By By Robin Farmanfarmaian, Vice President of Strategic Relations and Founding Executive Producer of the Exponential Medicine conference at Singularity University.
Hollywood. They invent a lot of gadgets to cover up what would otherwise be gaping plot holes. "Back to the Future" would just be a movie about a crazy scientist who drives a tacky sports car, and Katniss and Peeta would never have made it through "The Hunger Games."
However, to the excitement of Trekkies everywhere, not all of those inventions are completely imaginary. From contact lenses that give you Superman's vision to the DARPA-funded BigDog military pack mule that resembles something out of "RoboCop," real-life mad scientists and nutty professors are coming up with some pretty strange inventions. Here are some more Hollywood gadgets that actually exist.
1. Mech Robots as Seen in 'Pacific Rim'
Guillermo del Toro's homage to "Godzilla" features humanity's struggle against an alien race called the Kaiju. The only thing standing between these creatures and the total annihilation of mankind are soldiers piloting giant mech robots called Jaegers.
Well, in case "Pacific Rim" becomes a reality, you too can have a giant robotic warrior of your own. Back in 2006, the Japanese company Suidobashi created a working diesel-powered mech robot. If you have $1.5 million to spare, you can pilot your very own Kuratas warrior.
2. Liquid Metal as Seen in 'Terminator 2'
We've all seen the T-1000 in "Terminator 2" chase Arnold and company around LA. However, many didn't know this movie inspired far more than the third and fourth installments of the Terminator series. For a few scientists, the movie inspired them to make liquid metal and self-repairing computers a reality, which are now not only revolutionizing the manufacturing industry, but military applications as well.
The self-repairing technology has even spread into the biomedical field with bandages that speed up healing time in humans (similar to the gel adhesive in "The Hunger Games").
3. Face Replacements as Seen in 'Mission Impossible'In "Mission Impossible," Tom Cruise and his team make the act of switching faces look as easy as putting on a mask. Well, if you're in the market for a new face, you're in luck. In what could be a revolutionary change to the plastic surgery industry, scientists have already begun to perfect face transplant technology.
4. Body Modification as Seen in 'Gattaca'
While making someone taller by adding artificial bone is a little ways off, we can produce bone models that meet individuals' exact specifications in the event of a massive bone fracture with 3D printing technology.
Bone models used to be too expensive and take too long to complete, but now a model can be made in about a week, costing only $150. Scientists have already printed human veins, too, and they are hard at work trying to replicate other organs.
5. Real-Life Tricorders as Seen in 'Star Trek'
While tricorders were standard issue for the Starfleet, those of us living in the 21st century are pretty impressed by these real-life versions.
The TellSpec is a handheld tool designed to help people better understand their environments and the foods they're consuming. Just point the device at a wall to detect mold, or scan a piece of food to identify hidden culprits that trigger allergies, such as gluten, aspartame, soy, and nuts.
Scanadu Scout is a scanner packed with sophisticated sensors that allows you to perform a physical exam on yourself in an instant. It can track your heart rate variability, temperature, and more to give you insights into your overall health and stress level.
6. Widespread Surveillance as Seen in 'Eagle Eye'Shia LaBeouf wisely attempted to avoid being seen in a movie we wisely avoided seeing. To its credit, though, "Eagle Eye" did have some spectacular tech that's now being put to use in a few of America's major cities. For example, Microsoft's Domain Awareness System in conjunction with the NYPD had every square inch of Manhattan covered with cameras.
Other surveillance programs allow access to every security and phone camera in the U.S. There's even a screensaver that shows live surveillance feeds from around the world. It's not just Big Brother; the whole world is watching.
7. Hologram Communications as Seen in 'Star Wars'
Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Coachella
We may have been introduced to the galaxy far, far away a long, long time ago, but "Star Wars" remains the king of movie tech motivators in real life. Not only has the White House been forced to respond to a petition to build a Death Star on their website, a real-life lightsaber has been invented, and Tupac's hologram in 2012 opened the door to some truly Jedi-worthy communication.
8. Robot Assistants as seen in 'I, Robot'
Will Smith is basically Blade in "I, Robot," except the vampires have been replaced by robot servants. Although you can implant a computer chip in your arm like Smith, you're better off spending the money on a Roomba.
While these new gadgets might seem like science fiction, exponential technological development means the type of tech we will experience in the future will be unrecognizable from what we consider advanced today. Soon, what we are capable of producing in real life may outpace Hollywood movie magic.
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This material published courtesy of Singularity University.