Have any of the more far fetched sci-fi ideas actually come true?

Question

For instance, the drop down screen as shown near the end of the sci-fi classic 'The Shape of Things to Come'.

Answer 1

"Drop down screen" as in "flat screen tv" or "digital projector"?

I believe I have some of those at home and at work!

Personal communicator as in "Star Trek, The original series"... is a cell phone with GPS. We still can't beam people up, of course.

FTL, time travel etc. will probably forever stay dreams in books and movies and video games.

However, we have a pretty good understanding of the early universe, something rarely ever mentioned in sci-fi books. We know a lot about science that was generally not anticipated. The reality of the objects in the solar system and the enormous variations in extra-solar planets and their orbits are also things rarely anticipated by authors. Most books and movies actually don't even attempt to portray the knowledge of their own time properly. Which is fine... scifi is fiction and it has as much right to make Mercury into a habitable planet as pirate books make the Caribbean into a lush paradise inhabited by heroic men with noble motives who are trying to live a free life.

The good news is that reading "20000 Leagues under the sea" is still more entertaining than six months of duty on a real nuclear sub.

Answer 2

Well, you could say that several of Jules Verne's "far fetched" ideas have come to pass - such as an electrically powered submarine capable of going around the world while staying submerged.

Science fiction tends to be in a mutually beneficial relationship with scientists. The writers get ideas from scientists who talk about what might be possible. Then the writers show us worlds where amazing things are possible, which in turn inspires scientists and inventors......

Answer 3

teleporting --- star trek
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleportation

time travel --- the time machine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHC8z6ULs18

robotics --- blade runner
http://www.hansonrobotics.com/humankind.htm

walking toys --- A.I.
http://www.hansonrobotics.com/robokind.htm

force fields ---- uhm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yVdwvodPo8

(true all the ideas, are still only halfway to becoming what they are portrayed in the movies


and what else? a camera in your brain/eyes
lasers?

any others?

Answer 4

sure the automatic doors on startrek for a start also there comunicator (mobile phones with the speaker on)