Technology

Technology in the 2082 is for the most part similar to how it was in 2016, though great advancements have been made in a number of the fields including:

• Faster Than Light (FTL) Travel
• Advanced Energetics
  • High Density Energy Storage
  • Laser Weaponry
  • Photonic Impulse Engines
• Advanced Material Recycling / Reprocessing
• Holography
  • 'Immersive' Virtual Reality
• Advanced Medical Science
• Long Range Communications

Details about the more notable technologies are given below.

(See also Space Travel)

In the 2050s, access to non-FTL-capable spaceships became wide to the population of Earth. Though initially only the rich and the elite could afford to maintain a spaceship, within 15 years owning a spaceship was about as commonplace as owning a family car in the 2000s: the skies became a wonder of flying vehicles. These vehicles were powered by Photonic Impulse Drives: battery powered engines that moved their ships by ingeniously harnessing the power of light. Naturally, battery power capability sky-rocketed and research went into dense storage of power. By the 2060s, batteries were capable of storing immense amounts of power and could be recharged with even the smallest amount of solar energy.

The invention of the Black Box Faster Than Light Jump Drive changed this: allowing ships to travel Faster Than Light to visit Star Systems up to 10LY away at the cost of the newly discovered Deimium Fuel¹⁾.

Once again, the rich and the elite were the first to acquire these, but by the 2080s, this technology had filtered down to the upper-middle classes who would be able to afford an FTL-capable ship at a stretch. The military and commercial sectors also jumped upon this innovation, retrofitting old battleships and inventing new ships entirely around the drive. However, a certain amount of a rift began to form between those who could afford to have an FTL-capable ship and those who could not: analogies to luxury as akin to owning a boat compared to owning a car began to be quite commonplace.

Given the volatility of the Deimium fuel, it was impossible to execute a jump with more than 3 units aboard a ship, but even the 10-light-year radius around earth which became visitable within one FTL jump was plenty to keep everyone busy for years. Mankind spread out into the solar system and beyond, mining, measuring, investigating.

Thankfully, despite its volatility, Deimium fuel cells (usually stored in 2m x 2m cubes) could still be transported with relative ease allowing for easy trade of them, as well as emergency provision to ships foolish enough to jump away from Earth without fuel to get back.

Additional advancements were made throughout to support the Interstellar Revolution:

• Long range communications were developed to allow simultaneous communications between FTL-capable across tens of light-years by piggy-backing off the Tachyon signatures emitted by the Black Box FTL Drive.
• Long range sensors were also created that could scan up to 10LY away for an idea of objects in these areas, giving information only 10 years out of date (much more reliable than hundreds of years out of date information previously gained from Space Telescopes).
• Recycling and reprocessing facilities along with life support systems were also enhanced to ensure that materials used on ships on long distance voyages would not be wasted, and indeed water and air could be recycled: particularly on colonies such as Tau Leyti or Alpha C5.

Despite these advancements, living conditions on ships fluctuate wildly from the incredibly luxurious cruise liners which aim to keep their passengers in luxury, to the entirely practical industrial environments of military battleships, to the standard “leaky metal cabin” that lower spec civilian vessels may have. Indeed, even in these generalisations there are many differences: one military fighter jet may be equipped with holographic displays and a swishy user interface, whereas others prefer a more manual approach and a bare-bones cockpit. Personal taste and budget are a driver of quality as much as anything else.

The rise of Virtual Reality in the 2010s and 2020s eventually advanced into fully immersive Virtual Reality: headsets that allowed people to fully immerse themselves in a virtual world so long as a powerful enough server was hosting the session. It enabled them to interact, play games, and appear as a whole variety of avatars.

Improvements have also been made into projecting holograms, making convincing small soft-light holographic projections possible, but most notable of the holographic developments was the creation of the holodeck which allowed users to enter a Virtual Reality without putting on a headset. The reality would be entirely holographic and this proved very useful in entertainment and relaxation as well as training and simulation exercises. Recent developments allow the holodeck to interface with a Virtual Conference and even to host its own, meaning all those present in a holodeck could in fact be connecting remotely, but appear as if they were present.

Small holograms led to a small enthusiastic rise in personal assistants. Similar to Apple's Siri of the 2010s, these smart (but not intelligent) assistants proved very useful particularly for ship engineers who would often need technical readouts provided to them while their hands were already full (and indeed they were on the outside of a spaceship!).

By the 2080s, access to personal assistants and a Virtual Reality headset is incredibly commonplace. Ownership of a holodeck or server for a Virtual Conference is less so, due to the cost of running one.

Naturally, accidents in space were to be expected, but the severity of them was lessened by advances in medical technology: most hospitals by 2070 and most spaceships by 2080 were equipped with an automated First Aid Kit which would assist in administering remedies to small injuries and provide the equipment necessary for certified individuals to perform more intricate or serious surgeries.

Although medical technology has advanced and people can be saved from injuries that would have been fatal in 2016, such procedures still come at a cost. For example, while mentally controlled prosthetics do exist, they are slower and more fragile than the original limb would have been and they take time and resources to construct and master the use of. Such prosthetics are never considered an upgrade, and having the original limb is always preferable.

By the 2060s, the majority of the world's weapons were in the hands of the UCCNZFJ (see History), but they were still fairly well developed by this point. In particular, laser weaponry had advanced considerably to the point where laser weapons firing high intensity deadly bolts of energy were on the front lines in most wars and had power from that of a small pistol to ship-scale cannons (doing serious damage upon striking).

Solid projectile weapons (such as machine guns, rocket launchers, grenades, etc) remained in use, and it's these that most people started arming themselves with when the apparitions started appearing and causing a serious threat, but their power is eclipsed when confronted with a laser gun.

Armour, naturally, developed to try and counteract the strength of offensive capabilities. Powered personal armour began to be developed in the late 2050s, and while it was unwieldy to wear and use, it provided more personal protection against laser weapons than anything else. The heaviest armour was naturally equipped to spaceships, with the toughest armour being able to just stand up against the strongest laser weapons (and also making the ship tough enough to stand impacts from asteroids and other ships).

Despite the immense strength of armour for spaceships, there is still yet to be armour that can withstand a direct strike from a nuclear missile. Thankfully, the nuclear arsenals of the world were locked down by the UCCNZFJ and access to these has been impossible except to the highest authorities of the UCCNZFJ, making the likelihood of a nuclear apocalypse almost zero…

...ah.