In the future of Lagos Iwajuhovering street vendors approach flying cars with steaming snacks, city tricycles evolve into small helicopters, and robots diligently trim the hedges of lavish estates.
A collaboration between pan-African media company Kugari and Walt Disney Animation Studios. Iwaju ” is a gorgeous Afrofuturist sci-fi adventure set nearly 100 years from now. In the talented hands of director Olufikayo Jiki Adeola, production designer Hamid Ibrahim, cultural consultant Tolwalakin Olowofoyeku, and a group of artists and designers from Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, and Nigeria, the series brings the vibrant city of Nigeria to life. Visualizing an ambitious technology landscape. The key is not to lose the humanity of the population and ignore social realities.
“'Iwájú' is part of a Yoruba phrase, and it's actually 'Ojó iwájú,' which literally means 'that day,' which basically means the future,” Olowofojeku says of the series' title. explains.
'Iwájú' trailer: Disney's captivating limited series set in future Nigeria
The series' fun protagonist is Thora Martins (voiced by Simisola Gbadamosi), a smart, enthusiastic, and empathetic 10-year-old. His tech executive father, Tunde (Dayo Okeniyi), loves his daughter terribly but cannot spend enough time with her. with her. Nevertheless, their lives are filled with coveted technology that highlights their class and privilege in Lagos. And it's here that the series really gets creative with the types of devices that power futuristic cities and who can use them.
How technology marks class and privilege Iwaju
Tora and Tunde live in a fountain-fronted architectural wonder on the wealthy island of Ikoyi, off the populous mainland, where Tora's best friend Cole Adesola (Siji Soetan) lives in the bustling Ajegunle market. lives in a mansion. Cole is a technology whiz who works as Tunde and Thora's gardener, and while he obviously doesn't have access to all the fancy technology that would make their lives easier, he certainly knows how to make it work.
“Lagos has a mainland and an island, and there is a body of water that actually separates the two regions,” production designer Hamid Ibrahim said in a press statement. “One side of Lagos is mostly filled with wealthy people and the other side is not as wealthy as the other side.The wealthy side is unique and to talk about the culture of Lagos, we , designed it to have carved buildings, as if to speak of the culture of Lagos. “Wealthy people lived among the artworks that represented Lagos. On the mainland, tourists They are taking the extreme step of building a house by modifying a commercial container.
The script, written by Adeola and Halima Hudson, not only contrasts Tola's privileged, naive life with Cole's street smarts and practicality, but also draws particular attention to the digital divide in their lives. Their best friendship is documented in photos taken with Thora's luxury smartwatch while Cole's smartphone is always on. Thora erases levels in a virtual reality game (embedded in pink glasses), which is Cole's first time using this technology. Tora's family literally uses a luxury flying car to get through traffic, but Cole barely has enough money to pay for his sick mother's medicine.
Best friends: Tora and this.
Credit: Kugari / Disney
But a world full of technology has a sinister side as well as a sign of class and privilege. Iwaju, the series' villain Bode D'Sousa (Femi Branch) wields an arsenal of gadgets and artificial intelligence to achieve domination in Lagos. Bode built a criminal empire beneath the city, and began to use technology and physical power for nefarious purposes.
To create such a complex and futuristic story setting, Iwaju, the production team has dreamed up a treasure trove of sophisticated devices and gadgets.And because we love when TV and movies dabble in impressive fictional technology (more black leopard to loki) We've collected five of the technological wonders that stood out from the animated series.
5 innovations we love Iwaju
1. Smart bonnet
We love innovative beauty technology. In episode 1, Thora sleeps smartly using her bonnet to choose a hairstyle for the day without lifting a finger. Cher's wardrobe is like software. ignorance Alternatively, you can use a smart mirror or brush, but even better, once Thora has established her style, the device will actively interact with her appearance under the silk. It takes about 2 seconds and you're ready for the day.
However, Thora doesn't leave every element of her personal style to the technology in her room. When her personal assistant robot tries to suggest different outfits for the day, Thora ignores everything the robot chooses and chooses something a little more flashy and expressive for her 10th birthday. Only the tiger knows if she will go to Peacock Print or go home.
2. Flying Peddler
While traveling in his family's flying smart car, Tora notices a fleet of flying robot peddlers buzzing around the road selling various delicacies. Each is equipped with a video screen that shows the seller's face, and a robotic arm sits on top of the robot to manage the products and transactions. I don't think you really need these unless you have flying cars flying around in the sky, but once you get in your car and go, peddling techniques will come into play as well.
3. Smart glasses
Well, these are already in our lives, but smart glasses Iwaju The technology makes it obvious that someone is using it, and it actually looks pretty good. The closest thing to smart glasses that actually look stylish are Meta's latest Ray-Ban smart glasses, the AirGo 3 glasses, or the XREAL Air glasses (Oppo's recently announced AR glasses also look pretty subtle) ).
In the series, Tunde and Bode both use AR glasses for work, but in both cases the lenses turn purple to indicate they are in use. This is at least polite to others. Nevertheless, they completely violate people's privacy by the information they provide using facial recognition technology. And through Bode's glasses, we see that Tunde is wearing some kind of encryption tool that scrambles the display of his face for intrusion devices.
4. Garden robot
I feel this a little jetsons, but still cute. To manage Tora's vast grounds, Cole uses her gardening robot to trim the edges. It's a bit malfunctioning and shuts down easily, but it's more than just a robot mower, and luckily Cole is a knowledgeable technical engineer who can easily get it back on track.
5. Smart pet
That's not to say that our pets aren't smart. My dog is the smartest, don't try me. but, Iwaju, Thora's new pet agama lizard Otin (voiced by Welsh Opia) comes with a little extra security. It's actually a robot with advanced AI oozing out of its large eyeballs. Equipped with GPS to scan any environment for potential threats and facial recognition, tiger lizards are versatile reptiles. As the series progresses, Otin becomes more self-aware and understands his purpose and connection to Thora.
Otin is more than just a lizard.
Credit: Kugari / Disney
The real reason for Tunde's robot guardian is darker than a simple gimmick. He's designing a robot to protect children from kidnappings in Lagos. He's never heard a better reason to have a robot pet.
Iwaju is now streaming on Disney+.
