List of existing technologies predicted in science fiction
This list of existing technologies predicted in science fiction includes every medium, mainly literature and film. In 1964 Soviet engineer and writer Genrikh Altshuller made the first attempt to catalogue science fiction technologies of the time.
Alongside first prediction of a particular technology, the list may include all subsequent works mentioning it until its invention. The list includes technologies that were first posited in non-fiction works before their appearance in science fiction and subsequent invention, such as ion thruster. To avoid repetitions, the list excludes film adaptations of prior literature containing the same predictions, such as "The Minority Report". The list also excludes emerging technologies that are not widely available. The names of some modern inventions (atomic bomb, credit card, robot, space station, oral contraceptive and borazon) exactly match their fictional predecessors. A few works correctly predicted the years when some technologies would emerge, such as the first sustained heavier-than-air aircraft flight in 1903 and the first atomic bomb explosion in 1945.
Literature
[edit]Films and TV series
[edit]Film | Screenwriter | Release year | Predicted technology | Name(s) in the work |
---|---|---|---|---|
Back to the Future and Back to the Future Part II | 1985, 1989 | Voice user interface, tablet computer, videotelephony, augmented and virtual reality, flatscreen television, fingerprint scanner[82] | ||
Star Trek: The Next Generation | 1987–1994 | Smartwatch | ||
Until the End of the World | 1991 | High-definition flatscreen television[83] | ||
Her | Spike Jonze | 2013 | AI-generated art (drawing and music), advanced talking AI in video games, AI personalities based on historical characters | Samantha |
Notes
[edit]- ^ Pseudonym, real name is unclear.
- ^ Probable Tall Tales also describe some technologies that were actually invented before, such as "running galoshes", consisting of "iron shoes with springs and wheels under the soles" (the first roller skates were invented in 1760[5]). These are excluded from the list.
- ^ Although land ironclads are sometimes interpreted as tanks, they are described by Wells as having pedrail wheels rather than continuous tracks.
- ^ The original Russian term used in the novel (искусственная тяжесть) is slightly different from its modern equivalent искусственная гравитация. However, in English they are translated identically.
- ^ While similar machines existed before (automatons, Leonardo's robot, etc), R.U.R. is credited with coining the word "robot" as applied to such machines.
- ^ The novel also includes devices similar to CCTV,[44] the street membranes, but they recorded sound rather than video, and thus are excluded from the list.
- ^ While hyperboloid is described as more powerful than laser, being able to "cut through a railway bridge in a few seconds", it has been regarded as very similar in principle.[46] The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, however, notes: "For example, Pulp-magazine sf of the 1930s made much of Death Rays; it is rather a dubious vindication to point out that laser beams can now be used as weaponry".[47] Because of that later mentions of death rays are excluded from this list. Nonetheless, laser cutting exists.
- ^ Although prototypes existed before, Aqua-Lung appeared after the novel's publication, in 1942.
- ^ Although videotelephony was not largely available at the time, ikonophone and "two-way television-telephone" emerged in 1927 and 1930, respectively.
- ^ In the same year Heinlein's novel Beyond This Horizon was published credited with predicting waterbed (alongside later Double Star and Stranger In A Strange Land),[57] but it has been known since the 19th century, thus all three novels are excluded from the list.
- ^ Space Cadet is also credited with predicting microwave oven,[63] but it was demonstrated before, in 1947 by Raytheon.[64]
- ^ Spelling per novel's English translation by George Hanna, with an "s" instead of a "z". Modern English spelling coincides with the Russian. While the synthesis of borazon was announced in 1957, the novel itself was written in 1955–1956.[60]
- ^ While internet did not exist at the time, Creeper virus in the ARPANET emerged before, in 1971.
- ^ Written in 1863, first published 131 years later.
References
[edit]- ^ Gary Westfahl, ed. (2005). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 677. ISBN 0-313-32952-4.
