18 hours Ago
Are we living in Back to the Future? Scientists reveal what the cult film got right...
and wrong Today is the day Doc and Marty arrived in 2015 during Back to the Future Part II The film successfully predicted some major technological advances like VR READ MORE: 'I, Robot' director claims Elon Musk is STEALING his ideas By Wiliam Hunter Published: 07:55 EDT, 21 October 2024 | Updated: 07:59 EDT, 21 October 2024 e-mail View comments When it was released in 1989, Back to the Future's unique take on the year 2015 may have felt truly unbelievable. But, 35 years since its release, how much did this cult classic really get right about the evolution of technology? Today, October 21, is the day in Back to the Future Part II that Marty McFly and Doc Brown arrive in Hill Valley after travelling forward in time from 1985. In those iconic scenes, we saw flying cars, self-lacing shoes, and some extremely questionable fashion choices.
But while a time-travelling DeLorean might not be possible, scientists now say that Back to the Future contains more science fact than fiction. From Marty's VR headset to holographic shows, the film has predicted some modern technology with remarkable accuracy. However, when it comes to hoverboards, flying cars and rejuvenation clinics, many of Back to the Future's predictions are still a long way off.
Today, October 21, marks the day that Doc Brown and Marty McFly arrived in the future after travelling forward from 1985 in Back to the Future Part II. But 35 years after this iconic film was released, experts say Back to the Future might have gotten a few predictions exactly right What Back to the Future got right VR headsets One piece of now-common technology which seemed extremely futuristic at the time is the VR headset worn by several characters throughout the film. During scenes at the home of an old Marty McFly, we see the family wearing chunky pairs of JVC-branded eyewear which they use to access the internet and take phone calls.
Even if they might look a little old-fashioned, this forward-thinking prediction actually pre-dated the release of the first commercially available VR headsets by almost 30 years. After Back to the Future showed us what they might look like, it was not until 2016 that the Oculus Rift launched as the first truly commercial VR headset. However, McFly's headsets bear much more resemblance in both form and function to the Apple Vision Pro which was launched in February this year.
Just like the glasses we see in the movie, the Apple Vision Pro is wireless and can be used without any hand-held controllers. Importantly, the Apple Vision Pro also allows users to access 'augmented reality', overlaying digital information over the physical world. In the film we see Marty Jr.
wearing a VR headset which allows him to take calls and access the internet (right). This headset bears a striking resemblance in form and function to the Apple Vision Pro which was released earlier this year This technology is what would allow Marty Jr. to serve himself a drink and eat dinner without the need to remove the headset.
And, as wearable devices like the Ray-Ban Meta Smartglasses become even smaller, this vision of the future has started to look more accurate than ever. Holographic films Another area in which the film nails a technological innovation appears in a brief joke shortly after Marty arrives in the future. While walking around the futuristic Hill Valley, Marty stumbles across a cinema showing 'Jaws 19' which launches a giant holographic shark out into the street.
Although obviously meant as a dig at the trend of serialised film franchises, this also predicted an important media development. Holographic performances have been used widely since the mid-2000s with musicians from Elvis to Tupac appearing after their deaths via holographic projection. The holograms use an optical illusion called 'Pepper's Ghost' to project seemingly 3D images onto a hidden screen.
As technology has advanced, the screens have become larger and more detailed, making the holograms appear even more lifelike. Back to the Future successfully predicted the growing popularity of holographic shows like Abba Voyage Simulated performances were originally gimmicks or small parts of larger sets but have now expanded to entire shows as the holograms have becomes cheaper. Abba Voyage, which first launched in 2022, combines a holographic show with a live band and has become wildly popular, selling more than two million tickets in 2023 alone .
And although holograms aren't being widely used in movie theatres yet, it's not hard to imagine something like Jaws 19 emerging very soon. Mobile payments While these flashy pieces of tech are impressive, Back to the Future Part II also does a surprisingly good job of predicting advancements in basic technology. In the film, Marty is asked to donate towards the preservation of the Hill Valley clock tower on a device which looks a lot like a modern iPad.
Later in the movie, villain Biff Tannen uses a mobile payment system to pay for a taxi. Once again, even though it seems commonplace today, the idea of sending money over the internet once seemed cutting edge. PayPal, one of the world's biggest online payment systems, wasn't founded until 1998 - nine years after the release of Back to the Future Part II.
During the movie, Marty is asked to send money electronically. Although this seems commonplace now, Back to the Future Part II pre-dates the launch of PayPal by almost a decade Likewise, the first contactless payment cards weren't issued in the UK until 2007, with the launch of the Barclaycard OnePulse. Wendy Redshaw, chief digital and information officer at NatWest, says: 'We've seen incredible advancements in banking over the last few decades, and the pace of change is only accelerating.
' Biometric systems In several moments in the film, we are also shown characters using biometric identification like fingerprint scanners. Today, almost every phone is equipped with some form of face or fingerprint scanner which we use to unlock our devices, access our information, and even authorise payments. But it was only in 2004, over a decade after the release of Back to the Future Part II, that the Pantech GI100 was launched as the first commercial phone with a fingerprint scanner.
