Yesterday was Back to the Future Day. Fans worldwide celebrated 21 October 2015 which is the date Marty McFly and Doc Brown visited in the 1989 sci-fi time adventure sequel Back to the Future II. #BackToTheFuture and #bttf trended on social media sites. Seriously, this is the “best movie of all time” and if you haven’t seen this movie, you’ll be doing yourself a favour by actually watching it.
Sadly, we’re not here to talk about the movie but what the movie got right about 2015.
Hover-boards
Every 80’s kid wanted a hover-board after seeing this movie. Lexus showed off a working hoverboard in August. Also skateboarder Tony Hawk was filmed trying out a rival version, called Hendo, based on similar magnet-based technology.
Flying cars
There can’t be an 80s kid who didn’t long for their dad to get a flying car, like the ones that filled the skies above Hill Valley. Today’s flying cars are so advanced, oh yeah, they’re real. Don’t believe that? Check out what Terrafugia’s been up to.
Power Lace
Nike may be making a real Back to the Future, self-lacing shoe. The company has even filed a patent for self-lacing shoes similar to those featured in the film.
Fax machines
A machine that can teleport letters through the ether, like invisible word birds? 30 years ago it was the stuff of science fiction, used in BttF Part 2 as a method for Marty McFly’s questionable caricature of a boss – “The Jitz” – to fire him.
Getting Around
Furthermore, Biff’s payment of his taxi ride with a thumb-print isn’t totally dissimilar to how we now hail cars and cashlessly pay for them using Uber, Easy taxi and other pick-up services.
Voice Controlled TV
Meanwhile, voice-controlled televisions are already a reality thanks to smart TVs from Samsung and Sony as well as set-top boxes from Amazon and Apple.
Robots
Robots were featured in the film, and one of them is a mechanical car fuel attendant. The Netherlands has already tested such a device a few years back, with the TankPitstop project, and Tesla is developing something similar for its electric vehicles.
Wearables
We get to see Marty Jr wear a smartglass in the film with the JVC’s brand. JVC used to be a big force in consumer electronics back then but today, bigger names are betting on various forms of the tech, like Microsoft’s Hololens, Facebook’s Oculus Rift virtual reality headset or version two of Google Glass.
Video Calls
It’s not that BTTF’s filmmakers didn’t envision a data-connected world – a Skype-like video chat program features at one point showing off not only the caller but also private details about them – but repeatedly communication occurs via a TV rather than a handheld display.
