- today
From handheld devices to artificial intelligence, Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future has become our present reality! Join us as we explore the amazing technologies that appeared in Star Trek long before they became part of our everyday lives. Which of these predictions surprised you the most?
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Whoever you are, I found this waste zone first.
00:04We're not interested in this.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 Star Trek predictions that turned out to be true.
00:11For this list, we're looking at technological and other concepts that appeared in the franchise before appearing in the real world,
00:17not specific events or out-of-universe moments.
00:20I'm going to make the best of it.
00:22See the way he's looking at me?
00:26Number 10. Google Glass.
00:30It's like having a view screen inside your brain.
00:32Google released its glass line of smart eyewear in 2013.
00:36These offered voice command of the display and featured a built-in camera.
00:40While there are other smart glasses still in production, Google discontinued its line in 2023.
00:45Maybe if Google Glass could also pilot a starship, things would have been different.
00:49In Star Trek Deep Space Nine's sixth season, we see Captain Benjamin Sisko wearing a similar-looking eyepiece to pilot a stolen Jem'Hadar warship.
00:57Return to course.
01:00Warp 7.
01:01While he certainly looked badass wearing the device, it gave him headaches.
01:04It was designed for the Vorta, but Cardassians could also wear it, which is why Garak put it on for the mission.
01:10Google Glass apparently also wasn't for everyone.
01:13Well, that won't do us much good.
01:14Number 9. Medical Scanners.
01:16The tricorder has been part of Star Trek since the original series.
01:20Its look has changed throughout different eras, but its functions have remained constant.
01:30Scans, data recording, and data analysis.
01:32A replacement must be requested as soon as possible.
01:35I am programmed only as a short-term emergency supplement.
01:38While devices that scan the atmosphere have been around for a while, a real-world device like the medical tricorder had eluded us.
01:45In the 2010s and 2020s, though, researchers and scientists created handheld medical scanners like the Scanadu, which detects vital signs and heart signals, and the portable DNA lab.
01:56While these advances do not have the all-in-one efficiency of their Trek equivalents, they are bringing us one step closer to a real medical tricorder.
02:04Medical tricorder.
02:05Number 8. Video Conferencing.
02:07That we have been transmitting messages for the past three days.
02:10Captain, Garan wishes it were possible to talk with everyone who wants an audience, but he is one man.
02:16While the technology has been around for decades, video calls and conferencing were only used on a semi-regular or regular basis by larger companies and governments,
02:24and for special events by well-off individuals.
02:27We'd have to wait until the 2010s for the communication methods widespread use to start.
02:31Of course, you wouldn't know it watching old Star Trek.
02:34Since the original series, two-way video communication has been the norm.
02:38You have eight Earth minutes left.
02:41Whether talking to a friendly alien or potential foe on the main viewscreen, or Starfleet on a private viewer, it's all video conferencing.
02:48It isn't flawless, either.
02:50There are interruptions and communication delays based on distance or equipment malfunctions.
02:54Just like there are in real video calls.
02:57For God's sake, Walker.
02:58This is a secured channel.
02:59No.
03:00Number 7. Voice Communication with Devices.
03:03The concept of interacting verbally with the ship's computer and other devices is inseparable from Star Trek.
03:08It's baked into the franchise's DNA.
03:10Program complete.
03:11You may enter when ready.
03:13It's no surprise, then, that Apple and Google had approached the late actress Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the voice of the Enterprise-D's computer, about potentially voicing the digital assistants they were developing prior to her passing in 2008.
03:25A holodeck?
03:27Where is that?
03:28Follow the comm panel lights.
03:30They will lead you there.
03:32While simply talking to assistants like Alexa and Siri is now commonplace, it wasn't for the first four decades Trek was on the air or in cinemas.
03:39Scotty found this out the hard way, and the hilarious way, when he traveled back to 1986.
03:44Hello, computer.
03:47Just use the keyboard.
03:48Number 6. Universal Translators.
03:51We use a device called the Universal Translator.
03:54It's like an alien dictionary with hundreds of languages programmed into it.
03:58Ever wonder why most characters in Star Trek seem to be speaking the same language, even aliens?
04:03Simply put, they're not.
04:04Instead, a device called the Universal Translator lets everyone hear their own language, provided it's one of the known languages programmed into the translation matrix.
04:13You are all speaking Japanese.
04:16Sounds to me like you are speaking English.
04:18It's because of a device we have.
04:20A Universal Translator.
04:22These have been part of Trek since the original series.
04:25Sometimes they're depicted as attached to equipment on the ship or comm badges.
04:29And once, we learn that the Ferengi have them embedded in their heads.
04:32Did you understand a word of that?
04:34Our Universal Translators must be malfunctioning.
04:38Real world technology is not this advanced yet.
04:41But with programs like Google Translate and YouTube's auto-dubbing feature, we're clearly headed in that direction.
04:47Number 5. Tablets.
04:49Star Trek The Next Generation introduced us to the Personal Access Display Device, or PAD.
