PMR: Maya

Indian scifi has thus far been reinterpretation of mythology and fantasy. Maya is the first hard scifi romance novel to be published in India. Today people in Long Distance Relationships (LDRs) interact with each other across continents – as do Dan and Maya. This is their story.Dans work involves creating commercially viable Augmented Reality solutions. The recession and an explosion of data-cops are drying out his streams of income. He turns to close friend Krish a researcher in Artificial Intelligence in the hope that they can come up with ideas for the entertainment market. His girlfriend Maya and her family return to India due to her fathers illness.Dan and Maya continue their relationship via “Digital Surrogates” experiencing human touch through Haptics. If you were in a long distance relationship but could “see” and “feel” your lover in your living room sitting right next to you would distance matter?Krish gets a job at the prestigious A.I.R.I (Artificial Intelligence Research Incubator) in Mumbai. Using AIRIs lab Krish and Dan create an advanced visor with Augmented Intelligence built in. They call it the Wizer.A Board member Mr Singh at AIRI sees potential in the Wizer other than what Dan and Krish have in mind.At a test in a nightclub things go wrong...tragedy strikes.What if your loved one was taken away? Would life be the same? After all your relationship with your lover or your family was via technology – Skype Facebook virtual reality. Now what if a Digital Surrogate was given a “mind” and could remember your moments together? These are the questions and the ethics looked at in the story as we see the romance between Dan and Maya evolve.Maya looks at how emerging technology and artificial intelligence will redefine intimate personal relationships—even after death.The hard science researched for the story details how AI will merge with humans – allowing us to live via Digital Surrogates created in our own likeness—Dirrogates.