When Sci-Fi novelist Isaac Asimov wrote his short story Runaround, he created the 3 laws of robotics. While the practical application of these laws has come into debate, advancements in modern robotic technology have resulted in calls for safety regulations.
So while the 3 laws are not directly practised in modern robotics design, they arguably built the foundation of the rapidly growing robotics industry.
So is science fiction simply predicting the future, or is it driving the future?
Well as we near 2019, Los Angeles is not as dystopian as Blade Runner predicted.
However, this doesn’t mean that the whole movie is an inaccurate look into the future?
Look at this clip for example:
Chances are you’ve most likely came across similar advertisements on Times Square, and even some more innovative ideas.
Another example of how sci-fi can drive the future is shown in this scene from Back to The Future 2.
While we can’t hydrate pizzas until they’re cooked like shown in this clip, notice the glasses that a being worn.
Pretty cool right?
Well, plenty of tech companies are making sleeker designed AR glasses where you can interact with the real world environment.
While the most notable example is with Google Glasses, a more recent innovation is the new North Smart Glasses shown in the clip below:
So are science fictions writers time travellers, or can they predict the future? Neither, we hope.
Are they drivers of the future? Absolutely!
I’m sure you were fascinated by the use of lightsabers in Star Wars, it’s why I had a big collection of lightsabers as a kid.
See, what science fiction does is it creates a fascinating world where people can be blown away by technology. It creates consumer demand.
While we may not have self-tying shoes or mass produced hover-boards, we do have plenty of novelties from sci-fi available at our fingertips.
