TEDx Melbourne imagines a dystopian dating scenario

Despite the ever-increasing plethora of apps to help us hook up, navigating the dating scene has never been trickier - but a new film for TEDx Melbourne suggests that things could get a lot worse in the future.

Created and produced by Cummins&Partners to launch the chapter's Limitless event - which explores the question: ‘what’s on the other side of impossible’ for humankind - the film offers a peek into a cringe-inducing first date in which the couple rely on 'Life Assist' gadgets, worn on the temple, to help them interact with each other. Needless to say, when the system crashes and their support systems fail, disaster ensues.

Says creative director Luke Wallis: “Already we can see that a side effect of rapidly improving technology is social awkwardness – we DM, sext, message, Facetime, but don’t actually talk. Staring at the three dots of an incoming text message is anxiety-inducing. We wanted to take this idea to its logical conclusion, and use it to ask more questions.”

The film was directed by Jesse Richards.