The robotic eye was created by scientists in Hong Kong and mimics the way the human eye sees the world.

“The eye mimics the human iris and retina using a lens to focus light onto a dense arrays of light-sensitive nanowires. Information is then passed through the wires, which act like the brain’s visual cortex, to a computer for processing.”

This technology could be used to make androids or prosthetics for the blind.

A story centered around THIS tech would be awesome to write. For one, why would there even have to be a “user” of the eye? What if the eyes are a part of the world around you, like Alexa. Things could get interesting if the artificial intelligence behind Amazon were able to “see” human behavior and determine when purchasing is highest.

It could watch you break a spatula, then offer a new one. Or watch a struggle with intimacy and advise advertisers to show viagra ads.

Thought would no longer be devoted to purchasing. Suggestions for new purchases would show up as soon as the problem arose, with a solution optimized for every scenario.

If there were enough of the “eyes” in the home, anyone could have a full profile built around their habits, tendencies, and body language. Every facial tic, unconscious muscle flex recorded and added to the profile. THIS tech future is the world George Orwell saw in 1984. Except Big Brother is Amazon/Facebook, and they want to sell you something.

With the world established, but what about the story? It could be any story. I’m thinking of a detective noir series, where the main character is a Jessica Jones-style character, hellbent on self-destruction but who keeps getting dragged into mysteries.

Of course, the tech could play a role. The detective would have a hacker friend, and together they could compile profiles of people who use particular household goods, infiltrate the “eyes” of their house, and solve the mystery. It could be murder, but I’m thinking much more like espionage.

It seems like an unfair advantage to be able to look into everyone's home. But if EVERYONE has the technology, how could anyone, in particular, be targeted? It would be the same old-fashioned detective work and intuition on display, brought into a digital world.

While this seems like something everyone might be used to after being quarantined for a large part of 2020, this isolated lockdown tests what life might be like on Mars, and during long space missions.

And the isolation NASA is testing will last for eight months.

This news got me thinking about a potential story. What if someone went into isolation then were required to be isolated again when they emerged?

This idea could be a series of books. In the first one, the main character is one of a few who are put into a compound in Russia (like the one NASA has in mind). They have the standard struggles around interpersonal conflicts, food rationing, and privacy.

Then, as soon as they get out at the end of the first book, they could find out that they are required to escape the world and head into space. The ultimate destination could be Mars, but it could also be to stay in orbit while the situation on Earth unfolds. This second book could introduce a new cast of characters and conflicts, with a lack of gravity playing a role.

If they were in orbit, the third book could be their return to Earth’s surface. If they were forced from the planet because of nuclear fallout, they might live underwater for a time. This underwater isolation could be a more extensive form of isolation in the first two books.

The story would be very relevant if the group comes out of their initial isolation to find the world in the grips of a global pandemic.

This past week, Twitter announced it was giving employees the option to work from home for good if they so choose. It would be required upon hiring to declare whether the employee would work from home or ever come into the office.

And if other large companies follow suit, what could happen? For this future, let’s assume the most significant companies in the prime real estate locations (aka cities) now allow work from home.

Workers would no longer need to flock to cities, spreading the population out over a wider area. This trend would drive real estate costs down as more people fled to the suburbs, not content with having no land area in case of another quarantine. This flight from cities could be this generation’s lesson, similar to the saving mindset of those who lived through the Great Depression.

Prices in the city would fall, and this would trickle down to housing costs in the suburbs.

Pockets of tech-employees could create their commune, complete with their private schools. With the spread of Amazon’s delivery capabilities, they would still be able to get everything they could want within two days. They wouldn’t even need to be near major retail, other than a grocery store.

BUT, if these pockets wanted to, they could set up their gardens and farms, funded by their tech jobs.

This scenario is the story world, but what about the story?

I think it could be two small boys, friends from two very different communities. Like “The Boy In The Striped Pajamas.” They meet at a local stream and become friends, but each goes back to very different circumstances. It could show the progression of their lives, with sections from different ages, highlighting the differences between growing up in two separate environments close to each other.

Lots of Americana involved, with similar situations to Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, when the two children are young. These interactions could be book one, with a created monster in the form of alcoholism within both families and how they are treated differently.

Book two could be the friends finding themselves both in love with the same girl, someone homeschooled in a religious household, out of reach of both of them.

The third book could be a situation when the funding for the tech community dries up. The friend who grew up in the tech community learns to rely on the one less fortunate, and together they create a new town with themselves at the front.

OR this could be a single book, a Romeo and Juliet where the two lovers come from each of the different communities.

Carole Baskin, from Netflix’s “Tiger King,” has been reluctant to give interviews after the TV show has blown up. One youtube account tricked her into sitting down with “Jimmy Fallon” by promising they would only talk about her cats.

With the increased popularity of remote calls, this got me thinking: what if there was a way to impersonate anyone?

In the face interview, the YouTubers used recordings of Fallon and convinced Baskin that she wouldn’t be able to see him, only hear him.

AI voice technology is getting better and better. Jimmy Fallon has so much audio for anyone to obtain; it wouldn’t be a leap to get an AI version of him, one that could talk as fast as someone can type.

Give video editing technology a few years, and there could be a rise in deep fake options to use in video calls.

Then, the pair wouldn’t even have to find an excuse for why Jimmy couldn’t be on the call.

The story could be about a man who’s hired to work for the government, fighting terrorists. Then, he saves the world but finds a single thread of information that makes him question which side he’s on.

