Who has seen the movie Minority Report? The movie is set about 45 years in the future. Technology has developed, of course, into some pretty cool things. But how realistic is this technology? Let’s have a look.
First of all, we have all of the new technology for the cops. We start with vomit inducing “sick sticks.” Why tase criminals and risk killing them when you can just make them throw-up? How about the halo? Why fight with criminals when you can disable their mind’s ability to fight you? It’s a good system all-be-it very scary for the criminal. The creepiest technology is the eye-scanning spider robots the cops use to find John, the main character, who is hiding from them. These little spider things run through an apartment building scanning everyone. If you don’t hold still they will zap you! If you have seen the research on the military’s Big Dog, you know these little spiders aren’t that futuristic.
In this future, every person’s retinas are stored in a database. This comes in handy in a lot of ways. Advertising is a big one. As John runs through a shopping mall, he is confronted by a flurry of ads targeted at him. How? Cameras scan his eyes and based on who he is, what he is, what he buys, how he’s physical signs indicate he is feeling, a computer determines what ads will be most effective and runs those. Pretty smart. Its kind of funny how one of the ads is for a beer. Why yes, this man could use a drink right about now. Interestingly enough, retinal scanners and consumers preference databases already exist. Is this the future of advertising?
We waste a lot of trees every year on newspapers and magazines. After all, once it has been read what use is a newspaper? Okay, a few uses, but not many and not everyday. What if you could buy just one paper and it would update itself everyday? How cool would that be? All that is needed to make this paper possible is a flexible, electronic paper and wireless technology. Wireless we have, and researchers at Xerox PARC are developing a similar product to the electronic paper. “It is a flexible plastic full of millions of multi-colored beads held in an oil-filled cavity. When a voltage is applied, the beads rotate to show the right color to the reader. Lots of cavities working in tandem create a readable page. Researchers say that it uses very little power, is lightweight and reusable thousands of times.”
What about gesture recognition? Who wants to use a stupid old keyboard and mouse anyway? Why can’t we just put on gloves and manipulate our windows, icons, and images with the tips of our fingers? Well, we can, as far back as 1986 before I was born. If you would like to see similar technology just go play with a Wii some time. The Wii remote isn’t a glove, but it is similar technology. As for a glove, that was the tech. developed in 1986 I mentioned before. It was a data glove, developed by a company called VPL Research.
Who would like to own a 3-D movie? It would be nice right? Well, it’s not as far along as we would like. State of the art today, is a small, wire-frame box hanging in mid-air. Yes, you can put your hand through it. It is a real hologram, but it’s not good enough to market to the masses yet. After all, it is only a wire-frame of one small object.
Traffic in Minority Report is very different from traffic today. First of all, it’s running up the sides of buildings. Second, no one is driving. The cars are just guided along by some regulation system. Apparently, Toyota worked on this part of the film. They helped the movie makers come up with a somewhat believable system (but not really). Lets have a look at the physics. The cars are supposedly using magnetic levitation to glide along the road. However, Japanese railway company, JNR, gave this method a try with spotty results. Apparently, magnetic levitation trains don’t handle hills very well. So buildings would be pretty much impossible. Also, these trains need contact with the ground to brake. Not being able to brake up the side of a building might not end well, you know, once or twice.
Rather or not the technology is possible doesn’t change how cool the movie is. You should totally check it out if you haven’t. The storyline isn’t too bad either. ‘Til next time folks
-A
Reference:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2002/jul/22/features.neilmcintosh
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