These eight films predicted modern technology

Note: We have used commission links in this article and marked them with “*”. If an order is placed via these links, t3n.de receives a commission.

In 1989 it was still a long way off, now an American has recreated Marty McFly’s hoverboard from “Back to the Future”. Other technologies from sci-fi films have long since become a reality.

A man jets several meters on a hoverboard over the asphalt along a street. That sounds like Robert Zemecki’s cult film “Back to the Future” from 1989. On the board is not actor Michael J. Fox aka Marty McFly, but Hunter Kowald. The American describes himself as a “Hoverboard Aircraft Developer” and on April 24, 2021 caused a storm of cheers among sci-fi enthusiasts – and probably everyone – with a video in which he hovers over an intersection on his hoverboard Green goblins of this world.

This man is living in 2030! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/fgXLCEPldS

– Buitengebieden (@BuitengebiedenB) April 24, 2021

Hunter Kowald skilfully maneuvers his vehicle past advertisements over a typical American intersection. Between the swanky pickups and trucks, the aircraft hobbyist looks like a time traveler on his illuminated hoverboard. According to Kowald, loads of over 200 kilos can be transported through the air on his drone. What looks dangerous is even halfway accident-proof. According to their own information two motors and the power supply system can fail and a safe landing is still possible. The hoverboard also has FAA aircraft navigation lights.

The inventor has not yet revealed whether Kowald wants to use his hoverboard like Marty McFly for a good cause, or whether he is more like the green goblin from Spiderman. One thing is certain: the video is one of the many pieces of evidence that science fiction does not have to remain fiction. Here are ten more technologies that have made it from the screen into our everyday lives.

Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report” (2002) takes place in the year 2054 and has a lot of futuristic technologies in the luggage. A particular focus is on interfaces that enable people to interact with digital processes without having to physically use an input device.

The film delves deep into the complexities of precognitive technology in the future, exploring hidden identities as Tom Cruise tries to prevent murders before they are even committed.

Disregarding the time travel element, some of the things touched on in the Minority Report have become a reality. The potential shown is still far from exhausted, but gesture-based control is now possible with many smartphones. Apple’s Face ID can be mentioned here as an example.

In his 1990 film Darkman, director Sam Raimi predicted an important scientific development. The film chronicles the life of a brilliant scientist who wants to avenge crime bosses after they pronounced him dead and burned him alive. Main character Peyton Westlake worked on creating synthetic skin to reconstruct his face, which had been disfigured by the burns.

A process that is now actually possible with a 3D printer. Even human organs can now be produced this way. In 2019, the first human heart was printed entirely from fabric in Israel.

In the sci-fi classic “Total Recall” from 1990, set in 2084, there are already self-driving cars. The “Johnnycab” did not make a particularly modern impression and the robot-like driver looked quite scary, but it was all the better for driving autonomously – despite a skeptical-looking Arnold Schwarzenegger,

Schwarzenegger’s dream from “Total Recall” to relocate to Mars doesn’t seem too far away either. But that’s another topic.

In his work, based on a short story by Philip K. Dick, the Dutch director Paul Verhoeven created a fictional world that does not really correspond to today’s reality. However, autonomous driver assistance systems are already being installed in new cars and are constantly being further developed and researched. Companies like Tesla have already brought this vision to life.

The film “Elysium” is not too old when it started in 2013 and is set in a post-apocalyptic world in the year 2154, which has little to do with the one we currently live in. Matt Damon has the gigantic task of reuniting two worlds in which two very different classes of people live.

While Matt Damon’s task will hopefully never become a reality, another aspect of “Elysium” has long been: The people in the film by director Neill Blomkamp live in space stations. This is already possible today without any problems. Greetings from the ISS. Astronauts work and live on the international space station around 400 kilometers above the surface of the earth, sometimes for months – and have been for over 20 years. While the ISS will abdicate by 2028 at the latest, other space stations could follow its model. The Space analyst Laura Forczyk assumes that there will still be many successful space stations in the future, the areas of application of which can vary from economic aspects to pure luxury objects. China recently put the first module for its own space station into orbit.

A little more than 50 years ago, in 1968, “2001: A Space Odyssey” premiered. The film is now considered to be one of the most defining sci-fi films of all time. Director Stanley Kubrick created a vision of the future that anticipated the technological advancement of speech recognition and artificial intelligence.

The supercomputer HAL plays a leading role in “2001: A Space Odyssey”. Among other things, the AI ​​played a game of chess against Dr. Frank Poole. This scenario was to become a reality as early as 1996. The world chess champion Garri Kasparov competed in the USA against the IBM computer Deep Blue – and lost. The triumphant advance of artificial intelligence began and is today an important part of many modern developments. When it comes to intelligence, today’s AI is now light years ahead of the supercomputer HAL from “2001”, to put it in sci-fi jargon. One can only hope that in reality the AI ​​does not develop a life of its own similar to that of the HAL 9000.

Classic battle droids as known from the Star Wars epic, which has existed since 1977, have not yet been sent to the crisis areas of our planet, but the Boston Dynamics company has already developed some impressive prototypes that at least show in which direction it can go .

The dog-like Robodog spot, which has even been used by the US police on missions, achieved particular fame here. Creating freely moving robots or droids that behave in a similar way to humans, can communicate and make decisions independently is a much greater challenge. However, not one that seems impossible. Should problems arise, George Lucas may also be able to help. He should be very familiar with droids.

The Internet of Things and the associated smart home technology also had their first appearance much earlier than expected. In 1977 the film “Demon Seed” came into the cinemas, which was shown in Germany under the title “Des Teufels Saat”. In the sci-fi horror flick, computer scientist Alex Harris created “Proteus IV”, an artificial intelligence with an integrated neural network. Initially, the computer is supposed to be used to heal leukemia, but it quickly develops a life of its own.

“Proteus IV” is beginning to take control of all technology and devices in the house. In short: “Proteus IV” becomes the control center of a smart home. Like its real counterparts, the computer could control lights and door locks, manage the house’s alarm system, record videos of the entrance area and even operate the automatic pool cover. In 1977, “Proteus IV” practically combined everything that the smart products from Ring, Philips Hue and Co. can do today. Only it wasn’t quite so harmless.

“Back to the Future” is a classic that delighted audiences in 1985 with a look back at 2015 and was in some cases not so wrong. In the second part of the film, drones are used to walk dogs. In reality, this doesn’t happen all that often at the moment, but it is theoretically possible, as it always does Videos on the net demonstrate.

In another scene, Marty is attacked by a shark, which after the initial shock turns out to be a hologram. Such attacks can be admired nowadays at least through your own smartphone. Augmented Reality has reached a wide audience at the latest with the hype surrounding Pokemon Go and is used in a wide variety of areas.

Many devices such as tablets or smartphones are now secured with the fingerprint of the owner. Similar sensors already existed in “Back to the Future” when the police officers used their fingerprints to unlock a door.

Hoverboard, tablets and self-driving cars – a few years ago still dreams of the future, today reality. While directors and screenwriters used to be visionaries, today it is often difficult to follow the daily developments of real tech developments. We can only hope that the creative people in the film industry can still provide us with crazy ideas. But as long as we don’t all have to choose between a red and a blue pill in run-down hotels at some point, everything is fine.

You might be interested in that too