Star Wars has always been ahead of its time, in a plethora of ways, but one of the most profound is its apparent ability to predict upcoming technological advances. Whether it’s holograms, superfast vehicles, or some of the other treats we’ve got in store for you, what once seemed stranger than fiction is well on its way to becoming almost commonplace. There are hundreds of reasons to love sci-fi and hundreds more to love Star Wars, these are just a handful of them.
The Canto Bight Casino’s Holographic Gaming Experience
The Canto Bight Casino was a treat for any casino fans watching The Last Jedi. It was glitzy, glamorous, had a whole planet of its own and a plethora of interesting card dealers. Little could the writers have known that something similar would happen down on planet Earth. It’s been possible to find a live dealer casino in PA for a while now, but a whole casino set up for recording live casino games is quite the novelty. Just as Canto Bight Casino featured holograms of dealers, the live dealer casinos of today deliver a real person directly to your computer screen. It’s not only live dealer casinos that have taken inspiration from Star Wars’ holograms though. If you cast your mind back to deepest darkest 2020, October to be precise, then you might remember Kim Kardashian’s birthday celebrations. Kanye West had provided her with a Star Wars style hologram of her father Robert Kardashian. Not only did her father appear in a seemingly three-dimensional form, but he also spoke to her. The content of his speech was why this gift immediately hit the headlines, but whether you agree with it or not, the thoughtful gift was certainly a unique one.
Travel as Fast as Podracers
Any petrolheads will be guaranteed to love the Boonta Eve podracers. There was arguably nothing more exhilarating in any of the Star Wars films than watching these incredible ships zipping around the track. They reached speeds that seemed unfathomable, even to the Formula 1 teams of the day, yet it might not be long before us mere mortals will be able to travel at similar speeds. We already know that NASA’s rockets travel at eye-wateringly fast speeds of anywhere between 25000 and 60000 kilometres per hour, but they’re only piloted by experienced astronauts, wearing the correct equipment. Anakin Skywalker’s podracer travelled at approximately 997 kilometres per hour in the film, which is admittedly a great deal slower than rockets, but just 3 kilometres per hour slower than Pegasus, the first test vehicle for the Virgin Hyperloop. This Hyperloop aims to transport freight around the world at never-before-seen land speed. It works by reducing friction to such an incredibly small level that this sort of speed can be produced. Pegasus was manned by a two-person crew and had a successful journey. If Richard Branson could get to work on podracers next, that would be much appreciated.
Luke Skywalker’s Bionic Limbs
After an almost deadly fight with Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker finds himself with both of his hands lost forever. Thankfully in the films, it was possible for him to have new bionic hands created, though at the time of the release of the film this wasn’t quite so simple in the real world. Since then, huge leaps of progress have been made in creating bionic limbs for those who have lost them, or had never had them since birth. Although these bionic limbs are still far too expensive for them to be available to everybody who could so hugely benefit from them, they are becoming cheaper to manufacture thanks to the advancements in three-dimensional printing. This technology is being used by hospitals around the world, but also by individuals with the disposable income to buy a 3D printer and the good will to use it to help those less fortunate.