Image Source: whaculture.com
“Great Scott!” Is what Doc Brown always exclaimed in the Back to the Future franchise, but now it seems that it is the future that is catching up with us. Many times people have bemoaned the fact that movies and television shows made forty to fifty years ago had depicted devices of the future that we still don’t have. Only thing we had in common with shows like star trek was we had doors that slid open as well, but ours didn’t make the cool shhhhhik sound. Well now there are people who are installing the air powered sliding doors into their own homes. So we are finally starting to catch up to the future imagined by movie and television show designers from fifty years ago. 3D and VFX artists have the creative skill sets and are in a somewhat unique position to influence future technology Here are five futuristic cool things that either exist or we really want to exist that we have seen in movies and video games for a long time.
1. Touch Screen Mobile Devices
It may seem ridiculous to think about now, but touch screen interaction has only truly been mobile and part of the mainstream culture for less than a decade. It was the release of Apple’s original iPhone in June of 2007 that started to change the mobile platform industry. Before phones started changing to touch screens the only times you would seem to find a touch screen would be in some kind of interactive directory or perhaps part of a science exhibit. The older touch screens however were much more cumbersome so it was not quite the future that we had dreamed of after watching Sci-Fi like Star Trek: The Next Generation, Iron Man, and Minority Report.
Image Source: tek-lado.com
2. Star Trek Replicator
In Star Trek: The Next Generation there were devices called replicators. In theory this is what they did,
“A replicator works by rearranging subatomic particles, which are abundant everywhere in the universe, to form molecules and arrange those molecules to form the object. For example, to create a pork chop, the replicator would first form atoms of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, etc., then arrange them into amino acids, proteins, and cells, and assemble the particles into the form of a pork chop.” – Wikipedia
Now while the technology for this isn’t completely (or as far as I know even close) around yet, I can’t help but notice the similarity between a replicator and 3D printing technology. I mean they have begun printing everything from gun pieces to medical life saving splints. There are people working on the ability to one day print new body parts, and it could be closer than you think.
3. Back to the Future Hover Board
Image Source: nilsguadagnin.com
I think at some point we have all wanted a hover board from Back to the Future, and last year Mattel actually made one! But, as Gizmodo points out in their review, while it’s a dream come true that the hover board became a reality, it does not live up to the hype and is not actually what fans wanted… at all. It looks the part and sounds like the part, but it does not deliver. That being said, there seems to be much better technology than what the toy makers used, as shown in this video by Nils Guadagnin of his replica Back to the Future Hover Board.
4. The Lightsaber
Image Source: planetxstudios.com
I still remember making the whirring noises and static crashes whenever a sizable cardboard tube was found to be my new “lightsaber”, and while yes the new toys are great in that they look the part and make the noises for you, they still aren’t the real deal. However, it seems a youtube user is on the right track for making one! Though on second thought even at that size it looks dangerous, maybe I will stick with the toys.
5. Holographic Performers
Image Source: ign.com
First time I can remember being wowed by a holograph was watching Star Wars: A New Hope and the sultry voice and vision of Princess Leia pleading with Obi-Wan Kenobi, her only hope. Now holograms aren’t just delivering messages, but entire musical performances. In the high profile cases so far, it has been a dead performer who has joined the stage or animated characters who never really existed. It was a year ago, in 2012, at Coachella Music Festival in California that Tupac Shakur, who was killed in 1996, got on stage for a performance as a hologram with Snoop Dogg. Needless to say, the crowd loved it, and the technology wowed them as well. Earlier, in 2006, the Gorillaz animated holograms performed at the Grammys with Madonna. The technology has been steadily improving, and there are many concerts now around the world that incorporate holograms.
Image Source: thesource.com
I think it is fantastic that production designers, 3D artists, and VFX artists can have a lasting creative impact on not only those around them but the possible future of technology. The technology seen in movies and video games becomes inspiration for those creating the technology of the future.