If it sounds like science fiction, it sort of is. Such predictions have been made in science fiction before, but outside of the genre, they have never been fully explored from a scientific perspective. “Studying the behavior of future humans interacting with future technology in a future social world raises unusual challenges for behavioral scientists, which call for unconventional methods,” the researchers said. Will virtual reality experiments that introduce people to technologies that do not yet exist be able to accurately predict their impact on society? For now, that remains in the realm of science fiction.