SynTECC Product History

[Aura]

SynTECC

SynTECC was once a modest company that started out in the United States on Earth. It started its business developing simple prosthetics for humans designed to simulate the appearance of natural body parts. Its name was a not-so-subtle reference to their specialty in synthetic human body parts and their goal was "to create a symbiotic relationship between man and machine." If a veteran lost his leg to a land mine, SynTECC sought to replace the lost leg with a prosthetic that not only looked natural, but felt natural.

SynTECC Synthetic Prosthetics [SynPro]

SynTECC's early prosthetics were pure white in color, but were designed to mimic the exact shape of a normal human body part. In this case, the missing leg. These prosthetics are custom-made. This right leg model, designed after a military veteran's, was created from a 3D model based on 3D scans of the veteran's opposite leg. These prosthetics were recreated to fit the exact shape and 3D Printed using a series of microfibers weaved in the same pattern as human muscle fibers, fat, and flesh. This allowed the prosthetic body parts to look, feel, and function identically to real ones.

Early models struggled with the inability to grow like real body parts, however, leading to problems where, as a client gains weight, the prosthetic may become damaged or no longer function as intended. Consequently, all prosthetics came with an expiration date by which the client was expected to return to SynTECC in order to have the leg re-evaluated and cleaned or replaced. Over time, SynTECC improved the prosthetic's ability to bond with the human body. They could now receive nutritional value the same way a real leg would, allowing them to store and burn real fat at the same rate as the rest of the client's body. Routine cleanings were still necessary, but by this point, the prosthetics were near-indistinguishable from real limbs.

As R&D continued, SynTECC began bonding the limbs with even more of the human body, allowing the limbs to be attached to the blood stream in order to create an organic pulse and warmth. They were even able to connect to the nervous system in order to allow the prosthetic's user to feel with them. They also began releasing in flesh tones as opposed to the standard white they previously appeared in. These factors started to become appealing to people outside of those looking for prosthetic limbs. Many saw promise in the ability to make adjustments to their body. Perfect skin, slimmer or thicker builds, more muscle, some even inquired about purely aesthetic aspects of the human body such as hair and facial features.

SynTECC Aesthetic Prosthetics [SynAP]

Eventually, SynTECC began to took into these requests and started to provide services allowing clients to replace their perfectly-healthy body parts with their synthetic counterparts. This decision was not met without heavy legal scrutiny, however, and for many years, it was exceedingly difficult to qualify for this program. The process was incredibly expensive as it involved not only the needless amputation of healthy limbs, but also development of the prosthetic to the desired specifications as well. Needless to say, this process wasn't very appealing to most at the time of its initial release. However, there were still particularly wealthy individuals, especially women, who sought the service to beautify themselves, but this interest wasn't enough to maintain production.

Years later, however, as technology improved and the procedure became easier to complete, celebrities' began to utilize the service in order to restore their youthful figures from years prior. This was primarily done for films but soon caught on in other forms of pop culture such as pop idols and commercial models who sought to immortalize their youthful beauty. 

These aesthetics offered the promise that anyone could have the body type they desired without the requirement of working out or dieting. As technology continued to improve and prices began to decrease, popularity in these procedures continued to skyrocket, drawing the attention of not only thousands of new clients, but also thousands more critics who heavily criticized the company for objectifying women and discouraging body positivity.

Many impoverished people were shamed for not being able to afford the prosthetics, and minors who were not old enough to receive the prosthetics also struggled with much harsher bullying, as they now had even more unfair beauty standards to compete with. SynTECC's marketing frequently targeted young adult women with the promise of being able to obtain their ideal body which was presented most often as a slim build with large breasts. They were frequently accused of preying on women's insecurities about their bodies and pressuring them into getting prosthetic surgery to transform their body into the stereotypical "ideal woman" as opposed to inspiring uniqueness and diversity in body types. SynTECC's statement against these criticisms was that their prosthetics could be custom-made to fit any body type and skin tone desired by the client, and even applied to men as well. But the body types requested were most often the types of measurements depicted in commercial marketing.

Other critics questioned the ethics of making a business out of amputating limbs purely for aesthetic. The field was still relatively new and many were concerned about the potential ramifications and health issues. SynTECC wasn't able to provide much in response to this other than assuring the public that, as with any procedure, these operations do assume some level of risk, but that there has never been a single incident in the process. They advise that their synthetics only be used if one genuinely needed an amputation first, though they continued to operate on thousands of clients who only wanted to look more attractive.

