12.22.07

When (science) fiction becomes reality

Posted in nerds do some crazy stuff at 2:04 am by rachel

I read (and watched) a lot of science fiction growing up. I was in it for the adventure, the aliens, and the thinly-veiled social commentary. But mostly I was in it for the technology, which was really neat. I wanted a holodeck to play in. I wanted to travel in a spaceship that would talk to me. And I wanted a transporter to take me to school so I could sleep in for 20 more minutes each morning.

Imagine my delight as I grew older and realized that many of my sci-fi dreams were coming true. We have cell phones that fulfill the function of Star Trek’s communicators. We access extraordinary amounts of data through personal terminals. We have machines that learn, robotic pets, and mechanical replacements for human limbs.

Technovelgy.com is a fantastic catalogue of science fictional concepts that are becoming reality. Of course, not all of these were inspired by sci-fi. But some of them definitely were: for example, the US military’s PHASR gun.

Other neat real life inventions that were inspired or predicted by sci-fi include this NASA tricorder, a cellborg, and this holodeck for crickets.

Technovelgy summarizes the inventions, usually with photos or videos, and connects them to the sci-fi “source” of the idea. For example, if you’ve read Frank Herbert, you’ve probably read about chairdogs. From The Tactful Saboteur, first published in 1964:

He indicated a chairdog against the wall to his right, snapped his fingers. The semi-sentient artifact glided to a position behind McKie. “Please be seated.”

And yes, here’s an awesome concept video for an implementation of chairdogs:

In conclusion, Technovelgy rocks. Hat-tip to Prof. Stephen Burt for showing us this site in English 182, Harvard’s first course on - you guessed it - Science Fiction.

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