In Black Mirror, the most prominent technological element is clearly the interface or chip that characters have implanted on the side of their heads. This device enables a direct connection between the human brain and technology, allowing for immersive virtual reality experiences, memory access, or brain stimulation to simulate realistic sensations.

This technology already exists today and is being developed by Neuralink, which is working on brain-computer interface implants. Their goal is precisely to send and receive information directly between the brain and a computer.

The second episode of the series (Bete Noire) is perhaps the most fictional one. Still, while the manipulation of reality is currently pure science fiction (not venturing into quantum hypotheses), it is indeed possible to implant false memories in a brain. For example, in the lab of Susumu Tonegawa, a Nobel Prize-winning biologist (Physiology, 1987), scientists have successfully implanted false memories in mice. This shows not only that memory is far less reliable than we think, but also that it can be manipulated to make a sentient being believe things happened when they never did—just like in the series.

Episode 5 (Apologia) is, in my opinion, one of the most realistic. We see a company using a brain-computer interface to clarify the character’s memories based on photographs.
Today, AI-generated videos and 3D scenes already have the ability to generate virtual environments based on a single photograph. So, when we combine this capability with the previously mentioned brain-tech elements, I don’t think we’re far from achieving something similar to what the episode depicts.

In this case, Synthetic Memories is a company dedicated to recovering lost visual memories using AI-generated imagery. So, literally, Synthetic Memories could be the real-life equivalent of the fictional company portrayed in the episode.

Note:
Special thanks to the YouTube channel EstudioTech, where I discovered some of the companies I’ve referenced in this post. In one of their video (Spanish lang), they talk specifically about these parallels. It was rewarding to find someone who shared the same thoughts I had.