The future isn’t quite here yet, but we surely hope that it hurries up already. If there’s one thing we learned from the way people in the past expected the future to be, that’s that the evolution of technology, especially, is completely unpredictable. We had movies and books that expected the year 2016 to be filled with flying cars and colossal skyscrapers or those that ended up underestimating our capacity. Either way, there are many futuristic technology gadgets that have been such a constant in our picture painted for the future, that it’s a complete shock they’re not actually real yet.
#1 Hoverboards
We’re not talking about the “real” hoverboards we have today, but the one envisioned in the second Back to the Future movie. In there, Marty McFly defies gravity by hopping on top of a wheel-less board which floats above the ground and moves depending on the rider’s leaning direction. The hoverboards we have today are pretty close, as far as the second part is concerned, but we still have a way to go before they can unglue themselves from the ground.
#2 Teleporter
When we talked about that one gadget present in every sci-fi movie, we wrote it with the teleporter specifically in mind. How come teleporting isn’t a real thing yet?! Aside from the fact that, scientifically, it seems to be pretty difficult to achieve, teleportation would likely increase our laziness level by a thousand, so it’s probably not that beneficial in the long run.
#3 The Neutralizer
Men in Black had a lot of cool gadgets to exhibit on the big screen – from tiny guns that could shoot a beam capable of blowing up a building to rocket-launched flying cars, the most convenient one of them all had to be the neutralizer. It would come really in handy to make people forget that awkward moment when you toppled down the stairs and landed right on your face.
#4 Sentient AI
Before we proceed, we need to ask ourselves if this would really be a good idea. Countless of movies whose premise is entirely based around sentient computers taking over the world and throwing us all in human zoos kind of say that no. But, when you really think about it, it would be really cool, no matter what. Plus, it would give people someone to talk to without actually having to undergo any human interaction!
#5 Time-Travel Machines
Just like teleporting and the neutralizer, time-travel is one of those things that would really come in handy to us on a daily basis. Regret is one of the most frustrating things in the human psyche, so to be able to erase all mistakes of the past or change something for the better sounds tempting enough to make us long after this divine invention.
#6 Lightsabers
Why would we even need lightsabers? Who cares? They’re just really cool! Since they’re clearly weapons, their only purpose is on a battlefield of some sort. So, even though the possibility of people fighting wars with lightsabers sounds awesome in theory, we reckon it’d be better to steer away from conflicts for a while.
#7 Iron Man’s Armor
The really annoying thing about this is that Tony Stark doesn’t even live in the future. In fact, he was conceived decades before our time. Having access to a costume like Iron Man’s would be a guaranteed ace up the sleeve of anyone’s defenses. Albeit, there’s also the underside that, should it fall in the wrong hands, chaos may ensure.
#8 Medbay
You might recognize this genius invention from the motion picture Elysium. And, of course we’d want it to be real. After all, the Medbay is, by all means, a medical wonder that is able to cure everything from the smallest afflictions to serious wounds and life-threatening diseases. Oh, if only.
#9 Invisible Car
We really hate to bring Die Another Day into discussion, but it managed to give us something good too. The concept of an invisible car is cool enough to really make us wish it were real. Admittedly, it might be a good idea just for us because we’d be able to pass the red light on empty roads at any time. But, let’s face, that would be a total traffic hazard.
#10 The Sonic Screwdriver
Ah, finally, here’s something that can’t be used for world domination. The Doctor’s trademark weapon can be used for a variety of non-lethal things, such as opening padlocks, unlocking doors, and accessing computer information. It might now be a good asset to a hacker’s skills, but it would sure spare us a lot of trouble if we ever forget our login password. Just make sure your doors aren’t made from wood because, yes, it has the same weakness as the aliens from Signs.