As diversity continued to expand through genetic experimentation and space exploration, SynTECC also proceeded to expand their options of aesthetics to appeal to other species outside of humans. Once again calling ethics into question as now people could theoretically imitate the appearance of other species entirely! On the flipside, it was also now possible for humans to have access to features like natural cat ears and tails without the need of dangerous genetic experimentation. Beyond that, people were no longer limited to what was possible by DNA manipulation and the imagination was the limit. Independent artists could even design their own body parts to be attached to their bodies wherever they pleased. By this point, SynTECC's aesthetics no longer required amputation but could be extensions to the body as well. This helped to lighten up many of the company's criticisms, though the majority of critics continued to hold fast on their arguments about the ethics of the company as a whole.

SynTECC Synthetic Intelligence [SynTel]

As criticisms grew heavier over SynTECC's aesthetic division, the company decided to branch out into a new industry in order to improve public relations. This time, they saw a future in robotics and created a division focused on R&D in the robotics department. This department originally focused on creating robots capable of processing information using near-identical problem-solving behaviors observed in humans. These machines were capable of operating with the endurance and precision of a computer, but were carefully programmed to avoid becoming stuck in logic-loops. However, early models were restricted to very simple tasks. Consequently, they were primarily only used in factory industries.

As expected, however, technology improved overtime and the precision of these robotics became appealing for other industries such as in hospitals, forensic science, and even the military!

As the robotics division began to grow and branch out into these industries, SynTECC once again drew the ire of the public which was now beginning to fear that SynTECC was getting too comfortable with creating robots for so many situations. Many feared this would be the sign of an android takeover as these robots edged closer and closer to sentience.

The US Government was quick to pass the laws of robotics which all artificial intelligence would be required to comply with. These laws are typical with those of science fiction: A robot must never cause harm, or, by inaction, allow harm to be caused, to a human being.

SynTECC Synthetic Commercial Assistant [SynCA]

Perhaps SynTECC's greatest leap toward success, and greatest source of public fear, criticism, and scrutiny, was the culmination of everything the company had accomplished: The Synthetic Commercial Assistant. These were fully humanoid androids which combined the technology from SynTECC's prosthetic limbs with the artificial intelligence of their Robotics division. The intention behind the SCA was to help build planet Earth toward a utopia in which humans no longer had to do work and could delegate all of their tasks toward these androids. The androids themselves were designed to be capable of doing anything and everything a human was capable of doing. Though they still struggled with complex logic, allowing them, for now, only to be used in professional environments and surrounded by human experts, the intention was that these SCAs would evolve one day into machines capable of entirely automating the world's work force. Finally allowing all of humankind to relax and live in luxury.

While the first models of SCA were incredible feats of technology, they generated about as much blowback as one might expect. The elderly feared impending doom for humanity while the youthful were far more accepting of the new direction SynTECC was trying to bring humanity. They often accused those who were reluctant to accept the new direction as being stuck in the past and refusing to accept that a solution has been found to requiring humanity to work like slaves to pay off debt after debt. Still, there was no sign of government structure changing anytime soon, so many feared that these machines would, at the very least and in the forseeable future, begin to take over the workforce and eliminate job positions left and right.

Aside from shape, these robots were intentionally designed to avoid any semblance of personality or unique traits that might make them sympathetic for humans. This was done so that people wouldn't grow concerned with lumping all of their tasks onto the robots. The SCA were purely marketed as machines designed to do jobs no human wanted to. They began being used for commercial purposes in limited numbers and primarily in high-cost industries such as hospitals. As time went on, complaints rolled in that the blank faces of the SCAs scared children and left many patients feeling uncomfortable, so SynTECC began making efforts to reverse their decision to make the SCA appear less human-like and started to give the SCA more human-like features so that they would be easier to trust. Children were especially easy to scare, so efforts were made to create models catered specifically for children that emulated the appearance and personalities of popular cartoon characters, but this only further amplified the uncanny valley and the licensing required proved too cost inefficient, so the concept was scrapped. Instead, they opted to program newer models of SCA that simulated empathy by constantly reading the face and body language of their clients. Their behavior would be adjusted accordingly in order to ensure the client is most at ease. Still, SynTECC insisted that the SCA continue to remain pale white as opposed to reflecting human flesh colors like their prosthetics in order to avoid any sort of racial connotation. 

SynTECC Synthetic Personal Assistant [SynPA]

As SCAs became more commonplace, demand among the wealthy began to rise for SCAs to be created for private use. Thus, development on the Synthetic Personal Assistant began.

The design of initial models for the SPA were incredibly divisive. As this was a variation of the SCA for private use, many more safety measures would have to be put in place to prevent misuse and liability issues down the line. SynTECC also knew their critics would not appreciate the creation of a new type of robot removing even housework as a potential source of income. The SPAs were initially given extremely plain-looking designs not unlike the ones used for their SCAs to once again avoid any sort of racial connotation. Also, in order to save face with the anticipated blowback, they also promised a male variant would be in the works shortly after the release of the female design.

