HOW WE CAUGHT UP WITH MARTY MCFLY...
Video calls: Marty’s future self gets fired during a video phone call in the film – and during the coronavirus pandemic, that exact situation must surely have happened to some unlucky workers. The movie predicted apps such as Skype, Facetime and Zoom, which have become even more widespread in recent months.
Handheld tablets and electronic payment: When Terry asks Marty for a donation to save the clock tower, he clutches a device very similar to a modern tablet. The movie also predicted how wireless devices could be used to pay for items and services including taxis – just like we use Apple and Google Pay on our smartphones today.
Biometric devices: Fingerprints and face scans can unlock devices in 2020 and fingerprint recognition is used throughout Back To The Future Part II. In one scene, Marty’s girlfriend Jennifer uses her thumbprint to open the door to her house in 2015, and there are smart locks available nowadays that allow you to do the same. e. Marty and Doc also speak to computerised omk gadgets that answer back
– much h like Siri or r the Google e
Assistant.
TECH fans can finally go Back To The Future after Nike released self- tying shoelaces – as predicted by the second film in the time- travel trilogy.
The sportswear company’s £ 300 basketball trainers can also be tightened on command thanks to built- in Bluetooth, which uses Google’s voice recognition on Android smartphones.
In Back To The Future Part II, hero Marty Mcfly ( Michael J Fox) used the shoes during a hoverboard chase while escaping from Griff’s gang.
And despite being released in 1989, the film made some eerily accurate predictions about the technology we use today, as NADINE LINGE reveals…
Multiple TV channels and VR headsets: Marty is stunned to see many channels on the telly – something many of us take for granted today. In another scene, the time traveller’s future children watch TV on futuristic glasses – much like the hi- tech video goggles of
current times
Oculus brand.
Flying drones: These are shown doing everything from walking the dog to gathering news, and today their uses range from surveillance by intelligence organisations and journalism to inspecting hardtoreach areas and even delivering packages.
Bionic implants: After Marty and Doc have a bust- up with Griff, Doc says: “He’s got a few short circuits in his bionic implants.” Today organisations are working on tech that can be integrated with the body, such as the cochlear implant that can restore some hearing to a deaf
such
as
the
TABLET: Prediction person. Similar hardware and software are being used to develop an implant to help blind people see, while in Sweden, research has seen three amputees live with mind- control prosthetics that let them experience the sensation of touch.
Donald Trump: Surely the most unlikely prediction must have been bad guy Biff Tannen – a three- times- married businessman with wispy blonde hair, perma- tan and gold- painted home – who opens a casino and goes into politics. Sound familiar? Back To The Future writer Bob Gale has even admitted that the villain is “loosely based” on the current US President – although altho back in 1 1989, who co could have im imagined T Trump e eventually b becoming the leader of the free world?