Though it may seem as though we're on the brink of a 1984-esque society, one seemingly reserved for Black Mirror, Animal Farm, and The Hunger Games, something even scarier is taking place — we're already there. And with a late-stage capitalist dystopia comes some pretty insane late-stage capitalist dystopian merch, products so uncanny, so borderline apocalyptic, that they would even send a shiver down George Orwell's spine.
From A.I.-fooling outfits to a robot that can outrun any human on the planet, here are 14 very real products that prove we're living in a dystopia.
1
Replika
“The founder of an AI girlfriend app, Replika, was inspired by a dystopian Black Mirror episode where a woman resurrects her dead boyfriend with AI, which goes horribly wrong.”
2
Amazon’s Worker-Tracking Wristbands
Back in 2018, Amazon came under fire after patenting a wristband that can not only track where an employee’s hand is at any given moment but vibrate, encouraging them to move their hands in a different direction.
3
Deep Voice
Ever wish there was an A.I. copy of your voice? No? Too bad! Enter Deep Voice, a voice-to-text A.I. that can accurately recreate a user’s voice in roughly one minute.
4
A.I.-Tricking Outfits
“A fashion designer tricked face recognition AI by changing her shirt and pants i.e. making it think she was an animal when she looked otherwise human.”
5
Streaming Bundles
While we once heralded streaming as the end of cable’s stronghold, the long-detested tradition of paying more for less has returned. Case in point? Streaming bundles that have essentially re-invented TV as our parents knew it.
6
LifeCard
Clocking in at .5 inches and less than 7b ounces, LifeCard is a foldable .22 caliber pistol that is the same size and shape as “a stack of credit cards.”
7
Prison Potato Chips
“The Whole Shabang, a brand of chips initially only sold at prison commissary stores. The chips were so popular amongst ex-inmates that it became a grey market commodity and finally was sold to the general public.”
8
Boston Dynamics Handle Robot
Clocking in at 6.5 feet tall with a max speed of nine miles per hour — a speed faster than most humans — Boston Dynamics Handle robot scares even Boston Dynamics founder Marc Raibert, who described the invention as “nightmare-inducing.”
9
Skynet
“The Chinese government has an AI survelliance system that uses +20M cameras and facial recognition to track citizens behavior and monitor criminals. They officially named it: ‘Skynet’ - because of Terminator…!”
10
Chipped Hotel Towels
“Hotels use RFID chips to track their towels and linens. One hotel in Hawaii saved over $15000 in stolen towels using the RFID chips.”
11
OK Soda
“Coca-Cola made a soda for the dystopian future, called OK Soda, which came with its own manifesto, and the slogan, ‘Everything is going to be OK.’”
12
Boston Dynamics’ BigDog Robot
At 2.5 feet tall and 250 pounds, Boston Dynamics BigDog is — quite literally — an invention straight out of Black Mirror. The military-grade robot can run up to 3.5 miles per hour and comes with a laser gyroscope.
13
GoggleBox
“There's a television show, GoggleBox, that have us watch British families watching American TV shows.”
14
Magibook
Magibook, a reading comprehension app, allows people to essentially dumb down pieces of text, including iconic books like “The Great Gatsby.”
.jpg)