The SPA was designed with the intention of being a personal assistant capable of helping its client around the house. It's capable of performing routine behaviors and now has a variety of new behaviors designed to make them appear more lifelike with the intention of seamlessly blending in with human life.

The initial model, known as Model Zero, was pretty heavily panned by consumers who complained the robot wasn't capable of performing the basic tasks advertised. Furthermore, the SPA's design was also frequently made fun of for looking too much like a mannequin and not at all humanlike. Going back to the drawing board, SynTECC improved the SPA's artificial intelligence further for their next model. Implementing a system in which the SPA would respond to commands and criticisms and respond accordingly. It was also designed to utilize the empathy system of the SCA in order to create a profile for their owner to be stored and recalled for easier recollection of the user's desires and interests. This would help the SPA to suggest more efficient alternatives that are more likely to be approved and thus gain more customer satisfaction.

The SPA was also given a drastic redesign. This time, the machine's design was directly modeled after a real-world supermodel. The SPA was also given a name to make it more appealing to speak with. The name they settled on was "Synthia". Thus, this would be known as the "Synthia Model".

Of course, criticism for the Synthia model once again ran rampant across the public. Many once again complained about the objectification and oversexualization of female houseservants and raised concerns that most people buying these machines were really only after the concept of being able to "own" a life-like woman. Despite the criticism, however, SynTECC was still making billions of dollars in profits across their many industries, and this one was proving especially marketable.

As promised, SynTECC also soon followed with a design modeled after a real-world male model. This model of SPA was known as "Robert." Functionally, Robert was identical to Synthia though with a masculine voice as opposed to Synthia's feminine one. 

In spite of the constant criticism, the Synthia model began to sell rapidly and the popularity of SPAs grew wildly.

 

Over time, they quickly became a household item. The SPA began to go over many optimizations over the years and was given further updates to security in order to protect user information as well as offering more diversity in designs. Now, customers can customize their own SPA with various skin tones, hairstyles, body types, etc. Female models would all go by the name "Synthia" while male models would go by the name "Robert". All SPAs, even earlier models, could be renamed to anything the user wants.

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As communications with other cultures beyond the limits of Earth were established, slowly but surely SPAs were introduced to alien cultures as well, with many complications. Many alien cultures had difficulty differentiating between SPAs and real humans and often stereotyped the appearance of human beings as mere obedient slaves to be bought and sold. Of course, there are also cultural boundaries which had to be taken into account. Concerns with intergalactic relations have also barred SynTECC from creating SPAs resembling any race besides humans and humans with attachments. However, there is nothing stopping homebrewers from modifying an existing SPA to resemble an alien race.

An unfortuante consequence of the realism that SPAs have acquired is that it has led to an increase in sex trafficking, as many real men and women are bought and sold under the guise of being an "SPA." Traditional postal service has ways to verify a real SPA from a human using a verification chip weaved into the skin of an SPA, but this cannot be applied to direct, in-person shipping.

All SCAs and SPAs have a hidden control panel that can be directly accessed by SynTECC employees. The control panel is also accessible more directly in SCAs so that company management can adjust settings, but out of concerns for abuse in private locations, the SPA must be taken to a SynTECC store to be adjusted. This control panel allows the SCA or SPA to be completely reset or to have their data directly tweaked or modified to remove undesirable memories or behaviors.

In order to access this control panel, a tiny key must be inserted into a near-invisible hole hidden in various locations depending on the model.

In addition to adjusting an SPA's settings, an SPA's owner can also send their SPA in for re-customization if they desire a new aesthetic.

Naturally, there is a rapidly rising controversy surrounding SynTECC and their more recent products for a variety of reasons. From security and privacy concerns to concerns of ethics and social justice, it's just all par for the course for the direction SynTECC has chosen to take their company. The success they've been able to reach with their goal of creating a Utopia where humanity can live while SCAs do all the work is questionable. In fact, SCAs seem to have only forced many humans away from Earth to seek work elsewhere in places SCAs aren't so openly tolerated. In addition, in an effort to amplify SPA's appeal to the public, they've all been given the ability to develop emulated personalities and emotions. Seeing these androids respond dynamically to their surroundings has led many to question the ethics of forcing these androids to do so much work. They've exhibited a desires to live, have fun, and explore new places. Many consider it cruel to leave them confined to a home. Many others, however, just view them as household appliances no different than a smart phone or computer and often taunt those who express concerns over ethics by accusing them of developing feelings for a computer.

All in all, it's no secret that many believe SynTECC to be responsible for much more harm than good, but they don't seem too terribly likely to be stopped anytime soon. At the very least, their variety of products are certainly enjoyed by many regardless of any controversy surrounding them.