- Black Mirror season 7 has landed on Netflix
- It features a piece of tech that messes with your mind
- So what is a Nubbin and why are people talking about it?
Nubbin Black Mirror tech has been doing the rounds following the arrival of Black Mirror season 7 – but what is it and why is it so eerie?
The latest bunch of episodes of Charlie Brooker’s dystopian series have just landed on Netflix. Throughout the season’s six new instalments, audiences are pulled back into a sinister science-fiction-y world that shares more than a little DNA with our own digital-obsessed reality.
Read more: Black Mirror’s Charlie Brooker won’t watch Severance
Most of season 7’s episodes feature a piece of tech called a Nubbin. This tiny piece of tech is made by TCKR Systems – a fictional company that features in various Black Mirror episodes. Within the world of the show, characters can use this device to blur the boundaries between the real world and a digital one.
Netflix has committed to the bit, releasing a trailer detailing the life-changing benefits (is that the right word?) of a Nubbin. They even sent some to some TikTok influencers, making the boundaries between fact and fiction even murkier.
Read more: Black Mirror season 7: USS Callister sequel plot
So far, so very Black Mirror – but what does Nubbin Black Mirror tech actually do – and where might we have seen it before? Let’s take a look.
Nubbin Black Mirror tech explained
According to the company behind the Nubbin, the perfect reality is “all in your head.”
Their answer to this problem is the Nubbin, a small, circular device that users stick to their temple. Once activated, their eyes fog over and the lines between reality and digital fiction begin to blur.
According to a trailer featured on the TCKR Systems website, Nubbins use a “new Gen9 processor” to provide “increased temporal stability” and “full spectrum memory curation.”
Makes perfect sense, right?
Together, these allow their users to access “virtual consciousness,” something that touches on various aspects of day-to-day life – from gaming to nostalgia and memory.
Like most things on Black Mirror, the whole thing looks harmless enough. Even its name is kind of cute. However, this is Brooker we’re talking about, so naturally Nubbins aren’t as innocent as they look.
Is TCKR Systems a real company?
No, TCKR Systems isn’t a real company – but you’d be forgiven for thinking it might be.
While no one quite knows what its acronym title stands for, that hasn’t stopped it from launching a shiny-looking website. The whole thing is very reminiscent of the type of thing any Silicon Valley tech firm might launch.
According to its About section, TCKR “has always been at the cutting edge of neural exploration and simulated existence. It’s been pushing the boundaries of virtual consciousness for decades, from gaming innovations to nostalgia immersion and implantable technology.
“The solution to our challenges won’t come from changing our world, but entering a new one,” it continues. “TCKR’s latest innovation unlocks limitless experiences through a single, seamless interface.”
Has Nubbin Black Mirror tech been featured on the show before?
If you think Nubbins look familiar, you’re not wrong. Brooker has used them on a number of occasions in various Black Mirror episodes.
Fans will no doubt recognize them from episodes like fan-favorite San Junipero, Playlets and the hugely popular USS Callister – a story that gets its own sequel in Black Mirror season 7.
They’ve become one of the few connective tissue instruments that link many Black Mirror storylines. With that in mind, we’re sure we haven’t seen the last of these mind-altering Nubbins.