The end could be him finding out that he’s been working against the government. But he decides he doesn’t care and continues—a villain origin story.

The second book could be him doing another job, but come to find out it was all a test to see where his true loyalties lie. His entire life has been a test, similar to “The Truman Show”. There was no pass or fail; it was to see what would happen.

The end of the two books would be him alone, not sure about anything or anyone, content to live out his days eating and watching the world around him. A world the disappears when he turns it off and goes to sleep.

Hafthor Bjornsson, better known as “The Mountain” from his time of “Game of Thrones,” recently set a world record. He lifted 501kg/1104lb off the floor, 1kg more than the previous record.

At 6’9” tall and 425lbs, there’s no arguing he’s a massive human. But what if someone bigger and stronger came along?

For starters, it will undoubtedly happen. Records get broken. The story I have in mind could be similar to Superman’s origin story. A boy grows up in a small town, hiding his real strength levels until an event comes along where he’s needed to save people. Or someone he loves.

What could make this interesting is if he was the product of drug-addicts, from a broken home. It would make him more relatable and remove the blind positivity of Superman.

The story could be about him trying to escape the small town. He accepts work as muscle-for-hire in exchange for the erasure of his parents’ drug debt. If the parents made the exchange themselves, there could be this giant chip on his shoulder throughout the book.

His real strength could be unknown until they test, and he lifts everything around, like the scene in “Unbreakable” when Bruce Willis bench presses all the weights in his house.

Book one would be about his time working for the drug lord, performing jobs on the wrong side of the law. At the end, when he realizes his parents have put themselves into debt once again with the drug dealer. At this point, he leaves them and that life behind, knowing that they won’t change.

Book two could be about him trying to do good but not knowing where to start, and he ends up in poverty-fighting his drug addiction. At the end of this book, he finds out his drug addiction has prevented him from saving the love interest in the book, so he quits drugs.

Book three could be his ascension to prominence. He focuses himself and puts the work in to break every world record that exists. This book would be a lot like “Rocky.” In the end, he ties the current record, but only because he didn’t start training sooner. The previous record-holder could marvel that he got so strong within years, instead of training for a lifetime.

There's a new text bomb, one that causes iPhones to lock up, and that requires the phone to reset. The text is a string of Sindhi characters. Even notifications with the characters are a problem, so you can't just ignore the message.

What if this text was sent out to everyone who signed up to be a part of COVID-19 tracking efforts?

With one fell swoop, every phone that helps scientists track the spread of the virus would be bricked. People could then come into contact with infected people, and thinking their risk is limited, could engage in behavior that would ensure they got the virus.

In this story, there would have to be a reason for someone to want the virus to spread. I think an opposing country or a terror organization.

This story could be told from the ground of a foreign country, maybe a country a Chinese of Russian ally. They rely on the phones that were distributed by the government as a way to make sure they don't get infected. Still, because of their alliance with a foreign power, the United States bricks their phones, putting the population at risk.

The only way to unbrick their phones is to cut ties with the antagonistic country and align with the United States. The main character could be a nurse. Someone who struggles against lack of support, lack of funds. Her relationships in the community are the only thing that allows her to do her job effectively.

Another news item this week talks about Facebook limiting the shareability of messages on Whatsapp. This app is used by people to communicate beyond borders, to check in with family in other countries.

If for some reason, Facebook decided to limit the information available to people in third world countries, this could be a way to steer public opinion.

For example, the nurse in the story would only get messages about the help the United States is providing once the phones do come back online. She and the community would never receive word about why the phones went off in the first place.

The first book in the series could end when they think the virus is under control. A single cough at the very end would suggest otherwise. Then the second book would be about a second, more deadly wave, and the third would be about the same virus spreading to the United States, and the nurse is the only one who knows how to stop it.

Reports are out that Apple is pushing back the mass production of the newest iteration of iPhones by about a month. Supply chains around the world are being disrupted by the pandemic, and big tech isn’t out of reach.

This got me thinking: what if there was a freeze on all new introduction to tech?

Of course, one month is hardly a blip in the grand scheme of things. But what if this freeze on new technology lasts up to a year, or years? There would be an increased demand for now-current technology, forcing those with fewer resources to take old technology.

There would be an emerging market for older phones and computers, ones that last longer than their more sophisticated counterparts. Some people might swear off technology altogether, returning to an Amish way of life. This would be a way to explore why some people go back to the farm, stories that are gaining popularity.

But outside of a pandemic, the question of why would have to be answered. There could be a scenario where the world finds out signals from advanced chips present in cell phones/computers are causing people to die. This is similar to the beliefs some people have around 5g technology.

If the world finds out that the technology industry has been advancing in the wrong directions for years/decades, the stage could be set for a scale-back in technology across the world. The tech corporations would have to figure out how to come up with new, safe products.

The story could be about a young couple who doesn’t want to give up their technology. The couple lives in the city. Without mobile technology, the amount of work available in cities dries up, but they refuse to leave. The story could begin with the discovery and could provide a firsthand glimpse at the decline of the space, and the emergence of organized crime. Similar to Prohibition-era moonshiners but this time, the computer whizzes are the outlaws. The struggle could occur when their power source gets taken away.

If the couple has the only access to continuous power, maybe an inherited windmill, they could be thrust into a position of leadership of an industry they know nothing about.

The second book in the series could be them dealing with a rival group, and the third would be about the recognition of the danger and attempts to take down the industry from the inside.