Future Reality + Future Imperfect

Most of the technology seen in "Blade Runner" could be around by the year 2019.<BR><BR>Replicants as they are represented in the film? I doubt it.<BR><BR>Blade Runner Units? No replicants, no Blade Runners.<BR><BR>One thing that has occurred to me is that, by that time, certain police departments may have small, elite squads that track extremely dangerous fugitives for clandestine assassination. I don't like to think of the possibilities of this, but it is possible.<BR><BR>The look of the city itself? I doubt that too. One of the things I've heard tossed around since 9/11 is 'why do we need to build buildings that tall anyway?' Also, current trends in construction tend to favor buildings that permit the illusion or the reality of light, airy environments. Dark, crumbling buildings that are soaked by constant rainfall would be demolished and replaced by glass and steel structures (unless trends change by then).<BR><BR>The blaster? I don't know why that couldn't be created. In my opinion, if the specifics of its design (what the gun is supposed to be in the film, not what it actually was built from) could be figured out, I'm sure that a decent gunsmith could produce a working model easily.<BR><BR>All other things, including the VK, Trafficators, spinners, etc., could exist, although the purpose of some machines may be different than what they are designed for in the film.

Dark Knight, I was not intending to dismiss the speculation of CDs and DVDs in 2019, only saying we can't really draw any conclusions about BR 2019. But as I said, much of this stuff is probably going to be on computer anyway. There are a number of areas that have been testing video on demand and of course we can see/ hear stuff across the interenet. Bandwith and memory continue to increase.<BR><BR>I still see a future for buying movies on discs though. There are newer technologies than DVD, but I don't think the public would accept a new format just yet, and even when a new one is released, I expect the players will need to be DVD compatible.<BR><BR>Entrance keys using eyes - what if you have flu and your eyes are puffy? What if they're bloodshot from working all night? What if you have no eyes. Similarly for thumbscans - not a universal solution. You could fit a transponder under your skin that would be scanned at the entrance (already done in research). But then, you are risking people cutting you up if any part of your body is being used for entrance.<BR><BR>Money. Well the Euro has replaced a number of European currencies this year. The USD and in some places, the GBP, are used in addition to and sometimes in preference to the local currency. In the UK, this is the first year that cards were used for more than half of retail expenditure. So, we'll have smartcards, credit chips, maybe even cash?<BR><BR>ChinYen is a strange combination, but I suspect says more about the 1980's than about 2019!<BR>
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I think it is interesting to look at movies made in the past and surmise how incorrect hey generally are, then look at a movie like <!-- BBCode Start --><B>Blade Runner</B><!-- BBCode End --> that may be incorrect in some of its predictions, but hasn't really aged a bit. Thats how good it is.<BR>I think it would be interesting to take a look at another movie that made predictions for the future for the moment. <!-- BBCode Start --><B>Back to the Future 2</B><!-- BBCode End --> is in many ways the inverse of the world we see in <!-- BBCode Start --><B>Blade Runner</B><!-- BBCode End -->. Both are set in LA, both feature flying cars and video-phones, both are set around the same time, but offer different views of the future for different reasons.<BR>It was made in 1989, and part of it is set in 2015, so it is interesting to examine it now we are at the half-way point, 2002.<BR>It is more over-the-top than <!-- BBCode Start --><B>Blade Runner</B><!-- BBCode End --> but it is not trying to be totally realistic. Virtual reality was the buzz word around 1989, and VR helmets pop up in the movie. Now at the half-way point, and after featuring in movies such as <!-- BBCode Start --><B>Jurassic Park</B><!-- BBCode End --> and <!-- BBCode Start --><B>The Lawnmower Man</B><!-- BBCode End -->, we see that it seems to have died a death.<BR>What is interesting about <!-- BBCode Start --><B>Back to the Future 2</B><!-- BBCode End --> is that it features the Hoverboard. This has now been developed as a result of being seen in the movie. <BR>This is important, that movies and the ideas of somebody (like the visual futurist Syd Mead) can influence the ideas of inventors the world over. Staffless Cafes are opening up also with touch-screen servo-units.<BR>The flying car idea is still too big a leap, the <!-- BBCode Start --><B>Blade Runner</B><!-- BBCode End --> spinner is more realistic, especially if limited to emergency and police units. As far as I can remember <!-- BBCode Start --><B>Back to the Future 2</B><!-- BBCode End --> also featured a retina scan of some kind for identity purposes, and a thumb or hand-scan access idea. Very possible.<BR>You may think the above is slightly off-topic, but as an examination of possible future worlds it certainly bears thinking about as we take our early steps into the 21st Century.<BR>

Just a quick mention about Virtual Reality - it hsan't died a death at all. The big problem way back when was that some people got overexcited, particularly the media and hyped it up, etc. when it was still at a very blocky graphics stage. People got excited and then saw the reality and decided it was a load of rubbish. However, it was only rubbish compared to the hype. At such an early stage of development it was really as should have been expected.<BR><BR>People have continued to develop it and there are some commercial applications, not just immersive or action games, but things like remote surgery, etc. And not just remote - research into using it to enhance microsurgery techniques is very promising. For businesses, how about virtual meeting software, where one can meet in cyberspace, have avatars that are mapped to represent the real individuals, they can pass papers to each otehr virtually, etc.<BR><BR>And really, it is only a matter of time before the virtual worlds on the internet become immersive. As represented in a number of good SF books. And some of us will probably turn into wireheads and forget that our real bodies need to eat and drink...<BR>
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Regarding things like thumb and or retina scans, I don't think they would be so prevalent; for example, what happens when there is a widespread power outage and you need to open your front door? A simple lock and key would do, but a thumbprint or eyescan might not suffice.

