5 Sci-fi Technologies that Turned into Reality

Did you know that the technology that we use in modern days have been seen and perhaps inspired by science fiction films and novels? Mentioned below are five science fiction technologies that have come to life in recent years:

1 COMPUTER TABLET (2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY)

Nowadays, iPads and tablet PCs are widely used as they have made communication, entertainment and information easier to obtain. Although the first type of tablet computers came out in 2002, the first discovery of them can be dated back to 1968, the year the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey was released. However, in that hit science fiction film, it had few functions as opposed to the wide variety of functions computer tablets possess.

2 COMMUNICATOR (STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES)

The communicator resembles the formerly popular flip phones and is used as means of communication in the series. With a touch of the early 1900s, the communicator has been vastly used in Star Trek: The Original Series ever since its commencement in 1966, even though the first flip phone, introduced by Motorola did not come out till 1989.

3 VIRTUAL DISPLAY DEVICE (STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE)

The Virtual Display Device is used in warships and starfleets in the series. It is a transparent one-eyed spectacle that helps the wearer to easily see the view outside the ship. It can be related to the recently launched Google Glass which can be said to be a mini computer operated by voice commands. The Google Glass was released in 2013 and has been discontinued, but its counterpart the Virtual Display Device was seen 20 years earlier, when Star Trek: DS9 began production.

4 FLAT SCREEN TV (JETSONS)

Yes, one of our favourite cartoon network productions, the Jetsons displayed a lot of fancy technology that amused us. However, we were probably too young and fascinated to notice that some of those technology depicted what the future holds, and one of them is the Flat screen TV. The Flat screen TV was first released in the CRT wwhen Black & White dominated television world in the late 90s, but its first appearance can be rooted back to as early as the 1960s thanks to the Jetsons.

5 TANKS (THE LAND IRONCLADS BY H.G. WELLS)

Yes, tanks if you're still puzzled with the headline. This deadly ammunition vehicle has been popularly used in battles and wars yet it was also foreseen before appearing in the real world. Famed writer H.G. Wells made the first mention of this war machine as 'land vessels' in his short story The Land Ironclads in 1903 and this fiction turned to reality 13 years later with the first use of tanks in the 1916 battle of the Somme. 

We now come to terms with the mind boggling fact that most of the advancing modern technologies have been sighted in past science fiction novels and films. Sci-fi writers can be seen as efficient future predictors of science in this planet. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that wormhole travel from Interstellar one day comes to life as well!

Tahmeed Chaudhury is a diehard Liverpool fan and procrastinator who dislikes being asked questions. Don't ask him questions at [email protected]