1. Mr. Fusion home energy reactor, using banana peels and old beer to power the DeLorean.
2. Sleep-inducing alpha rhythm generator used to knock out Marty's girlfriend Jennifer.
3. Voice-activated remote control for television. (Marty McFly Jr.: "I want channels 18, 24, 63, 109, 87 and The Weather Channel.")
4. Rejuvenation clinic — Doc takes off 30 to 40 years with a face peel, hair repair, blood transfusion, and a spleen and colon replacement.
5. Multiple-screen television displays.
6. "Jaws 19" in Holomax 3-D.
7. Self-expanding baseball bats.
8. Little Bug roving garbage disposals.
9. Roll-up television screens.
10. Ceiling-retracting Garden Center.
11. Paying taxi drivers using thumbprint identification.
12. Handleless doors, accessed using thumbprint identification.
13. Drone dog-walkers.
14. Video telecommunication on big screen televisions.
15. Foot-strapped human transporters (that George McFly hangs upside down from).
Hoverboard
Scene: Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) uses a hoverboard, a skateboard that floats above ground, to escape Griff Tannen's henchmen.
Status for 2015: Not happening.
Early in March, a video surfaced of a supposed tech company called HUVr, in which pro skateoarder Tony Hawk was seen demonstrating a prototype of a hoverboard. Alas, it was a hoax created by comedy website Funny Or Die. But is hoverboard technology possible? I asked Adrienne Appell, spokeswoman for the Toy Industry Association: "It's hard to speculate. Five years before the iPad we didn't think we had the technology for that. I've not seen a product like (the hoverboard), but the toy industry is all about innovation, and once the technology becomes available, I have no doubt we'll come up with a way."
Wearable eyeglass phone
Scene: At the dinner table, Marlene McFly (also played by Fox) answers a call with her eyeglass phone.
Status for 2015: Likely available for public.
Google Glass isn't a phone per se, but an Android-operated computer that connects via Bluetooth to a smartphone. On Tuesday it was put up for sale, at $1,500, for one day. Google is expected to make Glass available on the consumer market, but it's unclear when that will happen. Otherwise, customers have been able to sign up to beta-test via Google's "Glass Explorer Program" (and pay $1,500 to purchase a prototype).
Food hydrator
Scene: A coaster-size disc of pizza is inserted into a Black & Decker Food Hydrator. Several seconds later, a large pizza emerges hot and ready to serve.
Status for 2015: Exists in some form.
Homaro Cantu is the kitchen science wizard behind Moto, the Chicago temple of molecular gastronomy. He says the technology to dry and rehydrate food already exists, but the technology to make that food taste good is many decades away, if ever. "There'll always be a degradation in quality," Cantu said. "The cell structures and textures change. Technically, it's here today, but why would you want to pour water on a dried pizza and have it taste like a wet sock? I'd rather have the real thing. It only makes sense for long-distance travel, such as if you're in a sealed space capsule."
By-the-second weather forecasting
Scene: During a downpour, Emmett "Doc" Brown (Christopher Lloyd) says, "Wait five more seconds!" The rain stops on cue.
Status for 2015: Weather forecasting is increasingly precise but unlikely at that level.
"I don't think we'll get to the point where we can get second-by-second street corner forecasting. It just isn't economically feasible to get that level of precision," said WGN Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling. "We're going to need more computer power to do that. But the strides we've made in numerical modeling is absolutely stunning. The goal is to get higher and higher resolution, and we're going in that direction."
Flying cars on roadways of air
Scene: Doc Brown, Marty McFly and Marty's girlfriend Jennifer Parker (Elisabeth Shue) arrive in the year 2015 in their flying DeLorean, traveling along an air expressway.
Status in 2015: Nope.
From Patrick George, senior writer at Jalopnik, the automotive blog: "I don't think we'll ever see flying cars as they were portrayed in 'Back to the Future II,' let alone by 2015. A few companies have experimented with aircraft/car hybrids, like the Terrafugia Transition, but none of them seem realistic for mass production and use in a practical sense yet. Also, would buyers really trust flying cars, and would they offer significant advantages over road-going cars besides just being awesome? I hate to be a killjoy, but I'm not sure they would."
Drone photojournalism
Scene: When Griff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson) and his gang get arrested after crashing into the courthouse, a USA Today drone is taking a picture for the newspaper
Status for 2015: Already exists, gaining popularity.
Drone photography has become prevalent in recent years, so much so that there now exists a group called Professional Society of Drone Journalists. A Shenzhen, China-based company called DJI manufactures consumer grade, remote-control helicopters for aerial photography, with prices starting about $400.