04:54The scan analysis you asked for?
04:56These stored and displayed written, photographic, and other information.
04:59They were the standard way Starfleet officers handed in reports throughout the franchise entries set in the 24th century.
05:05And released in the late 1980s and 1990s.
05:07I'm not looking forward to explaining this to Starfleet Command.
05:11Their look and functionality bear a striking resemblance to modern tablet computers, which gained prominence in the 2000s and 2010s.
05:19The real world version does have one advantage.
05:22Efficiency.
05:23It seems like Starfleet engineers never figured out how to use the same device to store more than one thing.
05:29Instead, characters have a separate pad for each report, story, or file.
05:34How'd you come up with all this?
05:35Two days ago, you said these people were impossible to deal with.
05:39Now they're turning out projections that it would take Starfleet intelligence months to come up with.
05:43Number 4. Virtual Reality.
05:45Gene Roddenberry conceived of the holodeck for the original series' third season.
05:49But couldn't make it a live-action reality until the premiere episode of Star Trek The Next Generation in 1987.
05:55I didn't believe these simulations could be this real.
05:58Since then, holodecks have served as fully immersive replacement realities for crew members' recreation, investigations,
06:05and when it comes to Deep Space Nine's holosuites, more adult entertainment.
06:10I've been waiting for you.
06:14Holograms do exist, but the closest real-world tech to the holodeck experience has to be virtual reality headsets.
06:20They grew in commercial availability in the 1990s and 2000s, and improved in quality in the 2010s.
06:26Meanwhile, haptic technology simulates touching virtual objects.
06:30If researchers are able to combine these two techs and use holograms instead of a headset,
06:34Roddenberry's vision may be fully realized.
06:37I think, therefore I am.
06:47Number 3. Artificial Intelligence.
06:49Lieutenant Commander Data of Star Trek The Next Generation is a representation of where artificial intelligence and robotics could head in an ideal future.
06:57It's responses dictated by an elaborate software written by a man.
07:01It's hardware built by a man.
07:04He is an android that can learn, problem-solve, and carry on a conversation like a human.
07:09He has a personality, can make friends, have intimate encounters, and even fought for his right to personhood in court.
07:15As I experience certain sensory input patterns, my mental pathways become accustomed to them.
07:21That future may be way closer than the 24th century, though.
07:25Advancements in the late 2010s and early 2020s have led to AI that can problem-solve, rationalize, and converse like a human with a personality.
07:33It's not completely autonomous yet.
07:36Maybe for the better.
07:37Once, Data essentially got hacked, and he used his abilities to take control of the Enterprise-D in a matter of minutes.
07:43Computer, recognize data, Lieutenant Commander, Alpha-1 clearance.
07:51Number 2. 3D Printing
07:52Of all the technology in Star Trek, beaming seemed like the least likely for us to have this century, with the replicator a close second.
08:00In particular, the food replicator.
08:02However, developments in 3D printing technology in the 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s have gone beyond printing somewhat complex objects.
08:16It's now possible to 3D print food.
08:19People can enter their menu choices, and the device constructs the hamburger or piece of cake in minutes.
08:24It's not instantaneous and seemingly out of thin air as it is on Star Trek.
08:28Computer, one slice of New York cheesecake.
08:32Those fictional replicators reconstruct matter into food and other objects.
08:38Real 3D food printers need to be loaded up with food elements that they pour into shape.
08:42But the time saved and concept is essentially the same.
08:46Hot, plain tomato soup.
08:52Before we unveil our top pick, here are some honorable mentions.
08:56Space tourism
08:57We're not vacationing on a pleasure planet yet, but not all space travel is for science.
09:02Was it a relaxing trip, Captain?
09:08Uh-huh.
09:09Touchscreen monitors.
09:10They look so futuristic, but have existed since the 60s and became widespread in 2007.
09:16Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
09:28You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
09:31If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
09:35Number 1. Smartphones and flip phones
09:40The original Star Trek series didn't just predict personal communication devices that operated over long distances.
09:52It also predicted, or possibly inspired, how they would initially look.
09:56The original series communicators are almost identical to the flip phones that were popular in the late 1990s.
10:01Kirk to Enterprise, come in.
10:03Scott here.
10:04Status reports.
10:05When we got to the 24th century, the communicator look changed.
10:09Just as the most common type of cell phone became the smartphone in the late 2000s.
10:13The communicator became the comm badge, a wearable piece of tech.
10:16This is conceptually similar to talking through a Bluetooth device connected to a smartphone.
10:21So you could argue that Star Trek predicted that one too.
10:25Picard to Enterprise.
10:27Two to beam up.
10:28Do you agree with our list?
10:29What element of the Star Trek franchise do you think will come true next?
10:32Let us know in the comments down below.
10:34Alright, Mr. Scott, energize.
10:46Let us know in the comments below.
Recommended
16:32
|
Up next
12:49
0:30
15:33
10:12
1:50
1:27
1:57
3:09
12:42
13:19
15:36
22:09
13:07