In honor of Back to the Future II having visited us on this date 26 years ago in the past, I have decided to compile a list of the top 8 technology items that have made their way into our lives, that were completely predicted by this amazing film (that if you haven't seen, go watch both the first and second, then come back to digest this article!).
1. Personal Drones
Flying drones are seen throughout in Back to the Future’s 2015, and they’re shown doing everything from walking a dog to capturing images for news organizations. While the prediction that drones would be large in photography has come true, and people still walk their dogs the old-fashioned way. However drones—widely available to purchase for consumers for about $1,000 a pop—have given us new and creative ways to do everything from get the best footage, track people, or even make one hour amazon deliveries on the fly.
2. Tablets and Mobile Payment Technology
In the film, there are multiple moments where people are making payments. However, instead of using cash or check, they do it in the cool way- with their fingerprints. Yes, Back to the Future predicted everyone carrying fingerprint scanners with them (well, to be fair, businesses would carry them.) The fact that the movie predicted such tecnology would be so widespread, as it is in our current smartphone world, is quite amazing. Also, film’s prediction that wireless devices could be used for payment (in cabs, for example) was spot on, and in the last decade we’ve seen smartphone apps such as Apple Pay and Google Wallet come along, which make it easy to exchange cash electronically.
3. Hands-Free Gaming Consoles
In one scene, which takes place at the Cafe ’80s, two young boys give Marty the strangest look when they spot him playing an arcade game. “You mean you have to use your hands?” one says. “That’s like a baby’s toy!” While plenty of video games still require the use of your hands, it’s been five years since Microsoft launched the Xbox Kinect, which lets gamers control game actions using voice and gestures. Similar technology is also built into nifty devices such as the Leap motion detector, to control computers with simple movement.
4. Smart Clothing and Wearable Technology
Marty wears power-lacing sneakers and a size-adjusting, auto-drying jacket in the film—two inventions that haven’t appeared yet, though Nike has announced that they will release the power-lacing shoes in 2016, but will auction off one pair in 2015 in their usual attempt to fundraise money for Parkinson's research. What is available today though are multitudes of wearable technology products, including wristband fitness trackers like the Fitbit, “smart shirts” that measure breathing, heart rate, and sleep patterns, and infant-size onesies that double as baby monitors. And while they may be too early-stage for purchase, other inventions like stain-proof clothes and high-heels that change color with the click of an app are under development.
5. Video Phones
Marty’s future self gets fired during a video phone call in Back to the Future II. That call is not only prophetic of video chat applications like Skype and Apple’s FaceTime but also of Facebook, in that personal details like date of birth, occupation, political leanings, and hobbies are shared electronically.
Of course, the movie gets a few big details wrong—like the widespread use of fax machines.
6. Waste-Fueled Cars
Although you can’t yet buy a vehicle with a fusion engine, like the one in Doc Brown’s DeLorean, the scene in which Doc uses garbage to power his car (well, technically the flux capacitor) is possibly coming. In fact, Toyota is promoting its new hydrogen fuel cell car—the Mirai—with an ad campaign featuring Back to the Future actors Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd.
Hydrogen-powered cars are lauded as environmentally friendly since they convert hydrogen and oxygen to electricity, with water vapor as a byproduct. That eco-friendliness is partly offset by the fact that fossil fuel or natural gas is typically consumed to create the pure hydrogen in the first place, but scientists are experimenting with solar and wind-powered generation to combat this negative effect, but regardless, kudos to the director.
7. Hoverboards
Tech-startup Arx Pax has successfully created a working, real-life $10,000 hoverboard called the Hendo, which pro skateboarder Tony Hawk has personally tested. Lexus has also created a hoverboard using a different technology involving superconductors. Unfortunately, both versions can glide only over conductive surfaces, so you probably won’t be using one to escape bullies in your town square any time soon until all of the roads are made of metal. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
8. Video Glasses
One correct prediction from the film’s vision of 2015 is how personal technology would disrupt the American dinner table. In one scene, Marty and Jennifer’s future kids ignore their families, instead watching TV and talking on the phone using futuristic glasses.Sounds very familiar to our current generation to me. Though smartphones are the real source of distraction today, high-tech video goggles keep getting more advanced and popular. Google has stopped selling Google Glass (at least for the time being), but pairs are available for purchase on eBay and can be used to watch streaming video, record images, and search the internet. Microsoft is also working on its HoloLens, which plan to bring augmented reality to the business world, merging that of the real world and virtual world into one.
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