Ace Vincent | Published
Science fiction writers, filmmakers and other creative minds have long imagined futuristic techniques that were deemed impossible at the time. But surprisingly, many of these fictional inventions have jumped off the screen and pages and become real innovations. The connection between imagination and innovation reveals how creativity can shape our technical landscape in a deeper way.
Below is a list of 16 fascinating examples of how pop culture directly influenced the development of real technology.
Star Trek Communicator
The iconic flip phone communicator used by Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek series directly inspired Martin Cooper, the inventor of Motorola’s first handheld mobile phone. Cooper explicitly praised the show in 1973 for offering his vision of groundbreaking inventions.
Released in 1996, Motorola Startac mimics the flip design of fictional communicators, bringing the science fiction aesthetic to everyday reality.
Jetsons video calls
The animated series “The Jetsons” featured video calling technology in the early 1960s, long before the internet existed. This futuristic vision of face-to-face communication across distances laid the foundation for what would ultimately become Skype, FaceTime and Zoom.
When engineers at these companies were developing video calling platforms, many cited Jetson as an early influence that shaped their understanding of how such technologies work and should feel.
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Gesture Control for Minority Reports
In 2002, Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report featured Tom Cruise, using hand gestures to manipulate data on transparent screens. The study of motion sensing interfaces was directly influenced by this fascinating image. Similar ideas have influenced the Microsoft Kinect and other AR/VR interfaces we use today.
Film science advisor John Undercoffler eventually formed the rectangular industry and developed the gesture-based technology featured in the film.
Star Wars holographic projection
The iconic scene in which Princess Leia appears as a hologram has inspired “Help Me, Obi-Wan Kenobi” to decades of research into holographic technology. Companies like Took Glass Factory have created holographic displays that don’t require special glasses, but performers like Tupac Shakur and Michael Jackson have revived as holograms in concerts, taking direct inspiration from Star Wars communication techniques.
Return to To the Future’s Self-Racing Shoes
When Nike released HyperAdapt 1.0 in 2016, Marty McFly’s self-racing Nike shoes from “Back to the Future Part II” became a reality.
Nike designers openly admit that they have decided to make fictional technology a reality, especially because of their popularity in the film.
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Iron Man’s Jarvis AI
Jarvis, Artificial Intelligence Assistant at Tony Stark at The Iron Man Films, has influenced numerous high-tech companies developing virtual assistants. Mark Zuckerberg built his own home AI system named Jarvis, and directly referenced the Marvel character as his inspiration.
A conversational AI concept that can provide information that controls home systems and shapes the way in which products such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home are developed.
Interactive Diamond Age Book
Neal Stephenson’s novel “The Diamond Age” featured interactive e-books that could accommodate touch and voice. This concept directly influenced the development of modern e-readers and tablets.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was reportedly very impressed with the notion that he named Kindle’s precursor project “Fiona,” after the protagonist of Stephenson’s novel, which used an interactive book.
Neuromancer’s Cyberspace
William Gibson’s groundbreaking 1984 novel, Neuromancer, coined the term “cyberspace,” which envisioned a virtual reality network where people could spiritually connect to the digital world. This has impacted the development of internet and virtual reality technologies.
Many Silicon Valley settlers cite Gibson’s vivid accounts as inspiration for their work to create interconnected networks with immersive digital environments.
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Universal Translator of Star Trek
Universal Star Trek translators have foresaw today’s real-time translation technology, allowing different species to communicate seamlessly. Google Translate, Microsoft Translator, and other similar tools developed Star Trek Concept as the North Star.
The ability to instantly convert speeches from one language to another now exists in real applications. Engineers often refer to the science fiction inspiration behind their work.
Total Recall’s self-driving cars
The self-driving taxi known as the “Johnny Cab,” featuring a robotic driver that traverses the complex metropolitan landscape, was featured in the 1990 film “Total Recall.” Companies such as Waymo, Tesla and Uber have developed autonomous driving technology as a result of this idea.
Sci-fi representations such as Johnny Cab are often cited by engineers developing self-driving cars to set both technical objectives and public expectations for the operation of autonomous driving technology.
2001: Space Odyssey HAL 9000
Stanley Kubrick’s Hal 9000 intelligent computers in “2001: A Space Odyssey” have influenced advances in speech recognition and artificial intelligence. The engineer’s approach to creating AI personalities was influenced by HAL’s gentle conversation interface.
Despite his evil turn, Hal’s human-like conversation skills served as a model for voice assistants, and when Apple and Amazon developed Siri and Alexa, they took inspiration from the presentation.
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Star Trek Pads
Star Trek’s Personal Access Display Device (PADD) was essentially a tablet computer decades ago, the iPad. The show’s production designers have designed these handheld touchscreen computers as props of the future, but they have become very visionary.
Apple engineers acknowledge the impact of Star Trek’s technology aesthetics on design, and the iPad is very similar to the fictional devices used throughout the various Star Trek series.
Simpsons smartwatch
An episode of “The Simpsons” in 1995 showed the watch that has been used as a communication device ahead of modern smartwatches for nearly 20 years. When Apple and Samsung began developing smartwatch technology, many high-tech journalists noted the similarities to those shown in animation shows a few years ago.
The concept of wrist decorative computing presented in pop culture helped normalize ideas before technology became practical.
Black Mirror Social Evaluation System
The “nosive” episode of “Black Mirror” depicts a society in which people evaluate each other’s social interactions and influence their status. This dystopian vision has influenced conversations about the reputation economy alongside the development of China’s social credit system.
Researching episodes of social media’s impact on behavior can shape the way developers and ethicists approach social technology, often serving as caution.
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Virtual reality for a ready player
Ernest Klein’s novel and its film adaptation presents a completely immersive virtual reality world called Oasis. This comprehensive vision of VR has influenced developing the concept of metaverse for companies like Meta (formerly Facebook).
Mark Zuckerberg cites the book as influencing the vision of virtual reality, with many elements of modern VR headsets and environments demonstrating a similar design philosophy to those described in fiction.
Expanse’s transparent smartphone
The science fiction series “The Expanse” features transparent and flexible smartphones and tablets that influence the development of similar prototypes. Companies like Samsung and LG have created transparent display prototypes that are directly touched on such science fiction depictions.
The aesthetic appeal of see-through technology from pop culture is driving research into creating electronics that can blend in with the environment more seamlessly, rather than exist as opaque rectangles.
The enduring power of imagination
The relationship between cultural storytelling and technological innovation continues to thrive in an astonishing way. These examples illustrate how creative imagination can plant seeds that will ultimately grow into real-world breakthroughs.
As science fiction today becomes more and more of tomorrow’s reality, we remember that the most wonderful dreams often provide a blueprint for humanity’s most important technical leap.
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