Have you ever watched a sci-fi or spy movie and wished that some of the amazing technology onscreen was real? We can relate to that. Filmmakers are always very creative and forward thinking with their futuristic designs, but we have to wonder if they ever thought some of their inventions would become a reality. While there are still plenty of gadgets that are a bit out of our reach, we’ve made great strides in bringing some of these fantasy objects to life.
Self-tying shoes
Back to the Future and its sequels are some of the best sci-fi films of their time. Although their vision of 2015 wasn’t completely accurate, they weren’t too far off some of the things that do actually exist now. One of these is self-tying shoes, which were originally worn by Marty McFly in the second Back to the Future film. Nike has developed shoes which function in a similar way to the ones in the movie, although without using laces. It works by having the shoes tighten around a person’s foot when they put it on. Neat, right? Seeing as Nike’s design was a replica of the shoe from the film, it looks like Back to the Future was responsible for giving us this unique creation. Talk about life imitating art.
Heat ray
Heat rays first originated in the novel War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. That book was written 120 years ago, and since then the device has been utilized in many different sci-fi publications and films. Although something as deadly as this doesn’t yet exist (thank goodness), the Pentagon has actually developed something similar in the form of their Active Denial System. The gadget works by shooting a 100,000-watt beam at people which forces them to flee. The heat causes the person to be in great pain until they move away from the spot that the beam is focused on. The Pentagon has assured that this device does not cause permanent injury.
Jetpack
Wouldn’t it be amazing to fly around in a jetpack? You see them in all these great spy action thrillers like James Bond, and it’s hard not to get jealous. Sure, the characters are normally using them to get away from danger, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be exploited for a bit of fun. Well, it turns out that jetpacks might not be as fictional as you thought. Hermann Ramke has developed his own version of the gadget which uses water jets to propel the user up to 50 feet in the air. The jetpack can last for around 200 miles before it’s source is depleted, so you can get a good distance from the device before it runs out. Unfortunately, you’ll need to be pretty rich if you want to buy one. They cost around $220,000.
Watch phone
You see people use watches in plenty of sci-fi and spy films as a way of communicating with their colleagues and superiors. Once upon a time, these gadgets seemed completely out of this world. After all, how could you create a watch to do more than tell the time? Over the last few years, though, companies like Apple have developed their own brand of watch phones which offer more than just communication services. They can track your fitness, be used as a form of payment and even play games. Now, all they need to do is work out how to project holograms on these gadgets, and the watches from the films will seem completely inferior.
It’s amazing how fictional work can inspire us to create things in the real world. None of these gadgets would have been conceivable in the past, but as we continue to develop and expand our horizons, everything becomes a possibility.
