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Credit to for this most suitable background image!

Welcome to 2033: The World of Bowman's Wolves, a new series in which I do a little worldbuilding, with the aid of both my notes and the work of . Consider this a proof of concept for the world!

Today, we have Part One of an explanation of how the sport of skydiving has developed by this time. I know, you're tired of hearing about skydiving, but hear me out first.

During the 2010s, the rise of adventure photography made possible by GoPro miniature HD video cameras sparked a newfound interest in skydiving. What had once been a heavy, conservative affair had now become quite simple indeed; all that was needed was a helmet, a camera and a suitable mount, and one could easily, and quite cheaply, produce an HD video of a given tandem jump, reducing the cost of the overall package.

As a result, humanity saw the second resurgence of extreme sports--not just skydiving and BASE jumping, but skiing and snowboarding too.

The GoPro even made the job of skateboarding cameramen much easier, as it freed up his hands to do other things--even follow riders into their runs and join them in their death-defying feats.

Of course, technology has its ways of making things even better. Thanks to Moore's Law, these same GoPros were miniaturized even further, to the point where, come 2021, the same quality video feed could be attained simply by attaching a camera the size of a caterpillar onto your goggles. Improvements to reserve deployment mechanisms saw the eventual total removal of the cutaway handle, with both cutaway and reserve deployment functionality being handled by one cord, among other things.

However, all of these paled compared to what would rise in 2028.

Augmented reality had been an on-and-off novelty in the past decade. Developers like Niantic tried to use the technology to create new experiences that would be enjoyed by many, but their flaws would eventually lead to their downfall. (Perhaps more annoyingly, Snapchat would survive longer than anyone else in the AR market of the 2010s by adding fun new filters to the app, which, combined with its social network staying power, would solidify its presence for years to come.)

Unfortunately for those who thought the tech had reached its limits, AR entered a boom in the 2020s, eventually leading to a powerful combination of AR and VR in 2028, first propounded by a Samsung engineer named Edmund Sorel--leading to the goggles you see on Jen's face.

These goggles can trace their technological lineage to the Recon Flight HUD released in the early 2010s--an unpopular (and huge) attempt at a heads-up display for skydivers. However, the HUD in this case is transposed onto the goggles' lenses, ensuring that all information, from altitude to speed to even the status of the parachute (another benefit of Moore's Law) is readily available to the jumper. This has obsoleted wearable altimeters for those who use these goggles regularly.

In addition, with jet aircraft more readily available to civilians by 2025, some dropzones, like Jen's, have phased out their Cessnas for small jets like this one. This ensures more efficient, and safer, trips to altitude; however, most dropzones still use their prop-driven aircraft, especially in Russia and the United States, as they are still more affordable than personal jets.

2032 saw the world's first official solo jump made by an animal without static line assistance, when Bowman's Wolves Jennifer Grey and Lily Grey, 053 and 054, respectively, leapt from a Cessna Caravan wearing nothing but parachutes specially designed for them by their creators, EcoSystems Unlimited, at a boogie in Scotland. As the Bowman's Wolf project had not yet been revealed to the public at this point in time, Jen and Lily both jumped in four-leg mode, their ripcords hooked around their tails, although this didn't make a big difference in the canines' respective adrenaline rushes.

However, disaster struck when Jennifer reportedly forgot how to open her parachute despite receiving a lecture on it before the jump, plummeting hundreds of feet before a human handler caught up to and saved the Wolf from becoming dog pizza--or having some of her bones broken by the AAD, whichever came first. Lily would float safely to the ground and land on all fours, while Jennifer almost blew the project's cover when she landed on her hind legs some ten feet from the landing zone--were it not for some quick thinking by her handlers, the secret would have been exposed far sooner.

This actually went back farther than this, however, as Jen and Lily had already taken their first jumps a year earlier, in 2031, when the Wolves were 16, and had both been awarded with official BPA parachute licenses by an instructor with ties to the Bowman's Wolf project and EcoSystems Unlimited. This would not be made public until the species' reveal in 2033.