Even then, it was not be until the release of the iPhone 5S in 2013 that this technology entered the mainstream. So, Back to the Future predicting the use of PayPal and Touch-ID by 2015 was absolutely accurate. What Back to the Future got wrong One of the film's most iconic pieces of technology is the hoverboard which Marty McFly (pictured) uses to escape from the future's bullies in an exciting chase sequence Hoverboards Perhaps the most disappointing thing Back to the Future got wrong about how technology would evolve is the hoverboard.
As Marty flees 2015's futuristic bullies, he jumps aboard a bright pink flying hoverboard which he rides in an exciting chase sequence. Unfortunately, despite the hopes of every child who watched this film growing up, modern attempts at recreating this iconic device haven't quite lived up to their promise. In 2014, California-based architect Greg Henderson designed a similar board that floats in mid-air called the Hendo Hoverboard.
The board uses four large electromagnetic 'hover engines' to push the board up to an inch off of the ground. But due to the magnetic force needed to lift the board, the Hendo can only be used on large metal sheets which can conduct electricity. That means the kind of free-roaming chases shown in the movie simply aren't possible.
Canadian company Omni Hoverboards has also attempted to recreate this tech by strapping six large propellors to a board. In 2014, California-based company Hendo unveiled their 'real life' hoverboard. Unfortunately, this is only able to hover above metal sheets so isn't quite the same as the hoverboard shown in the movie Using electric motors, this board can lift its rider into the air and fly around freely.
Thanks to improvements in batteries these boards can carry their riders for a few minutes but their range is still limited to less than 300 metres. And while it might be impressive, a huge drone you can stand on isn't really the same kind of hoverboard fans of the film might have been hoping for. Flying cars Another piece of flying technology the film gets seriously wrong are the flying cars shown whizzing around Hill Valley.
The film predicts that, by 2015, flying cars would be so ubiquitous that the DeLorian would need a 'hover conversion' just to blend in. Flying cars have often been shown in science fiction as the height of futuristic transport but the practicalities of personal flying cars just aren't realistic. For most people and governments, flying cars are simply too inefficient, expensive, and dangerous to be worth the investment.
But there are a few companies around the world still chasing the dream of filling cities with flying vehicles. Back to the Future predicted that, by 2015, flying cars would be so ubiquitous that the DeLorian would need a 'hover conversion' to blend in (left). While flying cars aren't here right now they could be soon Alef Aeronautics predicts their flying car (right) will go into production by the end of 2025 For example, the VX4, designed by British firm Vertical Aerospace, can take four passengers up to 100 miles at a cruise speed of 150 mph and is much quieter than a helicopter.
A journey from Liverpool to Leeds takes just 26 minutes, compared with an hour and a half in a car, or 20 minutes from Brighton to Heathrow, which currently takes four times as long by car. In March this year, the government revealed that it believes flying taxis will 'routinely' be in the air above us by 2028 , and potentially operating without a pilot by 2030. One company, Alef Aeronautics, has even released conceptual designs for a car which could be both driven on the streets and flown through the air.
Alef Aeronotics claims that the £235,000 Model A electric car should start production by the end of 2025. So while Back to the Future might have missed the mark on flying cars, things could look very different within the next few years. Rejuvenation clinics Likewise, the same could be true of the 'rejuvenation clinic' Doc claims to have visited at the start of the film.
After arriving in the future, Doc tells Marty: 'I went to the rejuvenation clinic and got an all-natural overhaul! They took out some wrinkles, did a hair repair, changed the blood, and added a good 30 to 40 years to my life. They also replaced my spleen and colon.' After Marty arrives in the future, Doc removes his 'disguise' (left) saying that he has been to a rejuvenation clinic which has added 30 to 40 years to his life.
Some treatments have been shown to improve life expectancy in rats (right) but human treatments are still many years away Removing some wrinkles and a new hairline is all well within the abilities of a plastic surgeons, but adding even a few years to our lives still remains impossible. In mice and rats, scientists have managed to find a number of treatments which appear to expand the healthy lifespan. For example, in July of this year, researchers from the UK's Medical Research Council Laboratory of Medical Science discovered a treatment which could extend the lifespan of rats by 25 per cent.
Read More Scientists reveal whether new anti-ageing elixir could REALLY slow human ageing too Rats treated with a protein called interleukin-1 showed reduced grey hair, improved muscle strength, and lower rates of cancer. But these treatments have only been tested on laboratory animals and there is no guarantee that they will work or even be safe for humans. Even still, many remain positive that a 'cure' for ageing could be found and scientists all around the world are working towards this goal.
So, perhaps in another 35 years from now, the idea of popping into a rejuvenation clinic might not seem so absurd. PayPal Share or comment on this article: Are we living in Back to the Future? Scientists reveal what the cult film got right..
. and wrong e-mail Add comment.
