33 inventions inspired by SF

Yet another boring Yet another boring project you will have to project you will have to go through…go through…

Ciobanu Gabriel

XIIG-CNITV-Bucharest-Known Universe

33 inventions 33 inventions inspired by inspired by science fiction science fiction (big shiny title)(big shiny title)

You might be tempted to think You might be tempted to think that they consist of lasers, that they consist of lasers, spaceships or other geeky spaceships or other geeky stuff. But then you would be stuff. But then you would be right, only it is a bit more right, only it is a bit more boring.boring.

Many SF authors are known for the hard science behind their Many SF authors are known for the hard science behind their novels and had serious academic training. novels and had serious academic training.

-Arthur C. Clark had a degree in mathematics and physics and -Arthur C. Clark had a degree in mathematics and physics and -I robot author, Isaac Asimov had a PHD in Chemistry. -I robot author, Isaac Asimov had a PHD in Chemistry.

(Boring text) This writers and (Boring text) This writers and countless others were inspired by countless others were inspired by the existing theories and the existing theories and technologies as much as they in technologies as much as they in turn inspired new ideas in turn inspired new ideas in science by expanding the science by expanding the imagination of the reader many imagination of the reader many of whom pursued the carriers of of whom pursued the carriers of science, in fact there are science, in fact there are countless inventions of today tat countless inventions of today tat are inspired and even made are inspired and even made possible by SF. possible by SF.

Lil’ bit of context…

The Mobile PhoneThe Mobile PhoneThe first concept of a mobile communication device occurred on a television series called Star Trek. In fact, -Martin Cooper, the inventor of the mobile phone, has stated that his inspiration came from watching Captain Kirk speak into his handheld communicator on the series. Martin Cooper, the director of research and development at Motorola, credited the “Star Trek” communicator as his inspiration for the design of the -first mobile phone in the early 1970s. “That was not fantasy to us,” Cooper said, “that was an objective.”

Mobile phones haven’t always been thin, sleek and convenient -in 1996, Motorola produced the StarTAC flip phone, a small, stylish alternative to other mobile devices. It bore a strong resemblance to the clamshell communicators on Star Trek and was also the lightest phone on the market at the time.

Debit cardsDebit cards-First described by novelist Edward Bellamy in his 1887 utopian book “Looking Backward”, the credit card has become yet another integral part of people’s lives.

-Bellamy used the term ‘credit card’ as a means of paying for a citizen’s dividend from the government.

//Our credit cards are pretty close to Bellamy’s description of “a credit card issued to him with which he procures at public storehouses, found in every community, whatever he desires, whenever he desires it.

Geostationary Geostationary SatellitesSatellitesIn 1945, author Arthur C. Clarke published an article in Wireless World magazine that proposed a satellite that would remain motionless in the air, rather than passing by overhead. Such a fixed position for a satellite could be useful for relaying television and radio signals, as well as to help ships navigate, among other things. Clarke surmised that in order to do this, a satellite could be put into orbit both in the same direction as the planet rotates and at the same speed.

-The article was not considered serious at the time, but became a reality nearly 20 years later with the launch of the first commercial geostationary communication satellite. The geostationary orbit is now sometimes referred to as the Clarke Orbit or the Clarke belt. These days, geostationary satellites allow people in very

remote areas access broadband internet.

TabletsTablets-Clarke also, in Space Odyssey (1968), came up with a gadget called a newspad – a flat-panel screen that allowed its users to read Earth’s newspapers.

-After 19 years Star Trek: The Next Generation featured touch-based tablets called PADDS, short for “personal access display devices.” which resemble the tablets we use today.

LaseLasersrs

//lasers are used in DVDs, eye surgery, forensic fingerprinting, printers, hair removal, industrial processes and weapons.

Einstein wrote about in 1917, but way back in

-1898, science-fiction author HG Wells described a familiar-sounding ‘heat-ray’ in War Of The Worlds. What’s more, in

-1925, Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov wrote, in Fatal Eggs, about an intense red light that stimulated growth – long before the first experiments into laser bio-stimulation took place in the late 1960s.

Video calls Video calls //For decades, the kind of quality video calls we saw in movies like Blade Runner and 2001: A Space Odyssey seemed impossible.- Though the technology existed, practically no one had the bandwidth for them on regular home landlines. -Now, thanks to technology like Skype, Google Talk and Apple FaceTime, video calls aren’t just practical, but enjoyable.-In Jules Verne’s "In the Year 2889" describes the "phonotelephote"—a forerunner to today's videoconferencing technologies, such as the setup above, used to connect distant family members in North and South Korea in 2005.

