American author and biochemist Isaac Asimov once said, “Today’s science fiction is tomorrow’s science fact.”
When analyzing this quote, I think about how in a world of emerging technologies that so many scientists and engineers constantly achieve breakthroughs, specifically in the case of bringing technological and innovative inventions from fantasy and film to life.
After a decade of watching sci-fi and superhero movies, almost everything from Iron Man inspired exosuits, to giant robots operated by humans that you have seen in Avatar, have been made into a reality.
What I wish to emphasize is how inspiring and life changing it is, that despite being told certain kinds of technologies seen in film will never exist, scientists continue to prove doubters wrong.
To me, being able to bring ideas from movies to life emphasizes that there are many amazing people out there who use their intelligent minds to make the world a better place.
After feeling inspired from watching Avengers: Infinity War, I remember reminiscing about how Tony Stark realized how he could use his genius-level intellect to save the world from crime when creating his armoured suits.
In addition, I have not seen a lot of emerging technologies that have been influenced by films in the real world replicate all the things their fictional counterparts can do.
However, it is evident that scientists usually succeed in having them perform some of their main functions and fulfil their purposes.
I’ve noticed this specifically in the case of technologies that enhance a human’s physical capability — to be able do dangerous jobs with less injuries or help those who struggle with physical disabilities.
For instance, the Hybrid Assistive Limb, technology also known as HAL, is a robotic exoskeleton suit created by the University of Tsukuba and the Japanese robotics company Cyberdyne. It is designed to help people with physical disabilities with walking.
I’m no scientist, but I do know people will continue to make breakthroughs in many fields of technology.
It’s amazing that this life changing suit can augment a human’s physical strength and body movement tenfold.
I remember watching an elderly woman whose left side of her body was paralyzed due to a stroke, was able to walk when wearing the suit, claiming it had improved the condition of her leg.
When watching this woman on YouTube, it put a smile on my face. The fact that this technology was able to help her and others with physical disabilities regain hope that they could walk again is remarkable.
I’m not entirely sure what the inspiration was when creating this suit, but it has been often compared to Iron Man’s suit due to their similar purposes.
This certainly did remind me of how Tony Stark felt when building his armoured suit, knowing that his invention would enhance his physical capabilities and help him in so many ways.
Despite not being able to shoot beams and fly, the fact that this technology has been made a reality is what’s most amazing about it. How it will help so many people in their everyday lives is what makes it so fascinating.
Overall, this is just one of the many examples of an idea that we have seen in movies and, eventually, brought to life.
It’s inspiring to see that scientists ignore doubters and persevere in creating something that will help many people in need.
I’m no scientist, but I do know people will continue to make breakthroughs in many fields of technology.
I like to believe that movies have played a part in possibly influencing some scientists out in the real world. Fictional creations have the potential to convince them that bringing an idea from a film to life is not as far-fetched as one may have previously thought before.