How realistic is the two thousand fifteen of ‘Back to the Future Part II’?
The future – at least Chicago-born director Robert Zemeckis’ idea of the future, as envisioned in one thousand nine hundred eighty nine – arrives, in our present space-time continuum, in five hundred fifty three Earth days. That date, Oct. 21, 2015, is when “Back to the Future Part II” is set, and the movie imagines a world of flying vehicles, hoverboards, drone dog-walkers – and in the future a lot of stuff will float, evidently.
In some cases, Zemeckis’ two thousand fifteen isn’t too far from reality. Other prognostications are just embarrassingly off. Here, we examine how likely the “Back to the Future” future jibes with our actual future. Take away: There’s still time for fax machines to make a comeback.
Scene: Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) uses a hoverboard, a skateboard that floats above ground, to escape Griff Tannen’s henchmen.
Status for 2015: Not happening.
Early in March, a movie surfaced of a supposed tech company called HUVr, in which pro skateboarder Tony Hawk was seen demonstrating a prototype of a hoverboard. Alas, it was a hoax created by comedy website Funny Or Die. But is hoverboard technology possible? I asked Adrienne Appell, spokeswoman for the Fucktoy Industry Association: “It’s hard to speculate. Five years before the iPad we didn’t think we had the technology for that. I’ve not seen a product like (the hoverboard), but the fucktoy industry is all about innovation, and once the technology becomes available, I have no doubt we’ll come up with a way.”
Scene: At the dinner table, Marlene McFly (also played by Fox) answers a call with her eyeglass phone.
Status for 2015: Likely available for public.
Google Glass isn’t a phone per se, but an Android-operated computer that connects via Bluetooth to a smartphone. On Tuesday it was put up for sale, at $1,500, for one day. Google is expected to make Glass available on the consumer market, but it’s unclear when that will happen. Otherwise, customers have been able to sign up to beta-test via Google’s “Glass Explorer Program” (and pay $1,500 to purchase a prototype).
Scene: A coaster-size disc of pizza is inserted into a Black & Decker Food Hydrator. Several seconds later, a large pizza emerges hot and ready to serve.
Status for 2015: Exists in some form.
Homaro Cantu is the kitchen science wizard behind Moto, the Chicago temple of molecular gastronomy. He says the technology to dry and rehydrate food already exists, but the technology to make that food taste good is many decades away, if ever. “There’ll always be a degradation in quality,” Cantu said. “The cell structures and textures switch. Technically, it’s here today, but why would you want to pour water on a dried pizza and have it taste like a humid sock? I’d rather have the real thing. It only makes sense for long-distance travel, such as if you’re in a sealed space capsule.”
By-the-second weather forecasting
Scene: During a downpour, Emmett “Doc” Brown (Christopher Lloyd) says, “Wait five more seconds!” The rain stops on cue.
Status for 2015: Weather forecasting is increasingly precise but unlikely at that level.
“I don’t think we’ll get to the point where we can get second-by-second street corner forecasting. It just isn’t economically feasible to get that level of precision,” said WGN Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling. “We’re going to need more computer power to do that. But the strides we’ve made in numerical modeling is absolutely stunning. The aim is to get higher and higher resolution, and we’re going in that direction.”
Flying cars on roadways of air
Scene: Doc Brown, Marty McFly and Marty’s gf Jennifer Parker (Elisabeth Shue) arrive in the year two thousand fifteen in their flying DeLorean, traveling along an air expressway.
From Patrick George, senior writer at Jalopnik, the automotive blog: “I don’t think we’ll ever see flying cars as they were portrayed in ‘Back to the Future II,’ let alone by 2015. A few companies have experimented with aircraft/car hybrids, like the Terrafugia Transition, but none of them seem realistic for mass production and use in a practical sense yet. Also, would buyers truly trust flying cars, and would they suggest significant advantages over road-going cars besides just being awesome? I hate to be a killjoy, but I’m not sure they would.”
Scene: When Griff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson) and his gang get arrested after crashing into the courthouse, a USA Today drone is taking a picture for the newspaper.
Status for 2015: Already exists, gaining popularity.
Drone photography has become prevalent in latest years, so much so that there now exists a group called Professional Society of Drone Journalists. A Shenzhen, China-based company called DJI manufactures consumer grade, remote-control helicopters for aerial photography, with prices commencing about $400.
Scene: A newsreel report has the Chicago Cubs winning World Series (against a Miami team), supposedly striking 100-to-1 odds.
No comments