The RocketThe Rocket (Space rocket, not (Space rocket, not

missile)missile)American scientist Robert H. Goddard, who built the first liquid-fueled rocket, became fascinated with spaceflight after reading a serialization of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds. Goddard's rocket was successfully launched on March 16, 1926. He was later quoted as saying that the concept of interplanetary flight "gripped my imagination tremendously." Goddard's developments eventually made space flight a reality. Interestingly enough, at the time, he was often ridiculed in the press. Now he is considered a founder of modern rocket science.

The The SubmarineSubmarine

In the year of 1870, Jules Verne published the science fiction classic Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, which revolved around the adventures of an inventor who traveled around in Nautilus, a submarine more advanced than anything that existed at the time. Today, most submarines are electric, just like the Nautilus.--Known as the father of the modern submarine, American inventor Simon Lake had been captivated by the idea of undersea travel and exploration ever since he read Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea in 1870. Lake’s innovations included ballast tanks, divers’ compartments and the periscope. His company built the Argonaut—the first submarine to operate successfully in the open ocean, in 1898—earning him a congratulatory note from Verne.

Waldo was initially a short story published by Robert A. Heinlein in Astounding Magazine in 1942. The story is about a mechanical genius, Waldo, and his journey from a self-imposed exile to a more normal existence. Waldo was born as a wealthy weakling, unable to lift up his head or use his hands to drink or eat. Waldo created a mechanical hand that he used with a glove and harness. Today, these mechanical arms, called Waldos in recognition of Heinlein’s innovative idea, are used by the nuclear industry as wel as in most automated factoryes.

The WaldoThe Waldo

The TaserThe TaserEdward Stratemeyer began publishing a series of books about a teen boy named Tom Swift who had a passion for science and inventing. The first book was written in 1910 and was meant to teach young adults about science. This boy invented a number of things, but it was the electric rifle that --Jack Cover, a NASA researcher, was inspired by. Cover began developing the actual Taser (an acronym for "Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle") in 1969. The device was completed 5 years later.

-Jules Verne's favorite topic of speculation was the vehicle, but he also wrote about weapons that didn't yet exist. For example, in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, he also described a gun that delivers a strong electric jolt, much like our Teaser, which was used to protect themselves against the sharks.

The World Wide The World Wide WebWeb In a 1997 interview with Time

magazine, Tim Berners-Lee, the man most often credited for the creation of the worldwide web, spoke of a fascination in his youth of a story by Arthur C. Clarke. This short story, Dial F For Frankenstein, which was written in 1964, featured a setting where computers were networked together and eventually began to learn to think autonomously. Although Berners-Lee was clear that he didn't want to entirely fulfill this vision, he did see the web as something that could transform society. 15 years later would prove that he was right.

The Computer The Computer VirusVirus

This is probably not something we want to celebrate as an invention that owes its existence thanks to science fiction, but it is inspired by sci-fi all the same. In 1975, a novel by British author John Brunner, The Shockwave Rider, described a self-replicating program that could spread across a network. In 1982, John F. Shoch and John A. Hupp, Xerox researchers, created the first computer worm, a small program that was designed to identify idle CPU cycles but ended up growing beyond their intentions. Fast forward to today, when many hackers still refer to The Shockwave Rider as an influential book.

HelicopterHelicopterWhile Jules Verne is perhaps most famous for his fictional submarine, the Nautilus, the French author also envisioned the future of flight. Igor Sikorsky, inventor of the modern helicopter, was inspired by a Verne book, Clipper of the Clouds, which he had read as a young boy. Sikorsky invented the Helicopter. Also such a machine was introduced in two books of his: Robur the conquerer and Master of the sky

Atomic PowerAtomic PowerIn 1914, H.G. Wells published a novel, The World Set Free, imagining the emergence of “artificial” atomic energy by 1933, followed by a devastating world war and the eventual emergence of a peaceful global government. Physicist Leo Szilard read the book in 1932, which inspired him to solve the problem of creating a nuclear chain reaction—in 1933. The same book would inspire Szilard to campaign for arms control and the peaceful, international use of nuclear power after World War II.We haven’t even

reached the half of it >:D

Combat Information CenterCombat Information Center (this is a boring one)(this is a boring one)

In the 1930s and ’40s, E.E. “Doc” Smith delighted readers with his “Lensmen” novels, chronicling the adventures of a futuristic Galactic Patrol. In a 1947 letter, sci-fi editor James W. Campbell informed Smith that the Directrix—a command ship featured in his series—had inspired a U.S. naval officer to introduce the concept of combat information centers aboard warships.

