Hello everyone!
Welcome to our premiere of season seven of The Cosmic Companion!
To kick off the new year, we’ll be looking at our collective future in space, as seen through the new tools of interactive 3D environments. Such prescience was once exclusively the hallmark of science-fiction.
Today, as Star Trek goes into its sixth decade with hit-or-miss series, movies and episodes, as the Rolling Stones of sci-fi franchises, a revolutionary new media is taking shape. Later in the episode, we will welcome Tony Tellado, host of the Sci-Fi Talk podcast to the show, discussing how the development of metaverses is shaping insights into the future of the human race.
Listen to the podcast here or watch the video version of this episode!
Science fiction has long given us glimpses of possible futures — some magnificent and others teeming with dystopian visions of science corrupted by those with more authority than insight.
Today, those prescient visions of Wells, Asimov, Butler, and others are joined by a new way of imaging our future among the stars — 3D environments and metaverses offering interactive experiences in any place, time, or world one can imagine.
Virtual worlds and 3D environments are already being used to simulate and test out potential scenarios and situations humans may encounter in spaceborne habitations of the future.
Virtual worlds can be used to design and test out living quarters, workspaces, and other facilities which may, one day, be used on long-term missions to other worlds.
Astronauts and other space professionals will train in the skills needed to survive and thrive in the harsh environments found beyond our warm, nurturing planet.
Intricately crafted 3D and virtual environments could be used to explore and study other planets and celestial bodies, such as Mars, in a way that is not currently possible through direct physical exploration.
Overall, these environments can help us to better understand the challenges and opportunities that humans may face as we continue to explore and utilize space in the future.
Next up, we welcome Tony Tellado, host of The Sci-Fi Talk podcast to the show.
Since the late 19th Century, science fiction has been divided into two camps, which still exist today. Jules Verne created novels full of science fiction based in science, while H.G. Wells imagined more fanciful moral tales emphasizing the fiction arm of the genre.
Today, a similar dichotomy is best-known in the stories of Star Trek vs. Star Wars. Another way to think about it is, technobabble vs. “Whaddya mean, midichlorians?”
Metaverses are also home to a wide range of different experiences, each with its own balance of science and fiction.
The Cosmic Companion virtual experiences are examples of these two sides of the science fiction coin. A large, glass-domed media room — completely impractical in real-life — is an entranceway to a more realistic lunar base of the future.
The earliest forays into space by human beings were spent in small, cramped craft for short periods of time. Today, the International Space Station encompasses over 900 cubic meters of space — the equivalent of nine semi-trailer trucks — and has been inhabited for over two decades.
The first people to live long-term inside bases on the surface of the Moon or Mars are likely to spend their time in fairly cramped quarters. But, I think most of us have done that at some point or other for a while… Am I right?
But, over time, living situations will become more comfortable, and homey. Even pets will be part of our lives beyond our home world.
Personalized decor and style will be more pronounced as communal living eases, in favor of smaller units for singles or families, sort of like moving from a college dorm to a small apartment. Like those crew cabins found on decks six through 12 of Galaxy Class starships like the Enterprise D.
Did you see what was on deck 11? That’s right. The holodeck. That place where everyone creates 3D virtual worlds around them, living out any experience they can imagine.
Next week, we imagine PREDATORS FROM SPACE! Life on other planets is likely to be far different from the lifeforms we find here on Earth. However, hunters are quite possible, if not probable, anywhere complex life develops. We welcome Shark Week regular Paul de Gelder to the show, discussing sharks, life, death, and PREDATORS FROM SPACE! Take a bite out of that show, starting on 14 January.
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Clear skies!
James
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