2057: The World in 50 Years (2007) Discovery Channel

2057: The City

Episode 2, "The City", examines the advances futuristic technology will bring to the home such as humanoid robots and holographic pets. The storyline has Paul, a thirteen year old boy accidentally releasing his holographic shark friend into the city's computer program, halting major city functions and electronics.



The year is 2057. Everything is computerized from cars to buildings to clothing. One of the main characters is young Paul Gator, son of a female police officer Georgina Gator. John Gator, Paul's grandfather, was born at the dawn of the internet (he'd be about Paul's age today making him a member of Generation Y) and has been writing computer code ever since. Paul is somewhat of an apprentice to his hacker grandfather, and is already manipulating code at a very young age.



Holograms are commonplace in 2057, and most children have holograph projectors embedded within their clothing. These devices project images of anything, which act like GPS devices to guide children around the city of the future safely. When his grandfather creates a hologram shark to replace the dolphin that he currently has, Paul decides to go one step further. He uses his laptop to hack into the city's network in an attempt to display his shark on advertisement boards across the city.



Not only does the laptop project the shark onto every holographic video screen in the city, it overloads the entire network and cripples the entire city. The laptop also carried with it an ancient virus that the future city had no protection against. The virus attacks the operating system that the entire city is run on...an operating system that has been in place, untouched for decades.



The only possible suspect to Georgina is her father, whom had moved out of her house earlier in the day after a fight about his computer hacking. An APB is put out on him, and it's a race against time to stop the virus while Paul and his grandfather try to evade the law. When Georgina discovers that Paul was actually the one who released the virus into the city, she protects them from capture and allows them access into the old, unused central hub of the city.



Once inside the hub, grandfather and grandson immediately connect John's laptop into a connection that can communicate with the operating system that the city is built on. Paul's grandfather erases incriminating personal information about Paul that was transferred to the system, then codes a few lines before the police burst in the room. Brave Paul stands in front of his Grandfather, protecting him from the guns the police are pointing at them as he finishes the last lines of code. When his Grandfather presses enter, the city's power ominously flickers off.



A few moments later, the power is restored and the city jumps back to life. The virus and shark are gone, and life in the city goes back to normal. Realizing that her father is a hero, Georgina makes amends and all is well in the city of tomorrow.

Source: Wikipedia

2057 is a Discovery Channel television program hosted by theoretical physicist Michio Kaku. It premiered on January 28, 2007 and attempts to predict what the world will be like in 50 years based on current trends. The show takes the form of a docu-drama with three separate episodes, each having informative stories ingrained into the plot. All three episodes aired on January 28, 2007.



What would you see and experience if the clocks rolled forward 50 years? In a unique blend of drama and science, this three-part series shows you the world of tomorrow. Will we have flying cars? Will advances in medicine help us stay young forever? What about "printing" custom-made vital organs? What will our cities look like? What will tomorrow's wars be about? Will we have robots helping around the house? Will solar power be the new oil?



Supported by the world's leading scientists and research institutes, we embark on a quest to answer some of society's most fundamental questions and reveal the dramas of tomorrow's world along the way. State-of-the-art computer graphics in combination with a dynamic story line will create a world usually only seen in feature films, but with the accuracy and relevance of a documentary. This series is all about opening the window of our future based on science fact, not science fiction.

Episodes

The Body

Flying ambulances? Intelligent clothing? Custom-built organs from scratch? Robotic surgery? Learn about today's medical breakthroughs that will extend our lives in 50 years.



The City

Cars without drivers? Humanoid robots in every household? Cyber-hacking? Intelligent camera surveillance systems? Learn about today's scientific advances that will shape our networked cities of tomorrow



The World

An invisible soldier? A space elevator to the stars? Transmit the inventory of the Library of Congress via laser beam in seconds? What are the real fuel sources of the future? Learn about technological quantum leaps that will shape our planet in 50 years.

Sources: Wikipedia and Discovery Channel