# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/21 "2012-04-16T14:12:48Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > When was the last time you felt a real need to be able to see through your computer monitor? Every day. It’s position on my desk blocks part of my view of my classroom. I’d prefer to be able to see through it so I don’t have to keep craning my neck to see the kids while I’m entering grades. ---
**Author:** ![Mekhazzio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b38774/32.png) [@Mekhazzio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mekhazzio)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/22 "2012-04-16T14:23:09Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > 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. The hand-waving looks good to convey the concept in a movie, but actual implementation of the idea will be done at fingertip scale. We’re already seeing early implementations of it on smartphones and tablet computers. “Squeeze to zoom” and “flick to scroll” are becoming habitual responses for a significant user base. Mouse gestures are the #1 feature that keeps me using my current web browser. A multi-finger touch & gesture input system could unquestionably become a major market presence if executed well. In the same way that you never see a modern day graphic designer without a stylus input device, I can fully believe that no well-equipped data sifting lab like in Minority Report would be without its gesture input. A slight motion of certain fingers unquestionably beats manipulating a cursor towards a distant icon. Plus it would be _awesome_ for RTS games 😃 ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/23 "2012-04-16T15:50:30Z")
I understand that teleportation of animate objects is basically impossible. Maybe for inanimate objects like rocks or boxes, but stuff that moves is apparently impossible. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/24 "2012-04-16T16:16:23Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > I understand that teleportation of animate objects is basically impossible. Maybe for inanimate objects like rocks or boxes, but stuff that moves is apparently impossible. At the atomic level everything moves. Light sabers. If you’ve got lasers, there’s no point. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/25 "2012-04-16T16:54:26Z")
> [@bup](#): > > At the atomic level everything moves. > > Light sabers. If you’ve got lasers, there’s no point. Elegance. (non-joke answer - blasters don’t defend against other blasters very well. Lightsabers do.) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/26 "2012-04-16T17:31:22Z")
> [@bup](#): > > At the atomic level everything moves. > > Light sabers. If you’ve got lasers, there’s no point. Lasers are clumsy and random… Flying cars are never going to happen. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/27 "2012-04-16T17:36:25Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > (non-joke answer - blasters don’t defend against other blasters very well. Lightsabers do.) Real “blasters” will travel at the speed of light. By the time you can even theoretically be aware of the shot, it’s arrived. A big shield, or armor (that actually works, as opposed to the storm trooper useless clumsy uniforms) would be a better defense. ---
**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, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/28 "2012-04-16T17:40:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Flying cars are never going to happen. Or, more to the point, they already happened, a century ago. They’re just not as convenient as people think they ought to be. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/29 "2012-04-16T17:45:56Z")
> [@bup](#): > > At the atomic level everything moves. I won’t get deep in the weeds on this for fear of looking like an idiot, but I think inanimate stuff ‘moves’ in a more predicatable (and transportational) manner than animate stuff. I think swift interplanetary travel is also so far into the future as to be practically impossible. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/30 "2012-04-16T17:46:24Z")
[Cloaking devices](http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/spacewardetect.php). ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/31 "2012-04-16T17:47:52Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > 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. > [@Beastly\_Rotter](#): > > Except that you need a whole room to wave your hands about in. But if you combine both technologies, do you only need enough room to wave your hands like you just don’t care? ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/32 "2012-04-16T17:51:12Z")
> [@clarkstar](#): > > “[enhance](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxq9yj2pVWk)” I disagree, I think enhance could be a reality – but for the wrong reasons. As higher resolution cameras get easier and easier to make (and computer storage gets better), it will store the information at a finer grain. Since that information is stored, zooming in on an area will show that information. Now crazy stuff like “turn around the corner” or “edit out that person to see behind him” will never happen unless we get REALLY creative with 3D security camera technology. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/33 "2012-04-16T17:56:00Z")
Portkeys. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/34 "2012-04-16T18:08:31Z")
not a Star Wars geek but what was the point of light sabers, whether we can make them or not? Wouldn’t guns kill the bad guys faster? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/35 "2012-04-16T18:18:09Z")
> [@well\_he\_s\_back](#): > > not a Star Wars geek but what was the point of light sabers, whether we can make them or not? Wouldn’t guns kill the bad guys faster? Only if you Shoot First ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/36 "2012-04-16T18:53:54Z")
> [@well\_he\_s\_back](#): > > not a Star Wars geek but what was the point of light sabers, whether we can make them or not? Wouldn’t guns kill the bad guys faster? “Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.” 😃 Another vote for flying cars/ hoverboards. Either you’d need true antigravity, or if you used magnetic levitation you’d need magnets and/or superconductors built into all the streets and sidewalks. And even if you have that, how do you get your hovercar to slide _only_ forward, and _only_ when you want it to? How do you go up a steep hill? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/37 "2012-04-16T19:10:40Z")
The Mr. Fusion, also known as privately-owned and operated nuclear power plants. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/38 "2012-04-16T20:01:11Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > [you mean like this?](http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/31/researchers-develop-a-360-degree-holographic-display/) How 'bout [this?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfVS-npfVuY) 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/39 "2012-04-17T02:57:36Z")
> [@clarkstar](#): > > “[enhance](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxq9yj2pVWk)” [uncrop](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i3NWKbBaaU) ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924/40 "2012-04-17T03:09:50Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > Minority Report seems to be a reference point for new UI technology, as well it should be. I had a serious problem with Minority Report’s UI. It may have looked cool, but there’s is no freaking way I want to stand up in front of an eight foot piece of glass all day, making 2-3 foot gestures with my arms to read a goddamn word document or spreadsheet or whatever. I’m quite happy with wiggling a mouse. Not there aren’t better ideas to be found with UI interaction paradigms, but what we saw in that movie was not one, and I was quite :dubious: watching it. Keep looking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tech-that-will-not-become-reality/618924.md?page=3)