Cubs win World Series
Scene: A newsreel report has the Chicago Cubs winning World Series (against a Miami team), supposedly beating 100-to-1 odds.
Status for 2015: Possible, but unlikely.
First, as the Miami Marlins also play in the National League, the only possible scenario is if the two teams play in the National League Championship Series. As for making the World Series in 2015? MLB.com baseball writer Anthony Castrovince says it's fairly unlikely. "There are a lot of power bats in their (farm) system," Castrovince said. "Some questions about their pitching talent. I think that the whole plan is for next season (2015) to be, if not a contending team, then a relevant team. Next season maybe we'll see them flirting with .500, but more realistically, maybe 2016 is a year they'll contend." Jeff Sullivan of the sabermetrically minded site Fangraphs predicts the odds of a Cubs World Series win in 2015 to be "2.5 percent … (though they) could be a fright in 2016."
Fashion
Scene: The color palette of Hill Valley residents' apparel is awash in bright neons. Jackets have self-adjusting sleeves and dry automatically. Doc Brown wears a see-through plastic tie, while Marty McFly Sr. sports the "double tie."
Status for 2015: Yes, if you want to be ironic. Otherwise, no.
Kurt Soller, a style writer and deputy editor of Bloomberg Businessweek's Etc. section, says: "While Zemeckis seems to have taken plenty of liberties, the fashion in the movie seems pretty stuck in the '80s. Neon had a moment a few years ago, but many of the color trends as we head into 2015 are neutral or pastel, the opposite of neon. Double ties also haven't made their way into fashion (yet), but I do have to give a small amount of fortune-telling credit to Doc's transparent tie; many overtly stylish young guys have been rocking the 'air tie,' a joke for buttoning your collar button sans neckwear. I suppose that's the same idea as a see-through tie?"
The Scenery Channel
Scene: Inside the McFly residence, a window television is showing The Scenery Channel, "broadcasting beautiful views 24 hours a day."
Status for 2015: Already exists.
In 2010, Comcast added "The Window Channel" to its video-on-demand roster. Now, the North Carolina-based high-definition channel is part of Amazon Prime's streaming video service, sold on DVD and shown in 18,000 hospital rooms.
Fax as communications hub
Scene: Marty McFly Sr. is fired by Cusco CEO Fujitsu-san via fax.
Status for 2015: On endangered list; replaced by PDF file format.
What Zemeckis got right was the series of interconnected networks with data transferring through fiber optic lines. That the terminals are attached to a printer is hilariously antiquated.
Go inside: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-04-15/entertainment/ct-back-to-the-future-2015-20140415_1_hoverboard-future-part-ii-google-glass/2
Scene: Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) uses a hoverboard, a skateboard that floats above ground, to escape Griff Tannen's henchmen.
Status for 2015: Not happening.
Early in March, a video surfaced of a supposed tech company called HUVr, in which pro skateoarder Tony Hawk was seen demonstrating a prototype of a hoverboard. Alas, it was a hoax created by comedy website Funny Or Die. But is hoverboard technology possible? I asked Adrienne Appell, spokeswoman for the Toy Industry Association: "It's hard to speculate. Five years before the iPad we didn't think we had the technology for that. I've not seen a product like (the hoverboard), but the toy industry is all about innovation, and once the technology becomes available, I have no doubt we'll come up with a way."
Wearable eyeglass phone
Scene: At the dinner table, Marlene McFly (also played by Fox) answers a call with her eyeglass phone.
Status for 2015: Likely available for public.
Google Glass isn't a phone per se, but an Android-operated computer that connects via Bluetooth to a smartphone. On Tuesday it was put up for sale, at $1,500, for one day. Google is expected to make Glass available on the consumer market, but it's unclear when that will happen. Otherwise, customers have been able to sign up to beta-test via Google's "Glass Explorer Program" (and pay $1,500 to purchase a prototype).
Food hydrator
Scene: A coaster-size disc of pizza is inserted into a Black & Decker Food Hydrator. Several seconds later, a large pizza emerges hot and ready to serve.
Status for 2015: Exists in some form.
Homaro Cantu is the kitchen science wizard behind Moto, the Chicago temple of molecular gastronomy. He says the technology to dry and rehydrate food already exists, but the technology to make that food taste good is many decades away, if ever. "There'll always be a degradation in quality," Cantu said. "The cell structures and textures change. Technically, it's here today, but why would you want to pour water on a dried pizza and have it taste like a wet sock? I'd rather have the real thing. It only makes sense for long-distance travel, such as if you're in a sealed space capsule."
