"Cars" (2006) and Siri (2013)
About nine years ago, Disney Pixar produced "Cars," a movie featuring Lightning McQueen a talking, self-automated car. Today, most major car manufacturers give drivers the option of integrating Siri, an intelligent personal assistant, into their vehicle dashboard. Sound familiar? While I have yet to find the option of making Siri's voice sound like Owen Wilson, there is still room for growth.
Buzz Lightyear's watch (1995) Apple Watch (2015)
With the Apple Watch technology on the brink of being released, one can't help but notice similarities to Buzz Lightyear's wrist gadget in his space suit. The left arm of Buzz's suit had a panel that flipped open to reveal a display that contains a mission log in the wrist area to recorded history and provided records. The Apple watch will include most of the same apps that your iphone has, including news apps and notetaking apps to show "recorded history" as Buzz would say.
"Incredibles": Jack-Jack's suit (2004) and DRIFIRE Flame resistant clothing (2005)
Edna Mode was edgy and bold with her superhero suit designs, especially Jack-Jack's fire resistant suit that could withstand temperatures at 1000 degrees. Little did Disney/Pixar know, that while The Incredibles was in the making, experts at DRIFIRE Technology were developing similar technology for the military. According to their website, "From 2005 to 2006, DRIFIRE successfully developed a first-generation, moisture-management FR product, targeted mainly towards military end- users."
The Jetson's robot vacuum (1962) and iRobot Roomba Vacuum (2002)
The Jetson's predicted many modern technologies like tanning beds and talking alarm clocks, but the automatic vacuum cleaner is a surprising one. In 2002, iRobot began creating a line of robotic vacuum cleaners called Roomba. Roomba runs automatically and can sense when it is about to run into objects and bounce off them.
"Back to the Future" (1985) and Google Glasses (2013)
Back to the Future introduced the idea of TV glasses that answers calls. In 2012, Google developed the Google Glass, a pair of glasses worn on ones head like sunglasses. These glasses, much more modern looking than the Back to the Future pair, include touchpad technology. This touchpad allows users to make phone calls, see current events such as weather and shows past events, such as phone calls, photos, etc.
"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (1968) and AeroMobil 3.0 the flying car (2014)
The magical car we all love has come to life almost 5o years after Chitty Chitty Bang Bang took flight. According to their website, "AeroMobil is a flying car that perfectly makes use of existing infrastructure created for automobiles and planes, and opens doors to real door-to-door travel. As a car it fits into any standard parking space, uses regular gasoline and can be used in road traffic just like any other car. As a plane it can use any airport in the world, but can also take off and land using any grass strip or paved surface just a few hundred meters long."
"Treasure Planet" sphere holograms (2002) and 3-D holograms (2009)
The Map Sphere from "Treasure Planet" was a device created by the same ancient culture that built Treasure Planet. It was activated by a specific button that Jim Hawkins discovered while examining the device.
Researchers from the University of Tokyo have developed 3D holograms that can be touched with bare hands. Generally, holograms can't be felt because they're made only of light. But the new technology adds tactile feedback to holograms hovering in 3D space.
"Star Trek" (1966) and Smart Phones
Every Star Trek fan is familiar with the Tricorder, a handheld device that records data, analyzes data, and is used for sensor scanning. Dreamed in the 1960's, this device has an eerie similarities to the modern Smartphone. Early prototypes of the smartphone emerged in the 90's but the smartphone we know today came about when Apple released the first iphone in 2007. Some similarities between the Tricorder and modern Smartphone includes barcode scanning apps, and data recording devices like voice recorder, video camera, and data recording apps.
