The Student News Site of Westfield High School

Hi's Eye

The Student News Site of Westfield High School

Hi's Eye

The Student News Site of Westfield High School

Hi's Eye

Back to the future: fact or fiction?

by Brennan Erickson
Flying cars, hover boards, self-lacing shoes: just a few of the many predictions Back to the Future Part II made for 2015. But back in 1989, how accurate were its predictions for our present day?
To start, engineers have yet to release a flying car, in which in the movie Marty Mc-flies around. However, according to businessinsider.com, Aeromobil, a Slovakia-based company, is in the process of creating a flying car entitled the Aeromobil 3.0. The project commenced in 1989, and is still in the works. Its release date is to be announced.
Additionally, the Nike shoes that could lace themselves are currently in the making. A 2011 Nike commercial announced plans to release the power-lace shoe this year. Designer Tinker Hatfield confirmed the reports that the shoes will lace themselves, according to nicekicks.com.
In the film, Marty has a video call with one of his friends, a technology that was unheard of back in 1985. The video call is comparable to what we call Skype, FaceTime or video chat. However, Marty could only make the call from his television, whereas our video chats are portable.
The hoverboard, McFly’s favorite mode of transportation, has not been recreated. But Hendo, a California-based company, is in the process of turning the hoverboard myth into a reality, according to hendohover.com. Only the future will tell if the planned electromagnetic hoverboard will be able to rise to the occasion.
In the film, McFly’s enemy Biff Tannen is seen paying for a cab by using his finger. The cab uses a currency machine to accept his payment, and the technology is similar to Apple Pay, which utilizes a fingerprint scanner on iPhones and credit card applications. People who own iPhones can pay with credit cards simply by placing their finger on the touch ID sensor, according to apple.com.
The movie portrayed the future with surprising precision. However, the real surprise would be if the Chicago Cubs win the World Series this year, as depicted in the film.
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