Telecommunication technology has made leaps and bounds over the last 20 years or more. I remember when three way calling and caller id was all the rage. On March 19, 1995 the 19th episode of the 6th season of The Simpsons called "Lisa's Wedding".
In this episode of The Simpsons Lisa goes to see a fortune teller. As the fortune teller is telling Lisa about her future love the story shifts to an Eastern University in 2010 (15 years in the future from the time of its broadcast), where a 23 year old Lisa meets a British student named Hugh Parkfield, the man she is destined to fall in love with. After Hugh proposes to Lisa she immediately accepts. The next day, Lisa calls home to tell Marge the news, but in the future phones are like Skype or FaceTime.
So, twenty years ago The Simpsons predicted the future of telecommunication technology. Although The Simpsons version still has an old rotary style phone with a screen on it and we use our laptops, PCs, and cell phones for Skype and FaceTime it is impressive that the creators of this episode were looking so far forward. Their timing for this technology wasn't far off either. The year The Simpsons predicted was 2010, but Skype was launched in August of 2003 and FaceTime in June 2010.
Skype is a telecommunications application software product that provides video chat and voice calls from computers, cell phones, and tablets via the internet. Users can also send instant messages, exchange images and files, send video messages and create conference calls.
Apple's FaceTime is basically the same thing as Skype but with fewer applications. It is a telecommunication application for social networking, videotelephony and voice over IP (VOIP). However, the same concept applies to both programs and both provide a way to interact with friends and family via the internet in a more rewarding experience than merely talking to someone on the phone.
It shouldn't come as a surprise anymore that so many tv shows, cartoons, anime, and Hollywood movies have predicted the technological future. Although what these shows and movies have predicted may not be completely accurate it is still amazing how far technology has come in so short a time. From robot dogs, augmented reality glasses and telecommunication technology among many other inventions, technology is shaping the world of the future even if it hasn't reached the fantastic heights of the imagination of cartoon creators.
Kids like myself who grew up playing video games and watching cartoons, such as Mega Man, were envious of main characters who had a robot dog as a best friend who was a helpful tool in missions. We would say, "Man, it would be cool to have a robot dog as a friend who has neat gadgets!"
Mega Man was first featured as a Famicom game released for the NES in 1987. The protagonist and hero Mega Man was later assisted by his robot dog Rush in the release of Mega Man 3. Mega Man's faithful robotic dog was created by Dr. Light to assist Mega Man in his travels. Rush was able to transform into a coil, a hoverboard, a submarine. a motorcycle and a flying sled. He also had jet capabilities and a detection mode to help find things Mega Man could use. Not only was he a faithful companion and best friend to Mega Man, but he was a useful tool on their travels together.
Mega Man is not the only cartoon hero to have a robotic dog friend. Jimmy Neutron aired on Nickelodeon in mid-2002 featuring the boy genius Jimmy Neutron and his robot dog, which he created himself, Goddard. Goddard like Rush is a friend and a useful tool. Goddard has a seemingly unlimited supply of gadgets built into him. The show often hints that Goddard has some means of holding more matter within himself than his size would suggest. Goddard is known to have self-destruct and self-reconstruction capabilities; a scooter, flight-cycle, and helicopter mode (in which his ears spin like rotors), as well as voice projecting and recording abilities, a fire extinguisher, laser eye beams, the ability to transmit what he sees to Jimmy's computer, a radar, a winch, and many other gadgets. He can also mimic other dogs in numerous ways.
It seems that robot dogs are becoming reality and not just the fantastical idea of kids. BigDog is a quadrupedal robot created in 2005 by Boston Dynamics, in conjunction with Foster-Miller, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and the Harvard University Concord Field Station. It's funded by DARPA in the hopes that it will be able to serve as a robotic pack mule to accompany soldiers in terrain too rough for vehicles. It is designed to carry 340 pounds (150kg) alongside a soldier at 4 miles per hour (6.4 Km/h; 1.8M/s), traversing rough terrain at inclines up to 35 degrees.
Similarly, LittleDog is a small quadruped robot also created by Boston Dynamics and funded by DARPA. Unlike BigDog, LittleDog is intended as a testbed for other institutions. The legs have a large range of motion, and is strong enough for climbing and dynamic locomotion gaits. The on-board PC-level computer does sensing, actuator control and communications which measure joint angles, motor currents, body orientation and foot/ground contact. Control programs access the robot through the Boston Dynamics Robot API. Wireless communications and data logging support remote operation and data analysis.
Although BigDog and LittleDog are not as utilitarian as Rush and Goddard they still represent amazing leaps in technological advancement. These robotic "dogs" are the first of their kind and I am sure that modifications will be made and someday cartoon characters like Rush and Goddard could be possible. I don't think we will have need of a robotic dog with laser beam eyes, but using one as a pack mule, as BigDog has been designed to do, is a good start.
It can be argued that we are living in the future that some cartoons and anime predicted over 20 years ago. Technology such as hover-boards, robot dogs, augmented reality glasses and much more have been featured in cartoons and Hollywood movies for years. Some of this technology is available today or will be soon.
The 1989 Japanese anime Dragon Ball Z featured a device called a Scouter, worn by Frieza's army. This piece of technology was a semi-transparent colored monocle worn over the left eye. The Scouter was used to measure power levels, gather information, keep time, a GPS locator, and interstellar telecommunications of video and sound. Although we have no need to measure power levels we are not unfamiliar with telecommunication and GPS devices.
Dragon Ball Z predicted or could have inspired Google Glass and Microsoft's HoloLens. However, the AR (augmented reality) glasses of Denno Coil are not far off from Microsoft's HoloLens. Denno Coil is set in the year 2026 and follows some kids who live in the city Daikoku which is half-real and half-internet and full of holograms. Denno eyeglasses allows them to see virtual reality superimposed on objective reality. They can also hear sounds from the virtual environment through futuristic ear monitors attached to the glasses behind the ear. Denno eyeglasses allow the user to access the virtual world through internet connected visors.
Windows Holographic, or HoloLens is an augmented reality computing platform created by Microsoft. It was introduced at the "Windows 10: the Next Chapter" press event on January 21, 2015. The Microsoft HoloLens uses advanced sensors, an HD 3D optical head-mounted display and spatial sound to allow for augmented reality applications, with a natural user interface that the user interacts with through gaze, voice, and hand gestures. It also performs tasks such as spatial mapping, gesture recognition, and voice and speech recognition, while operating wirelessly. The Microsoft HoloLens blends the digital world with the real world.
The Dragon Ball Z Scouter was probably thought to be science fiction in 1989 when it was first on television, and although we still have no need to measure our enemies power levels, we do use GPS tracking and telecommunications. The Denno Coil eyeglasses are closer to the reality of Microsoft's HoloLens and what used to look like science fiction is becoming reality. The HoloLens is a technological advancement that can blend reality with the digital world as predicted in Denno Coil, Dragon Ball Z, and other movies and TV shows.
