Illustration by Susanne Gold/ Text by Peter Worschech

Holzkirchen, February 2121: I was rummaging around in the cellar among some rotten pieces of cloth and found a yellowed record of my great-grandfather Peter. This rare find fascinated me, because I usually only know handwritten documents from documentary films. I have trouble reading it, because I don’t know some of the words: “Kulturvision” is written on the heading – strange, how people wrote at the time. ‘Cultural Vision’ is, what it should say. Apparently Peter 2021 wrote a little essay about ‘The World in 100 Years’. Great-grandpa addressed the first sentences to Monika and Anja. Then fragments of words and sentences, sketches about his imagined future. His vision of it is inspiring, even if some of the connections are still vague to me. In Great-grandpa’s vision, the exotic sentence “Ich fühle mich verloren” appears after the third line. What does that mean? I asked Siri, the floating 3D hologram fairy from the projection box. With her charming smile, she translated the word “verloren” for me as “lost”, “overwhelmed”, “without ideas”. Great-grandpa, didn’t you have a clue back then?

Siri with her Bavarian modulated voice redirected me to something equally stimulating: My friend Hartmut spontaneously invited me on a trip to the museum village near Schliersee. He’ll be here in 20 minutes and that’s going to be tight. Siri recommended, that I apply an eyeliner applicator with a universal lipliner transparently for the excursion. I agree, Siri. The Make Up-Robot (MUR) first massaged my facial skin soothingly to seamlessly transition to the set of delicate make-up tools. MUR conjured up a flawless make-up without a spill.

Oops, Siri again reminded me to play the new software of optimised data protection on my chip implant. At the same time, the bank data and code of the locking mechanism of the entrance door are updated. Siri, did you also park the new Early Cancer Detection Health Software on the chip implant yesterday? Yes Edith, I did and now some music for your motivation? I’ll take Great-grandpa’s notes with me on the trip. In another line, great-grandpa speculated about the elimination of light switches in living rooms. Yes, he had the right hunch. As soon as I walk into one of my rooms, depending on the sunlight, a light scenario opens up that supports my sense of well-being. Too much shade, too little contrast, Siri persistently helps with readjustment, also with her self-optimisation. Today, for example, she recommends an update to change her tonality and speech speed. She also wants to delete the older summer programme with the much too short skirt, because that would only distract Hartmut. Siri receives the code word from me and in no time at all her translucent filigree hologram with her new colour-graded pencil skirt is more alive than ever. Sprouting charm, new styling and convincing appeal – is there any need for a human being?

Siri tells me, that Hartmut has just landed. What I see outside on the parking deck impresses me. Hartmut flew in with the latest generation of the two-seater City Airbus Clean Sky from Airbus. Currently dominating the market, as design language, vertical acceleration and range currently represent the upper league of hybrid electric air taxis. This is tech porn at its best. Hartmut gestures across the huge screen and we take off with a dull rumble. After a few metres of altitude, the turbine noise becomes more fiery and with a huge punch and a fat grin, we catapult towards the south. A mad rush of pleasure. The “Rock” flight mode is maintained and ‘Level 5 autonomous flying’ requires no further manual intervention. We feel like protected passengers. Arrived, I told Hartmut about Great-grandpa’s light switch back 100 years ago. I only had a vague idea of what such a part looked like and couldn’t explain, that in order to create a lighting atmosphere, people had to stand up for it, walk across the room and move a device with manual force. In the Lukas Hof electricity museum, our friendly exhibition guide Rolf, dressed in period costume, explains the light switches of the time. Apparently, the unsightly fixtures had several positions, on/off changeover or momentary switches. Complicated, how did people stand it back then? What if I forget to turn this device off? With a smile, Rolf explained, that 100 years ago, memory, concentration and attentiveness were much more developed among our ancestors than they are today. Nevertheless, there are hardly any known accidents caused by light switches. I would like to go into this in more depth with Siri, but too bad I left her alone at home and Hartmut left all his foreign exchange equipment behind in the City Airbus. Perhaps it was better that way. Because the first time I met him, he was philosophising animatedly with his old-fashioned data goggles with an out-of-town conversation partner. Today I feel his attention.

Late in the afternoon, at the Lukas Hof parking deck, we get back into our City Airbus. Hartmut is familiar with super-intelligent AI systems and the connection with full immersion technologies. He uses his neural control headset to couple with the infrastructure system of the City Airbus and tries to steer the flight back to Holzkirchen with his thoughts. We take off gently, but the surprise follows: Climbing in power mode followed by a loop – this causes us to laugh uproariously. Moments of inertia are pulverised, reason is forgotten, because passion drives us instantly. Us? How does Hartmut manage this perfect smoothness between devotion and concentration?

Right at home I connect with Siri and practice under her guidance what Great-grandpa Peter could perhaps do better. Remembering things, concentrating on the right things. Practising dialogue with Siri from the perspective of “less is more”. Sensory overload was yesterday. Tomorrow I will enjoy nature and want to be around people again. Preferably at a Cultural Vision event in a pub over half a beer. To peek creatively and informally into the world of 2221. That lifts the mood and energy.

The living Peter of 2021 sends his best regards.

More information about the author: Peter Worschech

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