For anyone that has even the slightest affiliation with this blog will know that we are slightly geeky (by which we mean a big bit geeky) with a real infatuation with all things sci-fi. The great thing is, while this used to be a little bit niche and weird, it is now part of the mainstream thanks to some seriously awesome Hollywood films (#Marvel).
But what has made this sudden transition into the mainstream so awesome is the fact we can now have in-depth conversations on this subject, and we had one the other day that was totally intriguing. It was about which movies managed to predict the future accurately. Sure, they may not have delved into the technicalities too much, but the basic premise was there enough to make it seem like they had pulled their iconic concepts straight from the future.
Touchscreen technology
Back in 2002, the film Minority Report depicted a world where touchscreen tech would become a thing. Sure, it may have had Tom Cruise doing all sorts of swishes and flash movements on a holographic surface, but that’s no doubt just a matter of time. The point is everything these days is touchscreen. Our phones and computers, the dashboards in our cars and the systems we use to order food in restaurants. Everything is going touch screen and that’s that. (Oh, and Minority Report also predicted personalized advertising, which is a big thing too).
Wearable Tech
Every nerd on the planet loves that scene in Back To The Future II where they are sat around the dinner table wearing those weird-looking, high-tech goggles. Oh, how we laughed. But look at the world now. Virtual Reality is the next big thing and Augmented Reality already is. Just look at the Google Daydream View headset that the Pixel slots into. That’s accessible VR. Then there are apps like Instagram and Snapchat that thrive off their AR capabilities. The future is now, Marty.
Driverless Cars
We remember the film I, Robot for a lot of reasons, from the Robots getting out of control to Will Smith being ripped. But we also remember it for the cars. Not only was it Audi’s first major “we’re back” moment, the cars were also autonomous. Ridiculous, right. Well, no. Sure, we’re not sure about how the legal side of things will work, which is something we’ll leave to the personal injury and criminal defense attorneys out there, but the technology has already been developed. Tesla, Google, Uber, Volvo, BMW; these are big names that are in the driverless race.
Virtual Assistants
We may not be at the stage where we are falling in love with our gadgets (even if we do adore our MacBook Pro) like Joaquin Phoenix does in Her, but the rise of the intelligent personal assistant is absolutely here. There is Siri, Cortana and (the rather boringly named) Google Now, all of which offer up increasingly intelligent assistants built into our phones. Yes, they may still be gimmicky and strictly for people who like to say to their iPhones “I see a little silhouetto of a man,” but they are becoming more and more useful.
Screen Addiction
If you haven’t seen the Pixar film Wall-E, then you need to. It is spot on in its prediction of people being glued to their personal screens. It’s as simple as that.