QuickTimeQuickTime

Apple scientist Steve Perlman says that he got the idea for the groundbreaking multimedia program QuickTime after watching an episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” wherein Spock is listening to multiple music tracks on his computer.

Neal Stephenson’s 1992 novel Snow Crash describes a fully immersive online “Metaverse” where people interact with one another through representations called “avatars.” Philip Rosedale, the inventor of the once popular online community Second Life, had been toying with the idea of virtual worlds since college, but credits Snow Crash for painting “a compelling picture of what such a virtual world could look like in the near future, and I found that inspiring.”

Second Life-Second Life- Virtual Virtual realityreality

UnivarsUnivarsal al

translattranslators ors

Today, anyone can whip out a smartphone, select the right app, and have a passable conversation with a stranger in just about any foreign country. However, universal translators have permeated science fiction for a lot longer than they’ve actually existed in the real world. In 1945, Murray Leinster’s novella First Contact was one of the first stories to boast instant universal translators. Later, Star Trek included its own device. Even Douglas Adams included a universal translator, the babel fish, in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.Fortunately, real-life researchers have been working at making these fictional devices possibilities. At 2014’s Code Conference, Microsoft announced the Skype Translator, a new feature that aims to bring diverse people together.

HologramsHolograms

While the Star Wars series inspired the research of life-changing technology ranging from lightsabers to warp drives, it also inspired the creation of more practical, everyday gadgets like holographic communicators. Ostendo Technologies Inc. has developed a projector that can be placed in devices like TVs, laptops, and even tablets. Ostendo’s projector allows people to see 3D images without 3D glasses — eventually, this technology could be used to send holographic communications just like in Star Wars.

House House Cleaning Cleaning

RobotsRobots

-House cleaning robots are no longer exclusive to The Jetsons. -Massachusetts-based company iRobot delivered its line of automated vacuum cleaners to curious consumers in 2002. And as far as products like the Roomba go, very little maintenance is involved. Typically, consumers only need to empty the vacuum’s dustbin when it’s full.iRobot has also released robotic gutter cleaners, mops, and pool cleaners.

Floppy DisksFloppy Disks

Hardly anyone uses floppy disks anymore, but Star Trek played a role in inspiring digital portable storage. The characters inserted small, square disks into computer consoles in order to save information. Although not as small or convenient as modern or fictional storage devices, the 3.5-inch floppy disks popular in the 1980s and ’90s were very much similar to the technology used on the show.

GPSGPS

On Star Trek, the Enterprise crew was located on the ground and beamed up by using GPS but only in 1995 the US deemed a Global Positioning System a functional concept. America launched 27 Earth-orbiting satellites in order to test it. From then on, GPS technology has continued to evolve. Today, GPS systems are incorporated in our lives.-Although Star Trek influenced the invention of many vital devices, author Arthur C. Clarke did some inspiring of his own in 1956. His writing about satellites encouraged the development of high-speed communication systems.

Diagnostic Diagnostic BedBed At one British hospital, you can

get a non-invasive and non-unpleasant diagnostic. The hospital’s sickbay detects illnesses ranging from stomach viruses to cancer.The machine itself contains an astounding variety of equipment, including parts of probes designed for Mars missions. -The technology is compared to the scanners that Star Trek’s Dr. McCoy swept in front of bodies to diagnose illnesses. The real-world technology relies on state-of-the-art imaging systems and diagnoses disease by homing in on sights, sounds and smells.

EarbudsEarbudsRay Bradbury’s classic Fahrenheit 451 predicted that society would be addicted to media and entertainment, how ironic. The book proposed that along with television, “thimble radios” and “seashells,” which are essentially earbuds, would be how people sought out their information. These devices would occupy people with sounds, music, and talk shows. Even though the story was published in 1953, it predicted numerous forms of technology, many of which are common today. A glance around any college campus will prove that people are hooked to their earbuds. This presentation

never ends…

Organ transplantOrgan transplantFrankenstein is cited by some as the first science fiction novel. In Mary Shelley’s 1818 book, scientist Victor Frankenstein uses dead body parts to build a man, bringing him to life with a powerful electric current. While such an extreme feat has yet to be achieved, transplanting body parts from one human to another has been possible for some time. -Transplants have been attempted for centuries, but the ability to make host bodies accept donor organs has only come about in the last 100 years.-Dr Richard H Lawler of Chicago achieved the first successful kidney transplant in 1950, -and in 1967 Christian Barnard performed the first heart transplant, in South Africa. -Her idea of using electricity to animate a body could be seen as a foreshadowing of the defibrillator. Such innovations have proved vital in saving lives the world over.

