Fantasy Is Now Reality.

Talk about Star Wars.  I’m at a technology conference.  Yes I’m so very, very happy to be here because I”m learning so much.  One presentation in particular captured my interest.  It looked at the technology in Star Wars that has made its way from the imagination to reality.

It turns this particular presentation came out of a school project of a high school student.  I was impressed at the amount of work she went through and the great information she had included.  There was more reality than I would have predicted.

1.  The light saber - when used as a tool to cut through metal is reality.  A modern version has been created by the military called the Tec Torch.  It has a plug in termite cartridge that provides the power to this tool.  It produces heat at about 5000 and can cut through just about any metal.  The video on it was fantastic.

2. Clones - like from the Clone Wars.  Cloning has been successfully carried out with sheep and a few other animals.  The most famous clone is Dolly who is a cloned sheep.

3. Droids, etc - we have some that are actually in use today. There is the little robot who vacuums the floors, and a host of others.  I honestly had so much fun with the presentation, I forgot to write down all the uses of droids.  There are also drones that people are playing with as they fly them around, collecting information.

4. Hovercraft - remember in the original movie, Luke was speeding across the desert floor on a speeder that used air to travel.  Then in this movie, we saw a couple other versions of these speeders.  In real life someone has developed a hover bike that goes slowly across the desert floor.  It looks a bit unstable but it was kind of cool  It was two circular hoover elements with a bridge kind of like the top of the bike connecting the two.

5.  Lasers - the Navy has worked on developing lasers that can destroy a moving target.  It used a targeting system that showed the item being targeting and when it was perfectly in the frame, the operator punched the button engaging the laser.  Next thing you saw, smoke rolled off the nit target.  It was cool

6. Robotic limbs - In the movies both Luke and his father lost their hands.  They’d have hands that looked so real but were robotic.  Apparently a company has developed a robotic arm that feels because its hooked into the nervous system so data is shipped to the brain.

7. Holograms - Many airports have implemented the airport virtual assistant or AVA who can help travelers get around the airport and answer different questions.  It is cool.

She spoke on a few other things but I was engaged and forgot to write everything down.  I was impressed with the amount of information she shared and the depth she went when researching the topic was fantastic.

Just in case you wonder, yes I enjoy Star Wars.  It is one of those movies that pull me in and make me want to be the heroine.  I’m a dreamer and always will be.