Oooohhh... now that is one of the most bitingly accurate comments I've heard in a while. With even current Los Angeles suffering problems with electricity supply, can an L.A. 2019, particularly in the BR world, rely on electricity supply being constant? Companies and apartment blocks can probably afford back-up generators, but this wouldn't apply to everybody's home, would it - so for many, any scanning device to get into their house would be useless! Good point. <!-- BBCode Start --><IMG SRC="http://www.deckard.worldonline.co.uk/images/gif/smug.gif" BORDER="0"><!-- BBCode End -->
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I was wondering if biotech could be taken to a point of designing retina scanners (and other little devices) that are powered by biological beings (vegetal?) independent from the electric net. Not that I favor such a thing, but I guess someone could come up with it in the future.
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You mean making the device....kind of alive? I'm confused.

Have you seen eXistenZ ?<BR>
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I have not, no. Is that where the biological theory came from?

Wow - this is one of the most extensive topics I've seen in long while - congratulations. This might seem like I'm ducking the issue, but I more or less agree with what's already been said.<BR><BR>What seems to be missing from this discussion is any mention of a catastrophic event (World War Terminus in DADOES) occuring between now and 2019. This would have a huge detrimental effect on all aspects of post-event life. <BR><BR>I know we're talking about the movie, but a lot of background plot is carried forward from the book and although this event isn't directly referenced in the film, it is reason why everyone has moved off-world (isn't it?). <BR><BR>Should we assume that the concept of radioactive dust is part of the movie's living evironment? If we did we could theorise that this background radiation has a detrimental affect on complex technologies such as the latest multi-gigahertz PC chips. Perhaps, post-event, older and less sophisticated manufacturing techniques were resurrected to produce more robust (and simpler) electronic systems. Afterall, the whole technology concept of Blade Runner is 'retro' and recycle - older technologies such as the standard automobile appear to have been clumsily 'enhanced' rather than totally replaced - this could point to an extensive drop in manufacturing output perhaps due to the affects of the 'event'. <BR><BR>Or perhaps all the 'good' technologies have been taken off-world, leaving the remaining population to 'scrounge' together what was considered 'obsolete' and left behind.<BR><BR>I may return with a more extensive reply.
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<!-- BBCode Quote Start --><TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE><BR>On 2002-03-15 21:11, Deckard BR26354 wrote:<BR><BR>Should we assume that the concept of radioactive dust is part of the movie's living evironment? If we did we could theorise that this background radiation has a detrimental affect on complex technologies such as the latest multi-gigahertz PC chips. Perhaps, post-event, older and less sophisticated manufacturing techniques were resurrected to produce more robust (and simpler) electronic systems. Afterall, the whole technology concept of Blade Runner is 'retro' and recycle - older technologies such as the standard automobile appear to have been clumsily 'enhanced' rather than totally replaced - this could point to an extensive drop in manufacturing output perhaps due to the affects of the 'event'. <BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE><!-- BBCode Quote End --><BR><BR>Again, it is rather obvious throughout the movie that recycling and refurbishing are quite common. Durable goods are retrofit and used over and over, whether in part or in their entireties, until there's not a bit of use left in them. <BR><BR>It's been debated whether the environment portrayed in the movie came about as the result of a natural environmental disaster or of a thermonuclear exchange. Given the effect that a thermonuclear reaction would have on the complex technology that we take for granted today, it is my belief that is what befell Earth, rather than a natural environmental disaster.<BR><BR>I've watched the television show "Dark Angel" only once or twice. However, from what I saw of it, that world is lacking so-called "modern" technology as we know it also. Wasn't there some sort of nuclear accident or conflict involved in their history?

im with deckard. I tend to think the Nuclear war theory from DADoES carries over to BR, hence the overpopulated Megopolis of LA, people wanting to move off-world, etc
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Just answering the question about eXistenZ. It is a David Cronenberg film that includes a certain biological aspect - for example a games console is biological and derives its energy from being plugged into a human. A gun is made from a jawbone, etc. Have you seen Videodrome? eXistenZ takes it a whole stage further, There is also the question of what is real? that we see in other ways in BR. I think my comments had to do with using biological based technology. I sthere any reason why we shouldn't?<BR>
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I can't really see any reason that would make biological power a bad thing; might be bad if you're computer got the flu or something, but it still sounds kinda neat.<BR>I'll have to check out eXistenz. And I haven't seen video drome in years. I can barely remember much about it.