Could Star Wars Technology Become A Reality?
From spoon-bending lightsabers and emotion-sensing robots – Star Wars has plenty of futuristic technology in it that doesn’t yet exist. But it is slowly becoming more of a reality, with hologram projections making an appearance and multi-purpose robots that can interpret emotion have been around since 2015.
We might not see accessible space travel soon, but real lightsabers will surely make up for it. Soon enough, you might even be able to get your hand on one.
Here’s what we’ve found out so far regarding Star Wars technology making an appearance in the real world almost 50 years after the first film was released.
Lightsabers
We know that’s the real reason you’re here. Every Star Wars fan’s dream is to be able to play Jedi with their very own, limb-severing saber. Developers have created powerful lasers capable of being turned into a handheld lightsaber, but they won’t cause as much damage as the fictional one. The worst thing you can do is start a fire or burn the skin a bit – bad enough, we think.
In 2015 Harvard University researchers discovered that photons of light could be manipulated to behave like a lightsaber. Still, these lightsabers wouldn’t cause any damage. Just simply imitate the real thing when challenged. There are far more effective weapons out there if you ever find yourself battling the dark side, but real-life technology has not yet aced the lightsaber we all know and love from the films.
Maybe it’s time you take up meditation lessons to harness the force to use against your enemies if that’s what you’re after. No?
Emotional robots
C-3PO and R2-D2 in the real world? And you didn’t know about it?
Emotional robots first hit the market in 2015 with the Aldebaran creation known as Pepper. Pepper can sense facial expressions, body language, changes in behavior and speech. It is no match for the artificial intelligence displayed by C-3PO and R2-D2, but it is a significant step in the right direction.
Robots surround us in our everyday life; it just might look a little different than if you were to walk around Tatooine. They also tend to interact with us a little differently.
Your coffee machine can bring you a lot of joy in the mornings, and your microwave sure does cook up some fabulous creations, but they can’t replace your therapist or hold an intelligent conversation with you just yet.
Holograms
Kanye West gifted Kim Kardashian a hologram of her late father, so we must be living on planet Dathomir.
Although the Star Wars holograms are cooler than what the real-world is currently producing, we’re not far off from being able to send holographic messages like the cry for help Leia sends to Obi-wan Kenobi, imagine sending that to your gran!
Holo-games projects researchers have been developing a program at Swinburne University with 3D images that pop-up on flat surfaces made of graphene. 3D Images, what a cool element to be introduced to the gaming world! Move over VR – there’s a new piece of expensive equipment in town and it’s called graphene tables!
We may not be able to communicate with galaxies far, far away as of this moment. Still, we’re getting close to achieving communication similar to methods used by characters in the well-known movie series.
A new development known as Voxon VX1 can slice a 3D image into countless cross-sections and then project them so that a 3D image will appear when looking at it. The HoloPlayer One uses a similar concept. It creates multiple views of an image to create a floating 3D light field above the device. Now that’s some serious Star Wars technology!
The HoloLamp is another recent creation attempting to recreate the iconic Star Wars hologram look. It creates the illusion of a 3D object by tricking the brain using face-tracking to maintain the correct perspective at all times. This invention is more of a fantasy than anything else and tricks people into thinking they live in the futuristic world of Star Wars.
So there you have it, space technology might be closer than you think! Soon you won’t have to attend boring events in person and suffer being teased and prodded by various family members, no? Only me then! Simply sign off whenever you feel like it and go back to testing out your new super cool lightsaber while your robot makes you a cup of coffee, without you even having to ask. Now that’s a future we’d like to live in.