SmartwatchesSmartwatchesFor many decades, children – and possibly some adults – have imagined themselves being able to discreetly speak into their watches as though they were mobile phones, much in the same way comic-book hero Dick Tracy could. Created by Chester Gould, Tracy was a police detective able to communicate with his colleagues via a ‘2-Way Wrist Radio’. Smartwatches have been around for some time, but usually in quite basic forms. More recently, Nike’s Fuelband has given joggers the ability to track their performance snd now we have Samsung and Apple Smartwatches.

Automatic Automatic doorsdoorsHardly the most glamorous of

inventions, the automatic sliding door was still once the stuff of science fiction. More than half a century before its invention, the automatic door appeared in HG Wells’ 1899 serialised story When the Sleeper Wakes. Wells’ door was invented by Horton Automatics in 1954 and has been widely used ever since. Now you can go to work through an automatic sliding door that would circumvent the problem of high winds and their damaging effect.

Voice Voice controlcontrol

Voice-controlled robots such as R2-D2 from Star Wars were a mainstay of science fiction long before Apple unveiled its Siri software. While the technology had been in development as far back as the 1950s, it wasn’t until Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey showed a talking and responsive computer, HAL, that people began to imagine its true possibilities. -Voice control systems first emerged during the 1950s and 1960s, when Bell Laboratories designed its ‘Audrey’ system, which could recognise digits spoken by a single voice. -IBM took things a step further a decade later with its ‘Shoebox’ machine that could understand 16 English words. -By the 1970s, the US Department of Defence had set up its DARPA Speech Understanding programme. -By the turn of the century, consumer electronics firms were starting to integrate such technology into their products. -Apple worked with speech recognition specialist Nuance to produce Siri, while Google launched its own Voice Search product in 2011.

NewscastsNewscasts In an 1889 article, "In the Year 2889," Jules Verne described an alternative to newspapers: "Instead of being printed, the Earth Chronicle is every morning spoken to subscribers, who, from interesting conversations with reporters, statesmen and scientists, learn the news of the day."The first newscast didn't happen until 1920, according to the Associated Press—nearly 30 years after Verne imagined it.

There is no reason whatsoever There is no reason whatsoever for this slide to be here.for this slide to be here.

Solar SailsSolar SailsIn his 1865 science fiction classic, From the Earth to the Moon, Jules Verne speculated about light-propelled spacecraft. Today, the technology has a name: solar sails, one of which is pictured here in an artist's concept for NASA's orbiting NanoSail-D.

Lunar ModulesLunar ModulesJules Verne also wrote about what are today called lunar modules, such as the cone-shaped crew capsule atop this NASA rocket. In From the Earth to the Moon, he described "projectiles" that could be used to carry passengers to the Moon.

Not long now, the end is near.

SkywritingSkywriting

Jules Verne was a keen observer of the world around him, and one of the fields he paid attention to was advertising. In "In the Year 2889," he described "atmospheric advertisements"—similar to skywriting."Everyone has noticed those enormous advertisements reflected from the clouds," Verne wrote, "so large they may be seen by the populations of whole cities or even entire countries."

Zi ENDZi END

BibliographiesBibliographieshttp://www.dvice.com/archives/2012/05/10_current_tech.phphttp://lumiaconversations.microsoft.com/2012/10/07/5-everyday-technologies-inspired-by-science-fiction/http://hellogiggles.com/8-technological-advancements-inspired-by-books-movies-and-televisionhttp://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ten-inventions-inspired-by-science-fiction-128080674/?no-isthttp://www.toptenz.net/10-inventions-inspired-science-fiction.phphttp://www.theneweconomy.com/technology/10-inventions-that-began-life-as-science-fictionhttp://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/02/pictures/110208-jules-verne-google-doodle-183rd-birthday-anniversary/

Finally….

Splashdown Splashdown Spaceship Spaceship

In From the Earth to the Moon, Verne imagined a spacecraft landing in the ocean and floating—just like this Mercury capsule.

Haha, there’s on more

The end The end (must be…)(must be…)

Und ich bin:

Tencs for lisaning and for not spiching ol auar.

*g** *v*****b …