Always-on Society – Scenario 2015

Peter’s hand is sheathed in a data glove with sensors that translate his finger movements into computer commands. Peter balls his hand into a fist, which is the signal for his figure in the game to start walking. In the real world, Peter is sitting in a comfortable armchair and wearing 3-D glasses. The stereo display and sound system of his home entertainment system provide him with an astonishingly realistic impression of the game’s virtual setting. His voice and his movements are transmitted via a high speed data transmission line into the Internet, or, more precisely, into the game server. There, all the information gathered from all the players converges in real time and is immediately sent back to the players. Peter is now at the entrance of the valley in which the monastery of Glendalough lies. He can see the stone tower of the monastery looming above the treetops. Alwyne is at his side, clad in a white chiffon gown. Peter has already forgotten that in the real world he’s not the 294-year-old dwarf Bogoroth but a 40-year-old engineer who works for a major automotive supplier.

"Hail, Bogoroth and Alwyne," calls the magician Eogarth as the two of them step into a clearing. Beside the blue-robed magician stands a tall man—Grimbergen, the archer. Eogarth is the leader of their team, which meets at irregular intervals in the virtual world of the game. The four of them have known each other for about two years, but they know very little about each other’s true identities. Peter suspects that Alwyne is a journalist. Eogarth seems to be a teacher or a professor. And Grimbergen’s prowess as an archer suggests that he might be a policeman or a soldier. "Here in the forest lie the hidden fragments of an amulet. Each of us must look for a fragment. A floating sphere will show you the direction in which you must search," says Eogarth, explaining the task before them. "Bring your fragment back to the meeting place. Once we put the amulet together, we will progress to a higher level of the game," he adds. "If you are prepared for the challenge, the time has come to go forth." Peter checks his weapons and his supply of food before plunging into the forest in pursuit of the hovering sphere. Soon, the dwarf has lost sight of his comrades. The forest is dark and deep...

Two hours later, Peter finds himself in a cave. He has had to do battle with a troll and a huge snake. By means of a display, he has also been able to track the adventures of his companions, who have made good progress. Alwyne is on the way back with her amulet fragment, and Eogarth is engaged in a swordfight. Peter is standing in a treasure chamber and has just solved the riddle that will open a wooden chest that contains the amulet. Suddenly, the ringing of his mobile phone jerks him out of his fantasy world and an urgent message appears on his 3-D display. "Oh no, this can’t be happening!" Peter exclaims. The call can mean only one thing: Something’s gone wrong at the plant. It’s his day off, and he made sure he’d be inaccessible. Only the crisis center of his company received the authorization to be put through to him in case of an emergency.

An engineer once again, Peter puts the game on hold and answers the phone: "What’s happening?" In a flash, the treasure chamber disappears and the display is transformed into a computer screen. "The sorting machine for the compressed-air cartridges has crashed," a technician informs him. "We can’t get it going again. In a few minutes the production line will come to a standstill." "OK, I’m logging on," says Peter. He dials into the company network, receives authorization and gains access to all the data he needs on his large home monitor—just as though he were sitting at his workstation. The company he works for produces airbags—around the clock. New software for industrial Ethernet was installed two days ago, and maybe some part of it is incompatible with the machine’s control system. Peter’s an expert when it comes to production, but his suspicion can be confirmed only by his colleague Mark, who understands the software installed at the company better than anyone else. "Could you please set up a video conference with Mark for me?" asks Peter. Mark is in India at the moment, setting up new contracts with Indian software developers.

Seconds later, Mark’s image appears on the monitor. "What could be so important that you need to interrupt my dinner?" he asks jokingly. It doesn’t take him long to figure out what’s going on. "It’s definitely a compatibility problem," he says. "Can you get me the documentation just before the system went down?" he asks his colleagues at the company. Lines of codes promptly glide across the display. Peter can see no pattern in the flood of letters and figures—but Mark obviously can, because he soon says: "An update of the control program should take care of things. Peter, you’ll find the modules in my file." "OK, Mark, thanks! If that doesn’t do it, we’ll get back in touch," Peter replies. He finds the module and immediately starts the installation of the update. "Integrate the sorting machine into the network again," he says to the technician in the control center. "OK, it’s working again. Please send me an e-mail documenting the event," he says before signing off. He then immediately clicks on the Glendalough icon, which has been pulsating the whole time to indicate that it’s in the standby mode. Once again, he becomes the dwarf Bogoroth. He lifts the amulet fragment out of the wooden chest and hastens back to the meeting place.

Norbert Aschenbrenner