Trazee In-Depth: Art Imitates Life

With the constant need to reinvent and reimagine our world in new ways for entertainment purposes, it’s not uncommon for aspects of our entertainment world to invade our day-to-day life.

Even one of our earliest forms of entertainment, the written word, inspired technological advances, as in the case of the modern submarine. American patent holder and inventor Simon Lake was inspired by the 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne. After reading the story, Lake set to work on the first submarine built to operate in the open sea.

Before Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, the submarine of the time lacked divers’ compartments, ballast tanks and a periscope. Lake famously competed with John Philip Holland to build the first submarine for the United States Navy. Now technologically advanced beyond recognition, the bones and basic design of the modern submarine are still rooted in Lake and Holland’s competitive designs.

With the written word providing such descriptive details of the great unknown and inspiring innovative technologies, it is no wonder what visuals of television and film can elicit.

The popular television series turned film franchise Star Trek inspired more than one of our everyday devices. The first modern mobile phone design came from Motorola’s research director Martin Cooper and was inspired by the communicator used on the show in the 1970s.

Although the concept of the mobile phone was attempted in the late 1940s after World War Two, high-tech designs were dreamed up decades later, partly thanks to Star Trek. Cooper believed the communicator’s role on the show was more than fantasy and could be adapted into reality. Although the original mobile phone concept — accurately nicknamed the brick — is far from what we know of mobile devices today. The device was nearly the size of a landline, heavy and far from smart, but it worked. Cooper was able to make the first call on a mobile cell phone in New York City just a few years after the Star Trek inspiration hit. The inventive idea behind a show prop essentially became the driving force leading to the modern mobile devices we know today.

Principle scientist at Apple Computer in the 1980s, Steve Perlman also took note from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Perlman recalled an episode wherein the character listens to multiple music tracks on his computer. The concept for QuickTime and video codec software worked to compress and decompress digital video, paving the way for the mode in which we stream music. It was even rumored the original concept of the iPad was imagined from Star Trek technology, Personal Access Display Devices. As Steve Jobs was a known Trekkie, it isn’t too farfetched that the original iPad was developed in part by Captain Kirk’s handheld device. Jobs was known to believe our ideal world of technology would look a lot like the technology featured on Star Trek.

More recent inventions, such as the hoverboard, came to us decades later than the original model. Although created in the vein of Back to the Future’s famous gadgets, the newest model of the hoverboard came to us only a few years ago. Even with our advanced technology today, the hoverboard doesn’t exactly fly or even hover, but instead allows users to glide like Marty McFly.

Driverless cars have been a futuristic staple in sci-fi films since Total Recall, Demolition Man and I, Robot. Considering the roles these robotic cars often play in films, it is incredible to think Google made this fantasy a reality just a few years ago. With a diverting background in film, driverless cars are still a bit foreign to society, but play a comically terrifying role on HBO’s Silicon Valley.

Even beyond science fiction, there have been countless instances when society has been altered by the entertainment industry. Even humanitarian, political and health care strides have been made thanks to the entertainment industry.

The true story of Ron Woodroof’s life played out on screen in Dallas Buyers’ Club sparked debate and interest in AIDS and HIV patients’ right to alternative or non-FDA-approved medication. Woodroof, played by Matthew McConaughey, illegally smuggles experimental mediations into the United States in order to prolong his own and others’ lives after receiving less than encouraging suggestions from those around him. The Oscar-winning performance roused federal lawmakers to put forward a motion known as the Dallas Buyers’ Club Bill, helping AIDS and HIV patients receive financial aid toward their experimental treatments.

Clearly our entertainment industry has a strong, sometimes visceral effect on our day-to-day lives. Knowing the better part of what we are watching, reading and hearing is played up for entertainment purposes, it is still encouraging to know there are innovative dreamers watching and creating reality out of fantasy for the better — or at least the more interesting.

Martin Cooper Bio

The iPad