• Disclosure
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
  • CCPA
  • Medical Disclaimer
Sunday, March 26, 2023
Cameron County News Online
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Technology
    • Crytpocurrency
    • Gaming
    • Gadgets
  • Sports
  • Health
  • General
    • Business Services
  • Travel
  • Press Releases
  • Popular
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Technology
    • Crytpocurrency
    • Gaming
    • Gadgets
  • Sports
  • Health
  • General
    • Business Services
  • Travel
  • Press Releases
  • Popular
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
Home Technology Metaverse

Greg Daniels On How The Metaverse Influenced ‘Upload’ Season 2 – Variety

by NewsReporter
March 13, 2022
in Metaverse
Reading Time: 4 mins read
greg-daniels-on-how-the-metaverse-influenced-‘upload’-season-2-–-variety
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

“Life imitates art” has become uncomfortably true in the two short years between the first and second seasons of Greg Daniels’ sci-fi comedy “Upload.”

The series follows recently deceased computer programmer Nathan Brown (Robbie Amell) as he attempts to navigate Lakeview, the digital afterlife space created by a company called Horizen. The first season debuted in 2020, when rumblings of the “metaverse” had yet to make it into the zeitgeist. Since then, the company previously known as Facebook has rebranded as Meta — even taking a few pages from Daniels’ book.

“It’s kind of hilarious that Facebook is now calling their metaverse Horizon a couple years after we did,” Daniels told Variety, referencing the company’s free virtual reality game Horizon Worlds which was released in December 2021.

“The nugget of the idea is that if you could technologically record people’s minds, and then reconstitute them in a metaverse where they live full-time, then you would basically be able to create heaven,” Daniels said. “Because people would be able to persist as long as the computers were powered up. They would be safely in the metaverse.”

“But if that was the case,” he continued, “then human beings would be making it. [So] it would not be fair. It would be for profit. I thought, ‘Oh, that’s a great metaphor.’ Just to talk about how there’s a lot of unfairness already in the distribution of technology and the good things in life.”

Thus, Lakeview is utopic on the surface, but it also showcases the horrific inequalities created by capitalism with more fervor as the series progresses. It costs a lot of money to “upload” one’s conscience into the afterlife. The premise first emerged to Daniels when he was coming up with sketches as a writer for “Saturday Night Live” in the late ‘80s, and he developed it further during the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike, intending it as a dramatic science fiction novel. The project fell to the back burner when “The Office” took off on NBC. But Daniels continued to consider the idea of uploading, and he realized he could find humor in his dystopia thanks to his Gen-Z children.

“There used to be a thing called Club Penguin, which my kids were playing,” he said. “My daughter came to me and said, “I need 99 cents to buy a TV for my igloo.’ And I realized in that moment that if the tech companies hosted a digital world that you lived in, they would try to monetize it relentlessly, and there’d be in-app purchases for everything. And that was a very funny thought. That really helped make it more of a comedy.”

When it comes to the moral implications of “Upload” or the metaverses that tech companies are building today, Daniels likens himself to Nora, the “Upload” character played by Nora Antony. She works as a Lakeview customer service rep and fears what Horizen and other corporations are capable of, but still believes that a more egalitarian digital afterlife is worth fighting for.

“There’s a lot of science fiction that’s just dystopia. A very negative view of the future,” Daniels said. “And the opposite of that is a utopia, where you think everything is going to be perfect… I’m somewhere in the middle between those two. When products are rolled out with great fanfare, I’m always thinking, ‘Well, how could that go wrong?’ But on the other hand, it is exciting to think of positives too. In the show, Nora, she’s a real believer in how terrific it is to upload. Because she lost her mom [already], and her dad is sick, so she’s pretty desperate to upload her dad. You see the promise and the potential in all the tech.”

“I’ve been urging [Amazon] to try and get into the upload business as fast as possible,” Daniels said, as “Upload” streams on Amazon Prime Video. He is cautiously optimistic about metaverse technology and even believes a world like “Upload” could exist in real life — and much of his research on the topic comes from the cybersecurity professionals and library of knowledge Amazon gave him access to. When asked if he would himself would upload if digital afterlife technology existed, Daniels said yes, despite the dark consequences explored in his show — like the reveal that Nathan was murdered for attempting to develop an afterlife that poor people could access for free.

“Yeah, I think I would do it. But I would look at it more like any sort of medical intervention,” he said. “No matter how religious you are, if you were so religious that you wouldn’t have open heart surgery, because [you think] God wanted you to have a heart attack, that’s too religious for my tastes. I think you could also say God gave us the brains to invent eyeglasses so that we’re not eaten by lions that we didn’t see. That’s one way of looking at all the technology, but you also have to make sure that it’s got an ethical dimension, where the most important thing is how it affects the people who are using it.”

optional screen reader

Read More About:

Related Posts

meta-is-working-on-a-web-version-of-its-horizon-worlds-metaverse-platform-–-the-verge

Meta Is Working On A Web Version Of Its Horizon Worlds Metaverse Platform – The Verge

by NewsReporter
April 14, 2022
0

Meta is planning to bring its Horizon Worlds social metaverse platform to the web, Meta CTO Andrew “Boz” Bosworth said in a tweet on Thursday. Being available on the web would mark a major expansion for the platform, which is currently only available on its Quest VR headsets. A web...

metaverse-builders-see-virtual-pets-as-their-killer-app-–-axios

Metaverse Builders See Virtual Pets As Their Killer App – Axios

by NewsReporter
April 14, 2022
0

A digital pet store might help sell the metaverse to the masses.Why it matters: Hype and funding have flooded into development of a 3D internet, but consumers will need help finding a way in.Driving the news: Pokemon Go creator Niantic revealed its next game yesterday, an augmented reality pet simulator...

marketing-in-the-metaverse-[podcast]-–-search-engine-journal

Marketing In The Metaverse [Podcast] – Search Engine Journal

by NewsReporter
April 13, 2022
0

Got NFTs, Metaverse, and web 3.0 on your marketing radar? In a world where the digital and physical meet, metaverses offer an unprecedented opportunity to brands. Lisa Buyer of The Buyer Group joined me on the SEJ Show to shed light on the Metaverse and what it is. We talked...

metaverse-beauty-with-chinese-characteristics-–-jing-daily

Metaverse Beauty With Chinese Characteristics – Jing Daily

by NewsReporter
April 13, 2022
0

As fashion and beauty wake up to Web3 and the metaverse, innovative ways of engaging consumers in the imminent digital future have become a top business priority. Decentraland’s Metaverse Fashion Week, for example, has just come to an end, while Gucci Beauty and NARS recently joined a growing cohort of...

Cameron County News Online

© 2021 Salt Lake City News Now

Navigate Site

  • Disclosure
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
  • CCPA
  • Medical Disclaimer

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • DMCA Policy
  • Medical Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure
  • CCPA
  • Terms of Use

© 2021 Salt Lake City News Now

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie SettingsAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT