Braindance

Overview

Braindance is a technology seen in Cyberpunk 2077 that allows a user to experience a recorded memory of another person. A braindance can be as short as a minute or as long as several hours. The technology is considered to be a powerful entertainment product because of the sensory output; the user physically feels as if they are the person doing the recording and experiences all of the same sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and physical contact.

Production

The process of recording a braindance is known as scrolling. Once an experience has successfully been scrolled, the material must be processed by an editor. Braindance editors are able to stitch together multiple scenes and modify the sensory output to enhance or dull certain moments. The software used by these editors allows them to explore a scene freely outside of the perspective of the scroller. This comes with limitations, namely in that the editor can only see what was visually perceptible by the scroller at any given time.

Due to the technology's popularity as an entertainment product, the production of braindances became an industry in and of itself. Companies were formed to produce braindances using staged scenes and actors. These companies face the challenge of trying to market these braindances while downplaying the fact that they were staged, since many users feel the sensory stimulation is lessened by the knowledge that the people involved are actors.

Views

Braindance was met with both acclaim and trepidation. Advocates of the technology emphasize its potential to solve differences between people by allowing them to experience life from another perspective. Criticisms of braindance focus on the addictive nature and the potential for surveillance.

Illegal Braindances

Illegal braindances, also known as XBDs, are braindances that depict shocking material, such as violence, death, and extreme fetishes that are sadomasochistic or otherwise taboo. These braindances are often scrolled using unwilling participants and sold on the black market. XBDs are especially dangerous because the user can potentially suffer negative effects from viewing them; a braindance of someone's death can stop the heart of the viewer, for example.

Controversy in Cyberpunk 2077

On December 7, 2020, a Game Informer staff member reported suffering a major epileptic seizure from the braindance mechanic. The seizure was triggered by the rapid flashing of red and white lights on the braindance headset, which was said to be "much like the actual device neurologists use in real life to trigger a seizure when they need to trigger one for diagnosis purposes." Shortly after this report, CD Projekt RED added an epileptic seizure warning to appear before the title screen, stating that the only other warning existed in the game's EULA agreement. On December 11, 2020, an update for the game was released that included a modified version of the animation in question.