the Truth. Living the painful reality to the possibility of a more accurate and meaningful life for everyone; altruistically sharing one’s search for Truth with others. What is the purpose if one can live his own dream now, without interference, just by scape into an alternative perfect world?

Fig. 2: Image of Apple Vision Pro from Apple official website.

Apple’s official website quotes Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO: “Apple Vision Pro is the most advanced consumer electronics device ever created. Its revolutionary and magical user interface will redefine how we connect, create, and explore.”

As Cook warns, we are indeed living through a significant revolution in the technology industry, which will lead to an even greater revolution on a social level. This time, described explicitly in Ready Player One, in which humanity lives mainly in a VR world. There is an extensive list of dystopian films about Artificial Intelligence, time travel, and virtual reality. In all of them, society passed through radical changes (most of them inspired by science fiction literature). Can the change be that radical transforming society’s structure and the concept’s very definition? Is that bad? Not necessarily.

Initially, these are luxury products, and because of their market value, the consumer necessarily has a different economic capacity from the majority, and the product is restricted to one social group. What happens when it becomes accessible to the majority of people? Much will depend on the communities’ strength, characteristics, ethical and moral value system, mental health indices, etc.

Nowadays, everyone uses mobile phones, headphones and smartwatches from the awaking moment until fall asleep. What will society be like in a few years? We can try to imagine it: everyone wearing glasses, my eyes meeting yours, several times a day. But do I see you? Do you see me? Have we ever talked? While you’re talking to me in a café in the late afternoon and a beautiful sunset bathing us, I’m gesturing vaguely to scroll through the day’s latest emails, but I still must read the news. And the book I usually read before bed? I don’t flick through it anymore, I gesture. In a few years, the natural feeling of loneliness that sometimes assails life and leaves us struggling and revising old choices will be so profoundly planted that anguish will be my natural state, and at the same time, I won’t know how to live with anyone… anymore.

A depressed society will probably find a form of escapism, constantly resorting to hours of immersion in beautiful scenery or marvellous stories that prevent them from living their own stories. A poor society will be enslaved by the need to make quick money to pay basic needs bills. Today, millions voluntarily chain themselves in front of a camera to generate views. The vain dream of “15 minutes of fame” is also enslaving and shows a weak and twisted system of values. Only that can justify the “industry” of influencers. Any sick society now runs the risk of total personal alienation. The destruction of interpersonal relationships through alienation is one of the most significant risks the world can run. A society divided not into communities but into individuals runs severe manipulation risks at all levels. Alienation is the corruption of humanity from within. For example, by corrupting the human bond, it jeopardises the value system that manages communities and permeabilises moral norms.

On the other hand, a healthy society will be able to recognise the utilitarian, strategic and balanced values of this new VR tool. It is already an object of study, focusing on the advantages to all sectors of life. Extended Reality (that includes virtual and augmented reality) has been serving science and spatial experiences. Its benefits are as significant as its malign aspects. ER will help shorten working time through ever-increasing efficiency – industry and medical procedures, as Bernard Marr described in Forbes’ article The Future Of Virtual Reality (VR). At a personal level, people can enjoy a meal by following a recipe suggested by an AI app after having collected information about the food in the fridge – just by pointing its glasses at its interior. This is more than just pleasant, as it increases the family economy. It can also increase time devoted to life and communion with others, something many people didn’t have a few years ago.

But is this true? Is society ready? Does it have the capacity for a balanced relationship with technology when we see more and more children being educated by YouTube videos and developing problems with a generational impact? The reality of everyday life is very different from the reality of scientific research and the development of knowledge. Its impact, although beneficial and absolutely necessary, has its own reaction time and is often late.

The difference is in how we make people aware so they can make conscious choices. But first we need to know what should that choice be based on. What kind of society do we dream of? These dystopian and utopian systems of literature, cinema and philosophy must be interrogated. Besides the differences, they express a genuine Dream for Humanity. One can intuitively imagine that the nature of that Dream is the same regardless of the differences in world-building actions as Paulo Tunhas (1960-2023) once put it. Cinematic and literary dystopia is nothing other than the harbinger of the destruction of the Dream.

What does the Dream consist of?