Sci-Fi Tech That's Quickly Becoming Reality

If you’re like me, and a total sci-fi nerd, then I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s a pretty exciting time to be alive! Wearable tech is becoming more and more sophisticated all the time, Amazon are poised to start delivering products by drone, and Virgin are still working on their vision for commercial space travel.

While these are the more widely-published space-age developments, they’re really just the tip of the iceberg. Here are a few more sci-fi technologies which are, or soon will be, a reality.

Cybernetic Implants

Cybernetic implants have been a recurring theme in science fiction long before they were popularised by movies like Robocop and Terminator. In recent years, they’ve made gradual progress into becoming a commonplace reality.

Various medical devices, such as computerised prosthetics, pacemakers, and cochlear implants, for example, can technically be called “cybernetic” and have been used to improve people’s quality of life for some time now. Helmet-mounted display tech is commonplace in every developed military on earth, which gets us a little closer to the killer robots we all know and love from the movies.

One firm has even received regulatory approval for a Naida CI system, an implant connecting Bluetooth signals directly to a person’s auditory nerve, with no actual sound generated.

Cloning

 Cloning has been a huge staple in dozens of sci-fi films and works of fiction. The Sixth Day is my personal favourite, which has been unjustly overlooked compared to blockbusters like Jurassic Park and Star Wars II.

Being able to create an identical copy of a living organism through the life sciences is really nothing new though. You might remember the huge media splash that Dolly the Sheep made by being born in 1996. Today, there are projects to clone animals that have been extinct for centuries, such as the Steppe bison and some species of mammoth.

Although these kinds of accomplishments are much more noteworthy to most of us, microbes and cultures are probably being duplicated in a cloning cylinder not too far away from where you’re reading this!

Exoskeletons

Exoskeletons are a staple in many great sci-fi titles, most notably Aliens and Avatar. It’s also a niche where science fact and fiction aren’t all that far away from each other.

There are various exoskeleton systems which are either in use or in development across Europe, North America and Asia. While the ones in sci-fi titles are used for logistics, combat or both, the exoskeletons currently in development are mainly intended for medical applications, such as aiding the disabled.

There are apparently projects designing exoskeletons intended for military and emergency response applications, but naturally these are a little more hushed-up.

A surprising number of consumer electronics companies, including Panasonic, have plans for their own consumer exoskeletons. I’m not sure what I’d use them for, but I’d definitely put a dent in my savings to own one!

The robotics company Cyberdyne (not kidding) has even started hospital trials for their full-body exoskeleton suit. Although you may not have a land speeder parked outside, the world’s looking more like a sci fi all the time!