The first episode, "The Body," was about medical technology, following a man who accidentally falls out of a window and is taken to a high-tech hospital.
The second episode, "The City," focused on households and urban living in the future. The plot involved a boy named Paul Gater who releases his holographic shark pet into the city's network, unintentionally becoming a virus.
The third and final episode, "The World," involved issues of an international nature, such as spaceflight, energy crises, and potential geopolitical conflicts. In the story, American and Chinese scientists are researching more efficient solar panels onboard a Space Elevator, while their governments end up on the verge of declaring war over the remaining fossil fuel reserves.
2057 provides examples of:
- Auto-Doc: The surgeon does not operate directly on the patient, but instead uses a holographic interface to control a surgical robot.
- Automated Automobiles: Cars are capable of driving themselves in the future, assisted by sensors in the road, thus reducing traffic jams and accidents.
- Brain/Computer Interface: A small chip is used to help injured or disabled people walk and perform other actions.
- China Takes Over the World: The People's Republic of China is shown to be a rival superpower to the United States in 2057.
- Computer Virus: As Paul used his grandfather's laptop to upload his holographic shark to the city's network, he did not know that the laptop had an "ancient" virus that the city was not prepared to handle. Although Paul was the one who did the hacking, Paul's grandfather is blamed for this and gets into trouble with the police (again), including Paul's mother. He and his grandson head to the central city archive and the old communication headquarters to fix the problem.
- The Cracker: Paul's grandfather used to be a cybercriminal, having spent eight years in prison for hacking into the medical insurance database and almost wiping it out.
- Cyborg: People can have artificial organs such as hearts, but they can be expensive.
- Data Crystal: In the second episode, the city archive uses transparent crystalline cubes to store information for long periods of time.
- Exty Years from Publication: The series was released in 2007, and takes place 50 years later.
- Everything Is an iPod in the Future: Devices, vehicles, and buildings in 2057 tend to have a sleek, smooth look.
- Everything Is Online: The "shark virus" manages to bring an entire city to a halt because almost every system and service is connected to the Internet.
- Faux Death: Artificial blood can serve as a short-term form of suspended animation in an emergency.
- Flying Car: A sleek flying ambulance is shown in the first episode, landing near a man who fell out of a window. The Moller M400 Skycar is featured in a documentary segment (but as of 2021, it still has not "flown" without a tether and beyond a few meters above the ground).
- Good Old Robot: The Gater family in the second episode has an ASIMO robot assistant, which at this point is decades old.
- Hollywood Hacking: Paul uses his grandfather's old laptop to hack into the city's computer network to display his holographic shark pet as an advertisement, managing to do so by using "the internal system of the police department," which his mom works for. He even says "I'm in."
- Hologram: Volumetric projected images can be seen all over the place, from large signs and advertisements to small virtual pets.
- Holographic Terminal: Floating interfaces are used by health insurance agents and at a surgical procedure.
- Insurance Fraud: The protagonist of the first episode tries to avoid the higher premiums associated with drinking alcohol by using urine samples that are not his. When discrepancies are discovered, this puts him in the non-insured ward and officially cancels his surgery, but a generous surgeon performs it anyway using a deceased patient's insurance policy.
- Invisibility Cloak: Used by militaries in 2057, armor with small cameras connected to screens on the other side are able to make soldiers invisible.
- Matter Replicator: The closest thing to this would be 3D printing, used to make an artificial heart in the first episode.
- Post-Peak Oil: In the third episode, there is a global energy crisis as oil and natural gas are running out. Electricity and car usage are being rationed, and the United States and China have tensions over reserves in Central Asia. International researchers on a space elevator are on a race against time to develop solar panels that could effectively replace fossil fuels.
- Powered Armor: Soldiers of the future are said to have "smart armor" that is soft and flexible but can harden when a bullet hits it. It can expand and contract to provide CPR and alert a command center during an emergency, and even act as an Invisibility Cloak.
- The Power of the Sun: The development of nuclear fusion and its challenges are talked about in a documentary segment of the third episode.
- Red China: In the third episode, the Chinese government wants the solar panel formula for themselves, and takes the wife of the Chinese scientist as a hostage. As other forms of communication are being monitored by the Chinese government, the Chinese and American scientists work together to send the data using laser beams, not only to China, but the rest of the world.
- Smart House: They are able to adjust lights and temperature to your liking, order groceries, and also have medical sensors to monitor your body and send that data to your health insurance company.
- Space Elevator: In the third episode, one made out of carbon nanotubes is used to transport scientists to an international research laboratory dedicated to developing more efficient solar panels. It is about to be shut down in a few weeks as they have not been successful, but then a formula to produce an effective panel is accidentally discovered.
- Surveillance as the Plot Demands: The police uses public surveillance cameras to track down Paul's grandfather.
- Technologically Blind Elders: Averted, as Paul's grandfather was born in the early Internet age and is a master at programming.
- Title by Year: The show is simply titled 2057.
- Virtual Pet: Paul Gater in the second episode has a holographic dolphin, and later gets a holographic talking orange shark coded by his grandfather.
- Worst Aid: Patients without insurance are dumped into a low-priority ward, without so much as simple plastic dividers between their beds. Even today, this would be a horrendous practice and could easily lead to outbreaks of disease.