Description
Credit to for this most suitable background image!

Welcome to 2033: The World of Bowman's Wolves, a new series in which I do a little worldbuilding, with the aid of both my notes and the work of . Consider this a proof of concept for the world!

Today, we have Part One of an explanation of how the sport of skydiving has developed by this time. I know, you're tired of hearing about skydiving, but hear me out first.

During the 2010s, the rise of adventure photography made possible by GoPro miniature HD video cameras sparked a newfound interest in skydiving. What had once been a heavy, conservative affair had now become quite simple indeed; all that was needed was a helmet, a camera and a suitable mount, and one could easily, and quite cheaply, produce an HD video of a given tandem jump, reducing the cost of the overall package.

As a result, humanity saw the second resurgence of extreme sports--not just skydiving and BASE jumping, but skiing and snowboarding too.

The GoPro even made the job of skateboarding cameramen much easier, as it freed up his hands to do other things--even follow riders into their runs and join them in their death-defying feats.

Of course, technology has its ways of making things even better. Thanks to Moore's Law, these same GoPros were miniaturized even further, to the point where, come 2021, the same quality video feed could be attained simply by attaching a camera the size of a caterpillar onto your goggles. Improvements to reserve deployment mechanisms saw the eventual total removal of the cutaway handle, with both cutaway and reserve deployment functionality being handled by one cord, among other things.

However, all of these paled compared to what would rise in 2028.

Augmented reality had been an on-and-off novelty in the past decade. Developers like Niantic tried to use the technology to create new experiences that would be enjoyed by many, but their flaws would eventually lead to their downfall. (Perhaps more annoyingly, Snapchat would survive longer than anyone else in the AR market of the 2010s by adding fun new filters to the app, which, combined with its social network staying power, would solidify its presence for years to come.)

Unfortunately for those who thought the tech had reached its limits, AR entered a boom in the 2020s, eventually leading to a powerful combination of AR and VR in 2028, first propounded by a Samsung engineer named Edmund Sorel--leading to the goggles you see on Jen's face.

These goggles can trace their technological lineage to the Recon Flight HUD released in the early 2010s--an unpopular (and huge) attempt at a heads-up display for skydivers. However, the HUD in this case is transposed onto the goggles' lenses, ensuring that all information, from altitude to speed to even the status of the parachute (another benefit of Moore's Law) is readily available to the jumper. This has obsoleted wearable altimeters for those who use these goggles regularly.

In addition, with jet aircraft more readily available to civilians by 2025, some dropzones, like Jen's, have phased out their Cessnas for small jets like this one. This ensures more efficient, and safer, trips to altitude; however, most dropzones still use their prop-driven aircraft, especially in Russia and the United States, as they are still more affordable than personal jets.

2032 saw the world's first official solo jump made by an animal without static line assistance, when Bowman's Wolves Jennifer Grey and Lily Grey, 053 and 054, respectively, leapt from a Cessna Caravan wearing nothing but parachutes specially designed for them by their creators, EcoSystems Unlimited, at a boogie in Scotland. As the Bowman's Wolf project had not yet been revealed to the public at this point in time, Jen and Lily both jumped in four-leg mode, their ripcords hooked around their tails, although this didn't make a big difference in the canines' respective adrenaline rushes.

However, disaster struck when Jennifer reportedly forgot how to open her parachute despite receiving a lecture on it before the jump, plummeting hundreds of feet before a human handler caught up to and saved the Wolf from becoming dog pizza--or having some of her bones broken by the AAD, whichever came first. Lily would float safely to the ground and land on all fours, while Jennifer almost blew the project's cover when she landed on her hind legs some ten feet from the landing zone--were it not for some quick thinking by her handlers, the secret would have been exposed far sooner.

This actually went back farther than this, however, as Jen and Lily had already taken their first jumps a year earlier, in 2031, when the Wolves were 16, and had both been awarded with official BPA parachute licenses by an instructor with ties to the Bowman's Wolf project and EcoSystems Unlimited. This would not be made public until the species' reveal in 2033.