It is undeniable that constant technological innovation has altered the trajectory of history by fully altering our everyday lives with things like mobile phones, electric scooters, and drones. Today, without these instruments, it is almost difficult to conceive a future, but the fact is that we existed without these tools for decades. Curiously, random sci-fi movies have been predicted to be some of the most futuristic devices available today. Find out which technology innovations come from Hollywood movies for billions of dollars.
Airport Body Scanners – Airplane II, 1982
No one might have expected that an American parody film sequel would ultimately anticipate one of the most important technological advances currently as deceitful as Airplane II might have been for some audiences. In a certain scene in the 1982 film, passengers who are about to ride on a lunar shuttle must step through a body scanner which was at the time totally impractical. Who knows that body scanners would be the standard at airports by 2009 and would finally hit a tech industry valuation of 328,2 million dollars?
Digital Billboards – Blade Runner, 1982
Another film published in 1982 predicted a technological breakthrough that would start more than 20 years later and ultimately become a major part of the advertising industry: interactive panels. Although Blade Runner was released in 1982, the film was made in 2019, and in some respects, it was ahead of time. One was the notion of a modern billboard, which was totally unachievable back in the 1980s. Today, automated billboards with a tech worth of $ 31.71 billion can be seen in every big city in the world.
Earbuds – Fahrenheit 451, 1966
The development of earphones was tremendous and the main element started as voluminous. Back in 1966 the movie Fahrenheit 451, which was far from becoming a fact, presented the idea of earbuds as the most horrendous, yet highly useful element. Although earbuds have improved in productivity in the last few decades, Apple introduced the now popular EarPods in 2016, which is on the road to hit a $15.8 billion market size by 2025.
Video Calling – A Space Odyssey, 1968
More than ever before, video conferences have been an integral aspect of how we interact with and work with our families and friends. However, while video calls are now almost as frequent as normal calls, they were not possible back in the 1960s. While the idea of video calling was still developed during the decade, during the 1968 A Space Odyssey, the importance of video calls was emphasized many times. The technology was launched the same year.
3D Printing – Weird Science, 1983
Nobody could predict 3D printing the way it is now decades ago, and that a movie surprisingly anticipated the technology in its storyline. While it’s not necessarily the same kind of 3D printing we have now, the concept certainly was there. Two guys managed to “print” a woman in Weird Science in the 1983 movie on the pictures and details they feed into a computer. 3D printing today is worth $35.6 billion.
Military Drones – The Terminator, 1984
There is a lot about the movie The Terminator that is also very prophetic because the film is so firmly pulled away from reality. But there was one thing the film finally forecast for the future, something that today’s innovation industry is worth nearly $26.8 billion: armed drones. Although drones existed for many decades, the use of commercial and militarized drones became part of daily life only in the early 2000s.
Smart Homes – Demon Seed, 1977
In 1977 Demon Seed gave us an insight into the idea of clever home, and how the technological revolution in our homes could totally transform our way of life. Strange enough, smart homes were unveiled to the market at the end of the 1990s and began to manufacture devices that were essential for a relaxed and simple existence. Today, smart home systems have a $23 billion tech market cap.
