Science fiction books, TV shows, and movies have long challenged the boundaries of what’s possible through the power of discovery. Generations of inventors have grown up inspired by the prophetic vision of filmmakers and writers, and today laboratories across the globe are bringing devices once regarded as futuristic fiction into the world of reality.
Blaster bolts, laser beams, and phasers are a sci-fi staple as old as H.G. Wells. But now the US military freely admits they’ve developed energy weapons so practical they’ll soon be deployed on ships and aircraft, perhaps as soon as 2023.
Cloaking shields give alien species from Klingons to the Predator surprise edge on their enemies. But recently scientists at the University of Rochester were actually able to replicate the effect in a laboratory.
Star Trek doctors can instantly diagnose your medical condition with a glance at their humming tricorder devices. But right now, participants in the Qualcomm Tricorder XPrize are building real-life prototypes to accomplish the same thing.
Starship crews have been using energy deflectors to protect their hulls from enemy fire. Now NASA researchers are working out a way to use energy shielding to protect crews from the cosmic rays that make long space flights impractical.
William Gibson popularized the idea of a vast interconnected virtual world where the planet’s inhabitants would engage in a mass consensual hallucination augmented by immersive technology. While we’re not quite plugging our brains into the web yet, the current wave of affordable virtual reality interfaces is the closest we’ve ever come, and Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus likely precludes social and business applications for VR far beyond gaming.
Can a computer feel? As AI grows exponentially smarter, it continues to accomplish some surprising feats. Most recently, Google’s AlphaGo computer defeated the world champion of Go...an ancient strategic board game long noted for its highly intuitive nature, winning a match with a move called “beautiful” by a professional commentator. It’s a striking advance on the road of artificial intelligence becoming more human.
Combine virtual reality and AI and we get the ultimate sci-fi playground...the holodeck, a programmable virtual space augmented by computer-controlled synthetic intelligence. New in-development technologies like HoloLens and augmented reality simulations blur the lines of experience blending computer-generated and natural worlds in thought provoking (and potentially terrifying) ways.
These are just a few of the incredible sci-fi inspired creations now becoming a part of our lives. What do you think is coming next? Let us know in the comments, and for everything science fiction and fact, stay with your friends at IGN.
Jared Petty is a Senior Editor at IGN. He likes science and technology, except when they turn evil. Chat with him on Twitter @pettycommajared.
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