- ^ "12 Sci-Fi Books That Actually Predicted The Future". Bustle. 24 May 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ Bleiler & Bleiler 1990, p. 740
- ^ Bleiler & Bleiler 1990, p. 662
- ^ Ruth Terry (7 September 2020). "The History Behind the Roller Skating Trend". JSTOR. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
- ^ "Первые русские фантасты и их идеи" (in Russian). Culture.ru. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
- ^ "Androids". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
- ^ a b "5 изобретений, предсказанных в литературе" (in Russian). Eksmo. 28 June 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ Dal, Erik (February 1968). "Hans Christian Andersen's Tales and America". Scandinavian Studies. 40 (1): 1–25. JSTOR 40916900. (subscription required)
- ^ Bleiler & Bleiler 1990, p. 420
- ^ a b c "8 Jules Verne Inventions That Came True (Pictures)". National Geographic. 8 February 2011. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ^ a b c "7 science fiction inventions that became reality". Popular Science. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ Цветков Е.В. "Научная фантастика и научное предвидение" (in Russian). CyberLeninka. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
- ^ Bleiler & Bleiler 1990, pp. 502, 910
- ^ a b "Сказка стала былью. Какие современные явления были предсказаны фантастами". Argumenty i Fakty (in Russian). 6 October 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f "These 15 sci-fi books actually predicted the future". Business Insider. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ^ "The Future Imagined in Albert Robida's La vie électrique (1890)". The Public Domain Review. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
- ^ Bleiler & Bleiler 1990, p. 612
- ^ Nils Clausson, ed. (2021). Re-examining Arthur Conan Doyle. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-5275-7409-0.
- ^ a b David Langford (2009). Starcombing. Wildside Press LLC. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-8095-7348-6.
- ^ Lehmann, John; Ross, Alan (1977). London Magazine. Vol. 17. London magazine. p. 19.
- ^ a b c d Jean Pfaelzer (1985). The Utopian Novel in America, 1886–1896: The Politics of Form. University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 109. ISBN 0-8229-7442-8.
- ^ Pilkington 2017, p. 34
- ^ Bleiler & Bleiler 1990, p. 169
- ^ a b "The Many Futuristic Predictions of H.G. Wells That Came True". Smithsonian. 21 September 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ a b Elizabeth Yuko. "10 Books That Predicted the Future". Reader's Digest. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ a b Eva Short (5 April 2018). "Prediction or influence? Science-fiction books that forecast the future". Silicon Republic. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
- ^ Bleiler & Bleiler 1990, p. 36
- ^ "Top 10 trivia: Novels that predicted the future". The Guardian. 22 January 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
- ^ Bleiler & Bleiler 1990, p. 682
- ^ a b Michael A. Orloff (2013). Inventive Thinking through TRIZ: A Practical Guide. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 252. ISBN 978-3-662-08013-9.
- ^ a b "Nuclear Energy". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
- ^ Bleiler & Bleiler 1990, pp. 290, 903
- ^ Bleiler & Bleiler 1990, p. 224
- ^ a b c "Future Shock: 11 Real-Life Technologies That Science Fiction Predicted". Micron. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ^ Bleiler & Bleiler 1990, p. 83
- ^ Bleiler & Bleiler 1990, p. 806
- ^ "5 unique ideas that predicted the space age". Russia Beyond. 8 October 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
- ^ Bleiler & Bleiler 1990, p. 748
- ^ Bleiler & Bleiler 1990, p. 255
- ^ Bleiler & Bleiler 1990, p. 241
- ^ Bleiler & Bleiler 1990, p. 361
- ^ "Anticipating the Bomb". Oregon State University Libraries. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
- ^ a b "Что предсказал Евгений Замятин" (in Russian). Culture.ru. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
- ^ Pilkington 2017, p. 59
- ^ Pilkington 2017, p. 59
- ^ "Prediction". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
- ^ "Литературный SF-обзор "[Не]Фантастические фантасты"" (in Russian). Vladimir Oblast Scientific Library. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
