10 Ways That Science Fiction Inspired Today's Top Technology Trends

To celebrate the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the computer science program at the New Jersey Institute of Technology looked at some of the ways that science fiction inspired today's top technology trends in their latest video. Inspired by their creation, here is a list that explores 10 groundbreaking achievements in computer science that were first visions from science fiction.

1. Holograms

Via giphy.com

In Star Wars, Episode IV, Luke Skywalker receives his call to action when R2-D2 plays a holographic message from Princess Leia, asking Obi-Wan Kenobi for help. The scene has inspired countless individuals to imagine how holograms could work in daily life, and in 2016, we can turn our smartphones into hologram projectors and bring musicians back from the dead to grace the stage at popular concerts.

2. Self-Driving Cars

Joseph Lapin created the Gif / Via youtube.com

In some of my favorite movies, including Total Recall, iRobot, The 5th Element, and Minority Report, sci-films have certainly presented incredible worlds where cars drive on their ouwn. But now with Google and Tesla, self-driving cars are becoming a reality, and they're currently being tested. My favorite scene with self-driving cars takes place in iRobot, when Will Smith takes over the controls of the car to avoid a series of attack robots.

3. Gesture-Controlled Personal Devices

In Stanley Kubrick's classic "2001: A Space Odyssey," the crew is seen eating and watching videos on news pads, and in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Captain Picard and the crew on the U.S.S. Enterprise have access to touch-based control panels called pads. These visions of portable, touch-based computers certainly served as inspiration for today's iPad, iPhone and other smart hand-held devices.

4. Bionic Limbs

In Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker's arm was seared off by Darth Vader's lightsaber, which would have stopped Skywalker from eventually stopping the Dark Side, if not for a fictionalized advancement in prosthetics. Luke's arm was replaced with a bionic version, similar to today’s DEKA Arm System, a prosthetic limb controlled by the user’s brain signal, capable of such delicate tasks as the one you can see above.

5. Cyber Space

Frédéric Poirot / Via Flickr: fredarmitage

Not only did William Gibson's 1985 novel "Neuromancer" usher in the cyberpunk generation, it also popularized the concept of cyberspace, the idea that "consciousness" can be transported into a digital world through computer networks and the Internet. Today, many individuals use avatars to represent their identity in this digital terrain, and we're in a constant battle to define where our digital and "real" lives begin and end.

6. Applications of the Internet

Source: James Vaughan via Flickr

While it was true that many computer scientists had already started working on a concept similar to the internet, Arthur C. Clarke was one of the first to actually imagine the applications of it.

7. Star Trek and Isolinear Chips/Flash Drives

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Stark Trek's Isolinear chips served as the source of inspiration for modern USB flash drives.

8. The Communicator/Cell Phone

The “communicators” from Star Trek were an enormous influence on the design and aesthetic of the modern cell phone. The inventor of the cellphone, Martin Cooper, noted that the flip-cover aesthetic of Star Trek’s communicators inspired his designs when he was working at Motorola developing mobile tech.

9. Credit Cards

Via giphy.com

During the late 1800s, Edward Bellamy came up with the idea for a credit card system in his novel “Looking Backwards.” In the novel, the U.S. government supports the credit system, and every single person has a distinct line of credit. They also receive receipts as well with each purchase.

10. Wearable Tech

From the Star Trek communicator badge to Dick Tracy’s radio watch, science fiction accurately predicted the booming wearable tech industry of today. Whether it is the Apple Watch or Google Glass, 71% of U.S. consumers between 16-24 want to own wearable tech. With the pace of technological advancement, this audience is projected to take a massive expansion in the next decade, and more and more people across the country are trying to reach their 10,000 steps for their Fitbit.

You can watch NJIT's video here: How Sci-Fi Predicted the Future of Computer Science and visit my personal blog.