Westworld: HBO series shows a terrifying vision of our future at CES 2020

You receive an invitation to a dinner party from a mysterious company. Upon arriving at the restaurant, you are confronted with a surreally futuristic experience. Best of all: afterwards, you receive a personalized menu according to your their likes. This was precisely the proposal of the HBO when organizing an activation in the CES 2020, to help guests move even closer to a technology-driven future, under the discussions of Westworld.

The event was more than a sneak peek into the show's next season, which will be out this year with no specific date, ranging from uncomfortable interactions to a critique of online privacy.

tomorrow's dinner

Under the invitation ofthe future is here“, the public had to fill out forms informing about social media profiles, food routine and impolite questions like “do you feel anxious about the future?”. In addition, there were humorous and at the same time frightening comments about our technological future – this time, non-fictional.

The guests reported being approached by strangers who pretended intimacy, asking specifically about common sports teams, favorite shoe brands, boyfriends names and even about the pet. Things from up to five years ago. Strangers would still suggest interactions, such as "you two like football, you should talk more" (and if that doesn't sound robotic enough to you, we recommend that you stay tuned with the power of artificial intelligence!).

Of course, the information was acquired by the organization as soon as the guests completed the forms indicating the profiles of the Twitter e Instagram, and the whole experience just proved how easy it is to find out about someone's life with a simple stalk superficial. Detail: the idea of host (host) and guest (guest) is a recurring factor in the series, and this was a great way to prove the potential seen on stage.

The most interesting thing is that the entire event was organized under the name of a fictitious company called incite Inc. Next, we explain everything we know about her.

Too much Black Mirror?

The most spoken word, both on social networks and in publicity material on CES, is the one incite Inc., the fictional company that will apparently be a mainstay in the new season. It was even created a site of the brand, where you can subscribe to receive updates via email. At some point this year, it is speculated that texts about this universe or even the release date for the third season will be published there - something formal, like "see you on October 15th".

Bearing in mind that the HBO recently prepared content for augmented reality game (famous concept abbreviated as ARG) for the series Watchmen, with new documents enriching each episode, it is to be hoped that the futuristic robot series will also gain something similar. Another strong indication of this is precisely Westworld already have a site of the park, which is deactivated (if you've seen season 2, you know why), and there is also an online version of the company Of the.

Apparently, in particular by the commercial of the company, the incite must be direct competition or even an evolution of the Of the, who took care of the amusement park providing an adventure where the public could “choose their adventure”.

real life westworld

In the second part of the event, a kind of “TED Talk“, mixed with the already familiar atmosphere of presentations by the giants throughout the CES, guided by a woman who identified herself as the development leader of the incite. The company sold the idea as a service worthy of a pyramid scheme, diving into the grand proposition of basically control your life.

The brand's proposal is to collect personal data and analyze it to calculate “different paths” in people's lives. So if today, for example, the customer is unhappy, he can be sure that the future will not be dictated by the past, but by the choices he will make from now on. That's what will define you.

“Give us your data, and we'll give you guarantees. […] You give us information, and we will erase all doubts. On the way to this future, this better world… the only decision you have to make is us.”

Actress for hire, one of the leaders of Incite

A CES has also been the stage for interactive/immersive experiences of Altered Carbon, Netflix, which took “bodies” grown in the laboratory in the middle of the event hall, and is similar to what usually happens in other events, such as the Comic-Con de San Diego (SDCC).

Even without a release date, the single reference that we can have for Westworld season 3 is the interval between each release: the first season aired between October and December 2016, and the second between April and June 2018. So, with 16 months apart, we can calculate that the new season will arrive in October this year.

Before the second season aired, the date was officially announced with a trailer, exactly two months before the premiere. Last year, the date of Watchmen, for example, only came about a month earlier. In any case, with the scale that the disclosure of the HBO has taken, we can wait for a few more months before meeting the dystopian powers of the famous Incite.

There are snippets of Westworld na compilation what to expect from the best HBO this year, including images of the releases The Outsider e Lovecraft Country, and the new seasons of Euphoria e Barry. Which series are you most looking forward to?