- ^ a b "10 предсказаний писателя-фантаста Александра Беляева" (in Russian). Soyuz. 16 March 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ a b ""Где идем?"". Migdal Times (in Russian). No. 121. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
- ^ a b "Три произведения фантастов, предсказавших появление смартфонов и соцсетей". Rossiyskaya Gazeta (in Russian). 23 January 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ a b "Paradise and Iron by Miles J. Breuer". Goodreads. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
- ^ a b c "Which fantastic notions of Soviet sci-fi writers became reality?". Russia Beyond. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
- ^ "Invention". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
- ^ Gerrold 2006, p. 78
- ^ "Фантасты предсказывают будущее" (in Russian). Chronoton. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ a b c d e "Best futurists ever: The Predictions of Robert A. Heinlein, from the Cold War to the Waterbed". Heinleinbooks.com. 12 March 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
- ^ Pilkington 2017, p. 37
- ^ a b "10 ways science fiction predicted the future". BBC. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Ерёмина Ольга Александровна. "Предвидения и предсказания". Иван Ефремов (in Russian). Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ^ a b c d Tom Easton; Judith K. Dial (2010). Visions of Tomorrow: Science Fiction Predictions that Came True. Skyhorse. ISBN 978-1-62873-008-1.
- ^ Gerrold 2006, p. 78
- ^ a b Rasha Ibrahim Maqableh; Aya Akkawi (2020). "Robert Heinlein's Space Cadet and the Young Adult Reader: Understanding the Real World through Narrative Transportation Approach". International Journal of Arabic-English Studies. 20: 92. doi:10.33806/ijaes2000.20.1.5. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
- ^ "Technology Leadership". Raytheon. Archived from the original on 2013-03-22.
- ^ a b Jan Vijg (2011). The American Technological Challenge: Stagnation and Decline in the 21st Century. Algora Publishing. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-87586-886-8.
- ^ a b "Ray Bradbury: 10 of his most prescient predictions". The Washington Post. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ^ Gary Westfahl. "Inspired by Science Fiction". PBS. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
- ^ Sarah Seymore (2013). Close Encounters of the Invasive Kind: Imperial History in Selected British Novels of Alien-encounter Science Fiction After World War II. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 143. ISBN 978-3-643-90391-4.
- ^ Genrikh Altshuller. "Подкласс 9: Приборы, инструменты". Регистр н/ф идей (in Russian). Altshuller.ru. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ^ Gerrold 2006, p. 78
- ^ a b c "13 Things Lem Predicted About The Future We Live In". Culture.pl. 12 September 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
- ^ "10 Philip K. Dick Future Predictions That Came True". Rolling Stone. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ Gerrold 2006, p. 78
- ^ Genrikh Altshuller. "Подкласс 2: излечение болезней, продление жизни, бессмертие". Регистр н/ф идей (in Russian). Altshuller.ru. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ a b "«Википедия», Zoom и другие предсказания братьев Стругацких, которые сбылись" (in Russian). RBK Group. 10 June 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
- ^ Gerrold 2006, p. 82
- ^ Gerrold 2006, p. 82
- ^ Gerrold 2006, p. 78
- ^ "The 1968 sci-fi that spookily predicted today". BBC. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ Gerrold 2006, p. 79
- ^ a b c d e f g Walker Caplan (8 February 2022). "On the 1863 novel that predicted the Internet, cars, skyscrapers, and electronic dance music". Literary Hub. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
- ^ "How Many Predictions Did Back to the Future Get Right?". Computer Museum of America. 3 July 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
- ^ "22 movies that accurately predicted the future". GamesRadar+. 30 December 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
Sources
[edit]- Bleiler, E. F.; Bleiler, Richard (1990). Science-Fiction: The Early Years. Kent State University Press. ISBN 0-87338-416-4.
- Gerrold, David (2006). "Predictions". PCMag. Vol. 25, no. 13. ISSN 0888-8507.
- Pilkington, Ace G. (2017). Science Fiction and Futurism: Their Terms and Ideas. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-9856-7.