This date in future history, Marty McFly (played by Michael J Fox) returned to the future. In Back to the Future II, Dr. Emmett Brown (played by Christopher Lloyd) persuades’ Marty and his girlfriend, Jennifer Parker (Lea Thompson) to go help their children in the future. But that’s besides the point, the talk of the day is how much BTTFII got right in predicting the future in 2015, whilst stuck in 1989.
- Video Games: At some point, Marty is mocked for his ability to play video games…that require touch. While most of our video games today still require “touch”, many games available on xBox Kinnect, PlayStation Move, and the Wii do not require you to touch almost anything. Still up and coming tech, hand motions and facial expressions are the cornerstone of a new security movement, debuting in Windows 10.
- The Hollywood Sequel Obsession: Yup, Jaws 19 might have been correct. Hollywood has been making sequels, and move reboots, like crazy recently, so this satire showcase in BTTFII was not necessarily completely off. Lets just hope we don’t see a Jaws 19.
- Automation: Drones are shown walking a dog in the film, and taking care of a few other tasks. We don’t have fully automated dog walkers, trash cans, or waiters yet, and this might not be a bad thing, but we do have semi-autonomous flying drones, robots that build things, and computer technology that automates a lot more of our daily lives than you realize.
- Biometrics: Used to open the door of the McFly home, biometrics has taken off in recent years. We now can unlock computers, safes, cars, and yes, our home doors with a finger print or optical scan. New technology is being developed to improve facial recognition, so we may not have to touch to gain access in the near future. Maybe that will improve the line at park entry turnstiles for Walt Disney World theme parks. Inside joke, moving on!
- Self-Lacing Shoes: Nike patented this. We haven’t seen a working pair yet, and they aren’t on sale either. But they patented it, so that makes it reality, right?
- Glasses: Virtual Reality glasses have been around for a while, but they were big and bulky. Augmented Reality is relatively new, and is making head lines. In the VR world, Oculus Rift is making motions, and has sold quite a few units in the US. For AR, Microsoft HoloLens and Google Glasses are prime examples of how far we’ve come. Although, wearing your Google
Glasses on a night on the town might not be the best fashion statement. - TV Calls: May be not as tacky as the movie predicts, but video conference calls are a thing. There are many conference room systems that will handle video and sound, and many more conference room systems that will tackle screen sharing on your computer. Skype for Business is an example, with the capability for chat, audio calls, video calls, and presentations. Heck, we can even flash writing on the screen stating “You’re Fired” just for kicks.
What ever your cause for celebration of today’s technology, sometimes its best to leave some alone. BTTFII, meant to mock the future with some ridiculous and exaggerated ideas, happens to be right about quite a few things and could stand as a warning. But at the same time, all these neat things are right at our fingertips. My how far have we come.
Disclaimer: Mike was not alive in 1985, where this movie’s original time was staged. He was, however, alive in 1989, the release date of this movie, and is also a technology professional in 2015, and is well versed in so he his qualified to talk about such topics.