Video Calling
I picked video calling because I thought it would be a fascinating concept to explain to the aliens. Video calling has always been a significant part of all our lives, because we were still able to interact and stay connected with people that are far away from us. However video calling has definitely improved, it was not all this convenient. A long time ago, only two lines were able to connect. This meant that no one was able to join the call after the second line. This is unfortunate because not only would one need to wait for others to finish the call in order to talk to him/ her, but it is also time consuming and overall inconvenient.
Later on, this changed with video calling. With advancement in technology and time, we are now able to have multiple lines on a voice call. Eventually, this advanced being able to actually see whoever you’re chatting with. ( Video calling)
During the height of COVID- 19 pandemic, there was a huge emphasis on the need to interact with people without exposing yourself to the virus. Since we were not able to see them in person and socialize with them, many relied on video calling. We got the best of both worlds: hearing their voices and seeing them. Not only did we need video calling for our social life, but many used this platform for work and school. One example of this is the platform Zoom. During the COVID- 19 pandemic, many students had to learn online through online lectures. Although it is not the exact experience one would be getting if they were physically in class, it was the closest they could get. Students and teachers were still able to talk and see each other’s faces.
Our experience with video calling can also resonate with heptapods since it is essentially how they are able to communicate with us humans. One thing that the heptapods already have is their looking glass and this “looking glass” is described as “two way communication devices” with the heptapods in orbit. This means that heptapods were not communicating with the scientists in-person (4). With their looking glasses, scientists were able to hear, see, and communicate with the heptapods simultaneously in real time. This is essentially what video callings are. The one difference is that multiple people are projected into one “room”. Video Callings are a bit different from the heptapod’s universe in which they connect two calls together (through the looking glasses in which the heptapods are able to interact with the humans). They include more than one call at the same time going to the same digital location, essentially meaning that in the aliens’ scenario, the aliens would be able to connect all of the looking glasses together. This would mean that both the heptapods and the humans all around the world can interact and communicate.
In the illustration below, it depicts how video calls work. The globe represents how universal and convenient video calls are. People that are across the world are still able to use this. The signal towers show they are interconnected with a system of signals despite the distance. The people in the visual representation are able to see each other and communicate with each other. In addition , there is communication between multiple people on the same service all at once.
