Every Star Wars fan will be able to point to at least one moment in a film and say that that is the piece of technology that they’d most dreamed about becoming a reality. For some it will be the super-fast podracers, the exhilaration of zooming through busy streets and pulling unbelievable manoeuvres. For others it’ll be the power of wielding a lightsaber, a sword made of plasma so powerful it could cut through steel. We could go on and on about the incredible ideas that Star Wars made into a visual reality on screen, but why not instead look at the handful of Star Wars ideas that are actually present in the world right now, the ones that you could reach out and touch with your own hands.
Holograms
Holograms were used heavily in many of the StarWars films, allowing characters to communicate face to face with one another without having to actually be present. They’re still used in some of the memorabilia today as the imagery is so iconic of the films. They are perhaps not the newest tech on the list, but holograms are starting to crop up in real life. The most famous example is undoubtedly the hologram that appeared of Robert Kardashian, to celebrate daughter Kim Kardashian’s birthday. Her then husband Kanye West, organised for a hologram of Kim’s deceased father to appear to celebrate her birthday. Robert Kardashian spoke to Kim as though he had risen from the dead and for her it was the most thoughtful gift that her husband could have given her. For StarWars fans though, this was a glimpse into science fiction becoming science fact. The hours of time that must have been put into reanimating this man were surely numerous, but the figure was so lifelike and so very believable. It wasn’t long after this that holograms popped up more and more frequently in advertising, with Virgin Atlantic using holograms of air stewardesses to direct customers in airports. It would be amazing to see more of this technology appearing in everyday life and not at all far-fetched to assume that it will.
Podracing
Of all of the things that StarWars brought to our screens, podracing is perhaps the one that the largest number of people were desperate to experience in real life. Watching Anakin flying around the track at breakneck speed was so exhilarating that you couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to be in the driver’s seat. Well, someone with the brains to make it happen had that very same thought and is hoping that the reality of an electric podracer is on the horizon. Called the Airspeeder MK3 Air pod, this superfast, superlight vehicle is currently unmanned, but all plans point towards manned Airspeeders in the future. The potential for this sport could be huge, with all of the fanfare that goes along with Formula 1 and Podracing mixed into one incredible, real life, spectacle. There’s absolutely no doubt that bookmakers will already be giving odds on when manned Airspeeders will be hitting the tracks and when they do, there’ll be plenty of scope for any arbitrage bettors. The broad scope between the odds of winners and losers in brand new sports is almost guaranteed, as it’s so difficult to speculate on events that have never taken place before. SBO explains exactly what arbitrage betting is and the implications are that it could be easier to spot one of these potential bets on a brand new sport.
Lightsabers
When it comes to the tech that we dreamed of as little kids, lightsabers were definitely it for the majority of us. Sure, your parents might have bought you one of the plastic lightsabers for your birthday and you probably did feel like Obi Wan skipping around the living room, beating your little sibling over the head with it, but wouldn’t the real thing be even cooler? Not recommended as a toy for little ones, there is a company who has made a pretty good replica of a lightsaber that actually works. Hacksmith have created the world’s first retractable plasma sword that burns at 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit and is capable of slicing through titanium. In order to fuel the sword it needs to be attached to a canister of compressed propane and oxygen, which might limit the Jedi-style acrobatics that you can do with it. However, it’s certainly a step in the right direction for lightsaber fans.