Bringing the Future to the Present – 4 Tech Pieces Almost Here and Now

September 10, 2015 – Welcome to first-time guest contributor Jared Wade, a NBA columnist at FanSided; editor at 8 Points, 9 Seconds; contributor at The City Paper Bogota; and a freelance writer elsewhere. Follow him on Twitter @Jared_Wade. In today’s posting he describes four technologies that we perceive as being far in the future but are almost here in the present changing the way we live and work.

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One of the best parts about movies set in the future are gadgets. In “Men in Black” it’s the mind eraser. In “Minority Report” it’s motion-control computers. And in “Iron Man” it’s the suit. These are sci-fi’s contribution to innovation often inspiring actual invention. Of course we cannot make people forget the past instantly like Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones but I’m sure someone is working on it. And as for Iron Man just look at what the military and the disability industry are inventing in exoskeleton technology. So much of the future technology we see in the movies is far closer to the present than we may think. Among these are four which I have chosen to write about. These include flexible displays, night-vision, 3-D printers and hoverboards. Hoverboards you say? Yes even “Back to the Future” has become the present.

Flexible Phones

The Samsung YOUM is the first flexible smartphone ever made. As with the giant, curved flat-screen displays that take up walls, the display features OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology, which won the company a prestigious distinction award for innovation at the January 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Say goodbye to that cracked glass iPhone and Android screen once and for all. With a flexible screen you will be able to roll it up and put it in your pocket. Right now The Galaxy Edge with its curved display is the closest thing commercially available. But soon flexible screen models for smartphones, tablets and televisions will be commonplace.

Night Vision Security Cameras

Night vision scopes have always been a technology associated with the military. We were introduced to the florescent green glow of night vision during Operation Desert Storm in the first Gulf War. CNN made a name for itself with live, 24-hour coverage of the continual aerial bombardment of Baghdad using cameras equipped with this technology back in 1991. Some thought it wouldn’t be long before we all could have night vision goggles at our bedside. Well it may not be at the bedside as of yet but high-definition night surveillance cameras are available for home security systems now and they are not expensive. So much for cat burglars sneaking through your house at night. Wait a minute, that’s no burglar. That is my cat!

3-D Printers

Why buy things when you can just print them right in your home office? According to the website Hongkiat, people have already 3-D printed acoustic guitars, sneakers, light fixtures, iPad stands, clocks and coffee cups. One person even 3-D printed a working gun. While this is not recommended, it does show that this technology, known collectively as additive manufacturing is quickly going domestic. Imagine breaking a highly prized ceramic cup. Well now just download the 3D graphic image and load your 3D printer with the right “ink” material and you’ll have produced a replacement as good as the original. These printers are getting very inexpensive and simpler to use. They should become an everyday household addition for your home handy person. However, I wouldn’t recommend using them to create a weapons arsenal. That would be crazy, right?

Hoverboards

The world of “Back to the Future II” was supposed to be here in 2015. We all wanted a DeLorean that could fly and go through time. Self-tying shoes seemed like a great idea. And then there was Marty’s encounter with the hoverboard. Since the movie came out every skateboard aficionado has probably dreamed about what it would be like to have a hoverboard! My kingdom for a hoverboard.

And although it seems least likely that such a device could transition from the screen to reality, it appears we are getting close. Lexus recently unveiled an attempt to build a floating skateboard. Though we don’t know exactly how the car maker pulled off its sorcery (could it just be camera tricks?), Wired Magazine speculates that it is using magnets. This means that we won’t be able to take any hoverboards out on the open road any time soon, but that closed-course riding in an artificial environment could be here soon.

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Let me know if there are other technologies in science fiction that have inspired recent invention. I know Jared only chose four of many. For example we have had an XPrize contest on the go to inspire inventors to duplicate Star Trek’s tricorder. And recently NASA put a cappucino machine on the International Space Station that recycles urine to produce a great cup of coffee….almost like a Star Trek replicator. Come to think of it the 3D printer is a Star Trek replicator. And how about the guy who invented that transporter…..wait a minute that was the mad scientist in “The Fly.” Oops! That didn’t work.