The world of sci-fi cinema has often tried to imagine the “short-range” future, getting it right or blatantly screwing it up. If many of Back to the Future’s predictions for 2015 have somehow come true, have you ever wondered how much this speech could apply to Star Trek?
With an unrivaled appeal, the legendary franchise is more alive than ever, especially after the announcement of Star Trek: Section 31 starring Michelle Yeoh. Looking at what we have seen on screen from 1966 to today, however, there are several technologies shown and which in the end actually arrivedin one way or another, even on our planet.
Let’s talk, for example, about the portable communication devices in the hands of the original crew of the 60s. Although quite far from our smartphones, the accessories contested by William Shatner and colleagues got dangerously close to what would become our cell phones.
Fast forward to the 80’s when Star Trek: The Next Generation was shown to the world the PADDwhat we could easily define as an ancestor of current tablets.
Also very interesting Replicators, machinery used for the construction of commonly used objects, including food, starting from the user’s requests. Doesn’t all this remind you, by any chance, of a 3D printer?
Last but not least, the forecast on voice assistants. If today you can ask Alexa to turn on the light it will certainly not be thanks to Star Trek, but maybe the sistema LCARS di The Next Generation helped to whet the imagination of some engineers!