IEEE Spectrum June, 2014 - 100

DATAFLOW_

MOVieS PReDiCT
TeCh'S FuTuRe
It's telepathIc
tIme-travelIng
robots In space
2015 Marty McFly
arrives from
1985 and breaks
a hoverboard
along with the
entire space-time
continuum. Back to
the Future II, 1989

Many futuristic movies are vague about the year in which
their action takes place. But other movies are willing to nail
their colors to the mast, predicting specific technologies in
specific years. Some of these visions-like the soaring skylines
of Metropolis-have already come to pass, while others-
like the hoverboards of Back to the Future II-seem likely to
miss the mark. But some of the underlying themes have a
timeless appeal. -Stephen CaSS

2022 Charlton heston
discovers Soylent Green
is both delicious and
peeeeeeeoooooplllllle!
Soylent Green, 1973

2026 Robot Maria incites the
underclass to riot in a sexier,
more art deco version of Occupy
Wall Street. Metropolis, 1927

20
20

2010

2019 Deckard searches
Los Angeles for replicant
soldiers and a decent
noodle place.
Blade Runner, 1997

2019 Akira
devastates
Neo-Tokyo with a
psychic blast; residents
welcome change from
Godzilla. Akira, 1988

0
203

2028 Defying its falling population,
Detroit manages to maintain a
sufficient supply of mean streets to
justify buying a cyborg to clean them up.
RoboCop, 2014

2029 The final days
of the shiny-robot
future war.
The Terminator, 1984

2025 Theodore Twombly
and an operating system
called Samantha fall in love,
despite the limitations of
his human fashion sense.
Her, 2013

204
0

2035 The moon
is mined for helium-3
fuel, pathos.
Moon, 2009

50
20

2060

2054 Crime is almost completely
eliminated thanks to precognition and
gestural interfaces. Minority Report, 2002
2056 Val Kilmer goes to Mars
to face algae, killer robot. The robot bit
is more fun. Red Planet, 2000

100

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nOrTh AmericAn

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2044 A still-weak economy
forces a time-traveling
gunman to constrain costs
by having a shoot-out with
himself. Looper, 2012

infographiC by

Carl DeTorres

photos:
2036: getty
t/ct/c
Images;
t/c t/c
all others: alamy

2036 The first mission to space is fired from
a giant gun located right next to a busy city.
Scientists are surprised when this zoning
violation annoys locals. Things to Come, 1936



http://SPecTrum.ieee.OrG

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum June, 2014

IEEE Spectrum June, 2014 - Cover1
IEEE Spectrum June, 2014 - Cover2
IEEE Spectrum June, 2014 - 1
IEEE Spectrum June, 2014 - 2
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IEEE Spectrum June, 2014 - 99
IEEE Spectrum June, 2014 - 100
IEEE Spectrum June, 2014 - Cover3
IEEE Spectrum June, 2014 - Cover4
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