# Movie "tech" that will NOT become reality **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2012, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924 "2012-04-16T04:56:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/1 "2012-04-16T04:56:39Z")
Minority Report seems to be a reference point for new UI technology, as well it should be. Touch-free gesture-based navigation, and passive ID may very well be the future of human machine authentication. I watched “Real Steel” tonight. Not great, not awful. One thing that irked me though was the display they kept showing. It was a clear glass display, visible on both sides, with no background at all. Who wants to see/needs to see/ or wants to display the back of their monitor? Why would you want a display that had a constantly changing background? I get that it makes it look futuristic, but it’s not practical at all. I’ll try to suspend my disbelief and ignore such things in the future. The real future. ---
**Author:** ![clarkstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@clarkstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clarkstar)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/2 "2012-04-16T05:23:17Z")
“[enhance](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxq9yj2pVWk)” ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/3 "2012-04-16T05:28:11Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > I watched “Real Steel” tonight. Not great, not awful. One thing that irked me though was the display they kept showing. It was a clear glass display, visible on both sides, with no background at all. Was it something like [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE06ELPwrH4)? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/4 "2012-04-16T05:43:30Z")
In the lobby of the physical science building, they’ve got a screen set up that’s on a transparent window and operated via gesture-tech, just to show off. The transparent screen works just fine, but the gesture tech is reminiscent of an old ball mouse that’s accumulated an eighth of an inch of grunk on the rollers, except not as smooth. My nomination is going to be Star Wars-style holograms. Not for lack of market, but because holograms don’t work that way. In order to see a real hologram, your line of sight has to intersect with the physical object that’s producing the hologram (a pane of glass or whatever). And there’s no way known or speculated to make one that’s just floating out in the air. ---
**Author:** ![Zerc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/82dd89/32.png) [@Zerc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zerc)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/5 "2012-04-16T06:06:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > My nomination is going to be Star Wars-style holograms. Not for lack of market, but because holograms don’t work that way. In order to see a real hologram, your line of sight has to intersect with the physical object that’s producing the hologram (a pane of glass or whatever). And there’s no way known or speculated to make one that’s just floating out in the air. How about a really bright laser that illuminates the dust in the air, similar to how you can see a green laser beam at night but this one is bright enough to see in the day? Maybe the hologram projector will also puff out some fine dust to make the hologram easier to view and when it’s finished it vacuums the dust up again. Maybe the laser could vapourise the dust so you don’t need to vacuum it up. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/6 "2012-04-16T06:24:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > My nomination is going to be Star Wars-style holograms. Not for lack of market, but because holograms don’t work that way. In order to see a real hologram, your line of sight has to intersect with the physical object that’s producing the hologram (a pane of glass or whatever). And there’s no way known or speculated to make one that’s just floating out in the air. [you mean like this?](http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/31/researchers-develop-a-360-degree-holographic-display/) ---
**Author:** ![Zerc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/82dd89/32.png) [@Zerc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zerc)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/7 "2012-04-16T06:26:33Z")
Ok, I’ve just thought about it some more and the laser will form a beam so we will see a bunch of beams and not the points making up the hologram. Maybe we can have two projectors and only where the beams intersect is there enough energy to make the dust particle glow? How about floating nano-particles that emit light when they are in the correct position and then fly back to the emitter at the end of the broadcast to be recharged and ready for re-use? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/8 "2012-04-16T06:27:36Z")
Isaac Asimov wrote the novelization of the movie _Fantastic Voyage_ and, as an aside, explained why the miniaturization that was the entire foundation of the story would never be possible. He then hand waved it away and got on with the story. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/9 "2012-04-16T06:32:23Z")
> [@Zerc](#): > > How about a really bright laser that illuminates the dust in the air, similar to how you can see a green laser beam at night but this one is bright enough to see in the day? Maybe the hologram projector will also puff out some fine dust to make the hologram easier to view and when it’s finished it vacuums the dust up again. Maybe the laser could vapourise the dust so you don’t need to vacuum it up. There’s equipment to project “holograms” into dust in the air. They’ve been used in concerts for Gorillaz and will be used to have the late Nate Dogg appear at Coachella this year. They cannot, however, produce a 3D image, just a 2D projection. For a concert, that’s fine since the audience is all on one side and far enough away that depth perception won’t come into play. A princess on your tabletop? Probably unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/10 "2012-04-16T06:34:52Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > [you mean like this?](http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/31/researchers-develop-a-360-degree-holographic-display/) I’m not sure “projected on a spinning mirror” counts as “floating in air.” The litmus test here is being able to see it from multiple angles and wave your hand through it. ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/11 "2012-04-16T09:05:11Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > Minority Report seems to be a reference point for new UI technology, as well it should be. Touch-free gesture-based navigation, and passive ID may very well be the future of human machine authentication. Except that you need a whole room to wave your hands about in. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/12 "2012-04-16T10:07:24Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > Touch-free gesture-based navigation … may very well be the future of human machine authentication. I hope not. It seems very inefficient. I guess it depends on how well the _Kinect_ holds up over the next few years. Is it just a novelty, or does it have real advantages over existing interactivity. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/13 "2012-04-16T10:28:08Z")
The intracity vacuum-tube mass-transit system, as depicted in _Futurama_. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/14 "2012-04-16T10:36:11Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I hope not. It seems very inefficient. Yep. And all that waving your hands in the air is going to make your arms tired very quickly. Compare this to the delicate wrist or finger movements you need with a mouse, trackball, stylus, or other handheld pointing device. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/15 "2012-04-16T10:37:57Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > It was a clear glass display, visible on both sides, with no background at all. > > Who wants to see/needs to see/ or wants to display the back of their monitor? I want a display like that. I wouldn’t use it all the time, but I’d certainly buy one. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/16 "2012-04-16T12:26:59Z")
How about those non-openable (except by the intented recipient) message capsules mention in “Foundation”? Or the oracle-like “simulacrums” of Hari Seldon? The real thing I regret-1950’s SciFi was full of descriptions of synthetic foods-and you could carry around a weeks worth of food in your pocket. Thank God that didn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/17 "2012-04-16T12:39:57Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > Who wants to see/needs to see/ or wants to display the back of their monitor? Why would you want a display that had a constantly changing background? I kind of know what you mean. I turn off Aero transparency on my Windows desktop because it interferes with reading text, but I think very bright single colour text, which you can focus on in a different plane to the background, and which is mobile, it will shift around subtly to add to the separation, and would work well. Plus, imagine having weather information on a window pane, or GPS information discreetly in the corner of the windscreen, or an mp3 player on your bathroom mirror. It would be really cool. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/18 "2012-04-16T13:03:58Z")
Heck, having information appear on an otherwise transparent surface is the entire basis of a “heads-up” display, which the military has been using to varying degrees of sophistication for decades. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/19 "2012-04-16T13:23:15Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Heck, having information appear on an otherwise transparent surface is the entire basis of a “heads-up” display, which the military has been using to varying degrees of sophistication for decades. And those glasses Google is working on. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/20 "2012-04-16T13:59:18Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Heck, having information appear on an otherwise transparent surface is the entire basis of a “heads-up” display, which the military has been using to varying degrees of sophistication for decades. Yes, but there’s a very good reason for that. What’s behind the display is equally important if not more so than what is being displayed. The pilots need to fly. When was the last time you felt a real need to be able to see through your computer monitor? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924.md?page=2)