Television Reality?

Arthur C. Clarke predicted geostationary satellites 20 years before there were any.

http://lakdiva.org/clarke/1945ww/

Nice bit of informatin there Steve, I was unaware of that.

And Jule Verne visualized the moon travel.

In the Myers-Briggs test, intuitives (N) have the clearest view of the future.

The list is actually very large. Here is a list from 2007 I wrote just on technologies either developed or under development from the Star Trek franchise. Gives you a bit of an idea just how much peoples imagination can drive development.

Also in development (or has been completed) from the Star Trek universe.

Ion drive - Developed and in use in ESA's Moon mission and SMART space probes. Currently developing enhanced version for interstellar travel and/or manned mars mission. Transparent

Dilithium crystals (what make Enterprise go) - Development continuing

Transparent Aluminum (Star Trek 3 "The voyage home") - Developed. Armoured windows for new armoured military vehicle

Holo-deck - Still working on. 3D screen less hologram projections in development.

Smart interactive touch panel user interface - Developing. Currently as an interactive gaming table merging best elements of board gaming with computer fun.

Positronic brain (Mr Data) - In development (using neural networks). I lost track but about 5-8 years ago computers produced in lab with IQ of a bee.

Optotronic (optical) Computers - In development, also optical microchips.

Warp Drive - Believe they gave up when it was concluded that would require all energy in universe to produce warp field. May still be possible with better understanding of quantum physics and mechanics.

Phasers - Nothing yet that I'm aware of, although US have built a portable chemical laser that can track and shoot down multiple missiles and even mortar rounds in mid flight (video is quite spectacular).

Photon Torpedo - Nothing yet that I'm aware of.

Photonic Cannon (The "ECM Emergency Command Hologram" episode for you Voyager fans) - Actually under development.

Tricorder - Currently cell phones are progressing into the all-purpose device.

Cybernetics ("we are the borg") - Successful lab tests 2005 linking biological cells to electronics for IO control.

Nanobots ("we are the borg") - Under development (also see MEMS technology)

Artificial gravity - NASA (and others) still working on.

Force Field - Nothing major yet that I'm aware of.

Parallel Dimensions - Still debating in scientific world. Current theory's indicate yes.

Wormhole travel - Still debating in scientific world. Current theory's indicate possible with better understanding of quantum physics and mechanics.

Time Travel (every 3-5 episode of any Star trek series) - Current theory's indicate possible with better understanding of quantum physics and mechanics (has a few bugs thou that mean you cannot go back before the time of the construction of the time machine). First annual time traveller convention held (2006 I think). Venue location details included detailed GPS and timing for future time travellers to visit. Yes this did actually happen. No, no time travels were spotted.

Remote control humans (the "Find Spook's Brain episode") - Prototypes in development by Japanese. Disrupts inner ear to control movement of user against his/her will. Demonstrated at an Asian trade show last year and the control mechanism looks and works like an RC control. Spooky.

Voice control of computers - Development continuing (quite basic at moment).

(Most of this list was current as at end of 2006, early 2007).

http://cr4.globalspec.com/comment/126028

GA, there is actually ashow with Shatner on exactly this topic. I watched it a few weeks ago on tv. very interesting.

It's probably because writers look at upcoming things from science and technology to make their stories seem topical.

The Dick Tracy comic strip predicted cell phones years before James Bond, sorry.

What other show do you think have contributed to advancements in technology?

Buck Rogers, 25th Century, predicted Jet Aircraft but implied they wouldn't occur until in the Century 25XX, and even then would emit many sparks, start fires wherever they went, and fall out of the sky routinely. That program was in the "Silents" (preceding the black and white "talkies" in the theatres) before TV was even invented.

Watch it here - https://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Buck_Rogers_in_the_25th_Century/70213131?locale=en-US

The link doesn't work, but are you sure it wasn't rockets?

Rocket technology was quite well known by people (potential viewers, sci fi writers, hobbyists, etc) and many (if not most) of the science fiction serials of that era concentrated solely on rockets and not jet turbines which are a completely different (and unknown) technology. Hence the sparks, flame, etc, the many small nozzles and liberal mention of rockets.

Might well have been. I actually never watched them, myself. But I remember a conversation with my Dad when I was 17 years old (41 years ago) and the SR-71 had just made it's record speed dash across the US and back in three hours. We were talking about how far technology had come in HIS lifetime, and how prescient the Sci-Fi authors had been, and he brought up Buck Rogers, and noted the 25th Century designation. What I did see always looked like Rockets to me, but I never heard a sound track that I can remember, so I don't think I ever connected that.

At any rate, his point was that they weren't predicted to exist for more than 500 years, and even then, kludgey and prone to failure, and here we were with planes that could reliably do what Buck never thought possible, 500+ years early.

I didn't either, but I watched a few science and engineering documentaries on the subject.

At any rate, his point was that they weren't predicted to exist for more than 500 years

That was just because they based it on what they knew and hence were massively out in their prediction because something else came along which was much better and didn't suffer the same limitations, and hence developed far quicker than imagined.

Another good example is the early computer. People thought they would continue to be massive and expensive and only a few people could ever afford one, now................

"That was just because they based it on what they knew and hence were massively out in their prediction because something else came along which was much better and didn't suffer the same limitations, and hence developed far quicker than imagined."

Agreed. I think this has been repeated throughout history. We also predict based on methods we know, and NOT on methods not yet even concieved of. An interesting case in point is the development of current methods of DNA analysis. The first methods were slow, linear, and limited, leading to predictions of time to develop specific genome maps that were in the 10s and even 100s of years, for complex organisms. But with the development of the current method, which does a great deal of the work in parallel (and no, most of it does NOT use the methods shown on CSI, just due to cost of equipment ), the time to map was decreased by factors of 10. Subsequent developments have cut that by further factors of 10 with the result that amazing strides are made daily, NOW (but not when only the old method could even be considered. Nor, as an interesting side note, while the battle between "we have our ways, and we are invested in them, and you, upstart, are NOT going to cause us loss of face or money" and "hey, look, I have a proven way to do this better" were going on.)

The result is that gene mapping predictions only 20 years old seem laughable now.

Sometimes I think our technology advances faster than our imaginations precisely because with so many people working on different angles to the same attack (parallel processing), versus one mind imagining a new scenario (linear, or at least a more limited parallel process) the most effective predictor will be the agile mind and intense curiosity that allows the predictor to change complete directions very rapidly, rather than the brilliant futurist who only imagines expansions on what is known.

The Future Ideas pools used in predictive idea development funding work on this principle, and seem to bear it out fully.