appy Friday! It so happens that CYBR Magazine has published their 6th issue today. Which you can pick up right here if you're interested. In this issue covers a exlusive Interview with Cyberpunk TTRPG Creator Mike Pondsmith and Claire Boucher (Grimes).
Following that we're given our first proper look at the updated Lizzy Wizzy model. The last time we saw her other than posters and concept art was during the initial E3 2018 Trailer, so a little over two years ago.
Digging into the magazine itself, I've taken a few excerpts from the pages themselves starting with the interview with Grimes.
What technology are you dying to see become reality by 2077?
Electric jets and planes. All packaging to be biodegradable. Solutions to food waste. Online voting. Wombs outside the body for women who don’t want to go through the physical burden and dangers of child birth. Re-usable rockets and extra terrestrial farming. The cure to ageing (although this might be a bad idea), and neural implants.
If you could upgrade any part of your body with cyberware like Lizzy Wizzy, what part would it be and why?
Def my brain and get neural implants. I’d like to be smarter and faster. Technology is essentially magic. I’d want to plug right into the source. If not that probably upgrading my hands to avoid arthritis and enable enhanced combat.
Moving onto the Pondsmith article we're given a deep dive into the mind of what cyberpunk is to Mike Pondsmith, his relationship with CDPR and more.
Smart devices are ubiquitous, the “internet of things” is growing, and a new generation of VR is slowly becoming commonplace. Given that, why does Cyberpunk still resonate with us as gamers, readers and media consumers?
Well the important point to remember is that Cyberpunk is not just about technology. That is the frontend. The backend is the punk side, which is largely about social issues and how people use it, how they meld with it and how it shapes their society. Without the social part Cyberpunk would largely be hard scifi.
Cyberpunk asks us how we use technology on a day to day basis. As Gibson put it, “The Street finds its uses”, but as Gibson also stated, “technology is not evenly distributed”. Everyone should have access to technologies, but for some reason they don’t and this makes people unhappy. Thus Cyberpunk concepts are not abstract. They are here, or nearly here.
You are rightly quoted as saying “Cyberpunk was a warning, not an aspiration”. What positive messages, or possible futures can be taken from Cyberpunk?
A warning is not necessarily a bad thing. It can be warning about something that you can’t do anything about, or it can be a point of inflection where you can do something. I look at Cyberpunk as something to compare to. If you see signs of it happening, you need to do something about it, just as if you see there are no longer guardrails on the road, and the road is going over a cliff, you should turn left. So these warnings give you the agency to do something, to use all these cool toys, and do something about your future. But you have to do something about it. What is amazing is that the technology is just rushing forward, and I spend a lot of time just doing raw research into cutting edge science and technology so that Cyberpunk can stay ahead of that curve. When Cyberpunk was created we had Derek, who’s job beyond editor was just research. Something we didn’t predict was DIY prosthetics and cyber ware. People are designing their own replacement limbs, and printing them, something we couldn’t have conceived back when Cyberpunk was created.
Tid bits of new Information about Trauma Team in 2077
To end this preview on some rather new information pertaining to Healthcare in 2077, Trauma Team was gone over in great detail about how the service itself operates. Near the end of those details sparks a new name, and some of the new tech Trauma Team of 2077 uses while on duty.
Upon receiving an alert, the nearest available Trauma Team jump into action, using their modified AV-4 aerial transport, boasting ablative armour, mounted miniguns, space for four passengers, and Trauma Team’s proprietary cryogenic triage unit. While many injuries and signs of trauma can be managed mid-flight to a Trauma Team hospital, some injuries are so critical that immediate cryogenic treatment is required. End to end transport times are usually just four minutes - a record that Trauma Team International CEO Carrie Lachanan takes great pride in.
Operating a number of “insurance plans”, paid either by the individual or as part of their employment package, Trauma Team International is a fully itemized service, offering full transparency with respect to the cost of the service. Extras include fuel, ammunition, and each minute in the air between pick up and drop off. Post fourth Corporate War, Trauma Team International have operated for many years under a new business model. Rather than a top-down managed corporation, now each emergency team is an independently operated franchise, who receive equipment and training from TTI’s teams of dispatch operators and medical professionals. What is the future of healthcare? Trauma Team International know that the best way to deliver healthcare is onsite. Reducing, or removing the need to transport patients to hospital thus freeing up beds for more critical patients, and increasing revenue. Onsite treatment also increases the chances of a patient surviving.
Two new innovative avenues of health care that Trauma Teams will soon be delivering are custom printed prosthetics and custom medication. Where a new limb or organ is required, they have envisioned portable 3D printers that will deliver on-demand prosthetic replacements. Similarly in the near future a Trauma Team vehicle will be equipped with a portable chem-factory, able to fabricate the drugs and medications for the patient - all tailored to their DNA and specific medical needs. It’s just a matter of time until every major city has a fleet of these mobile triage units.
If you're interested in checking out the rest of the article, make sure to head over to CYBER Magazine and pick yourself up a copy!