By-the-second weather forecasting
Scene: During a downpour, Emmett "Doc" Brown (Christopher Lloyd) says, "Wait five more seconds!" The rain stops on cue.
Status for 2015: Weather forecasting is increasingly precise but unlikely at that level.
"I don't think we'll get to the point where we can get second-by-second street corner forecasting. It just isn't economically feasible to get that level of precision," said WGN Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling. "We're going to need more computer power to do that. But the strides we've made in numerical modeling is absolutely stunning. The goal is to get higher and higher resolution, and we're going in that direction."
Flying cars on roadways of air
Scene: Doc Brown, Marty McFly and Marty's girlfriend Jennifer Parker (Elisabeth Shue) arrive in the year 2015 in their flying DeLorean, traveling along an air expressway.
Status in 2015: Nope.
From Patrick George, senior writer at Jalopnik, the automotive blog: "I don't think we'll ever see flying cars as they were portrayed in 'Back to the Future II,' let alone by 2015. A few companies have experimented with aircraft/car hybrids, like the Terrafugia Transition, but none of them seem realistic for mass production and use in a practical sense yet. Also, would buyers really trust flying cars, and would they offer significant advantages over road-going cars besides just being awesome? I hate to be a killjoy, but I'm not sure they would."
Drone photojournalism
Scene: When Griff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson) and his gang get arrested after crashing into the courthouse, a USA Today drone is taking a picture for the newspaper
Status for 2015: Already exists, gaining popularity.
Drone photography has become prevalent in recent years, so much so that there now exists a group called Professional Society of Drone Journalists. A Shenzhen, China-based company called DJI manufactures consumer grade, remote-control helicopters for aerial photography, with prices starting about $400.
Cubs win World Series
Scene: A newsreel report has the Chicago Cubs winning World Series (against a Miami team), supposedly beating 100-to-1 odds.
Status for 2015: Possible, but unlikely.
First, as the Miami Marlins also play in the National League, the only possible scenario is if the two teams play in the National League Championship Series. As for making the World Series in 2015? MLB.com baseball writer Anthony Castrovince says it's fairly unlikely. "There are a lot of power bats in their (farm) system," Castrovince said. "Some questions about their pitching talent. I think that the whole plan is for next season (2015) to be, if not a contending team, then a relevant team. Next season maybe we'll see them flirting with .500, but more realistically, maybe 2016 is a year they'll contend." Jeff Sullivan of the sabermetrically minded site Fangraphs predicts the odds of a Cubs World Series win in 2015 to be "2.5 percent … (though they) could be a fright in 2016."
Fashion
Scene: The color palette of Hill Valley residents' apparel is awash in bright neons. Jackets have self-adjusting sleeves and dry automatically. Doc Brown wears a see-through plastic tie, while Marty McFly Sr. sports the "double tie."
Status for 2015: Yes, if you want to be ironic. Otherwise, no.
Kurt Soller, a style writer and deputy editor of Bloomberg Businessweek's Etc. section, says: "While Zemeckis seems to have taken plenty of liberties, the fashion in the movie seems pretty stuck in the '80s. Neon had a moment a few years ago, but many of the color trends as we head into 2015 are neutral or pastel, the opposite of neon. Double ties also haven't made their way into fashion (yet), but I do have to give a small amount of fortune-telling credit to Doc's transparent tie; many overtly stylish young guys have been rocking the 'air tie,' a joke for buttoning your collar button sans neckwear. I suppose that's the same idea as a see-through tie?"
The Scenery Channel
Scene: Inside the McFly residence, a window television is showing The Scenery Channel, "broadcasting beautiful views 24 hours a day."
Status for 2015: Already exists.
In 2010, Comcast added "The Window Channel" to its video-on-demand roster. Now, the North Carolina-based high-definition channel is part of Amazon Prime's streaming video service, sold on DVD and shown in 18,000 hospital rooms.
Fax as communications hub
Scene: Marty McFly Sr. is fired by Cusco CEO Fujitsu-san via fax.
Status for 2015: On endangered list; replaced by PDF file format.
What Zemeckis got right was the series of interconnected networks with data transferring through fiber optic lines. That the terminals are attached to a printer is hilariously antiquated.
Go inside: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-04-15/entertainment/ct-back-to-the-future-2015-20140415_1_hoverboard-future-part-ii-google-glass/2
