Droids, Space Travel and Holograms: Fantasy Star Wars Tech That Has Become a Reality

James Earl Jones, the man with the voice of rolling thunder, has passed away at 93 years old, leaving behind worlds of fantasy and wonder that have enriched lives beyond belief.

Best known for his work in the Star Wars franchise and Disney’s The Lion King, his career in Hollywood spanned an incredible 60 years, bringing countless characters to life and receiving the great honour of being inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1985.

Jones is revered for his astounding professional versatility, having gained success in both live theatre and film, as well as in traditional acting and voice acting alike.

However, James Earl Jones’ true skill was best presented by his ability to breathe life into two of the most antithetical characters of all time – Darth Vader, a complex but universally hated villain upon which the entire Star Wars universe was based, and Mufasa, the epitome of love and kindness, the metaphorical father of the warm and wholesome Disney universe.

While the characters are intrinsically bound by a deep sense of tragedy, ultimately, they represent completely different values, making Jones’ ability to portray both Vader and Mufasa with such conviction and authenticity a remarkable feat.

Both Star Wars and The Lion King tell stories about morality and friendship, highlighting classic tropes of good versus evil. But the other theme that has resulted in the global (and persistent) success of Star Wars for about fifty years is the incorporation of futuristic technology.

Not only did George Lucas create an immense sci-fi universe in which his characters lived, loved, adventured and battled, but he also came up with some of the most exciting fictional technology to be imagined at the time.

Of course, not all of these ideas were novel, but the films brought them to life and ultimately added undeniable magic and wonder to the Star Wars universe which has allowed the film franchise to develop the cult-like following it has today.

 

Star Wars Fantasy Tech Versus Modern Technology 

 

All the way through from The Phantom Menace to A New Hope, the Star Wars films are teeming with wonderful sci-fi technology, from pod-racers and flying cars to live holographic images and lightsabers. With these seemingly small details, the world of Jedis, sith lords and clone armies was brought to life.

Now, when the films were first made, the technology that the characters made use of was entirely fictional, at least in the minds of writers and producers and to the dismay of die-hard fans of Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon.

However, times changed, and in a pretty incredible turn of events, some of the most fantastical, unbelievable pieces of technology that made fans go crazy all the way back in the ’70s have actually become a reality.

That’s not to say that in a mere 50 years, everything’s changed and we’re now living in a multi-universe galaxy with countless planets, spaceships for public transport and wookies for best friends.

What we are saying, however, is that some bits and pieces of the technology we once revelled at are no longer as far from reality as we used to think. They’re just a little different to what we may have thought they would be.

Here are 5 of the coolest examples of how Star Wars sci-fi tech has become a reality (at least a little bit).

 

1. Space Travel

 

The first of the initial trilogy, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, was released in 1977, nearly 20 years after the USSR first sent humans to space and eight years after the USA sent man to the moon. So, it’s not like space travel was a completely foreign concept back then, and George Lucas certainly didn’t come up with the idea.

However, the idea of commercial space travel that was part of everyday life for some intergalactic inhabitants was not considered to be a remote possibility in the real world.

But with experts and industry leaders like Elon Musk leading the charge, that’s quickly changing. Indeed, ideas of lunar colonisation and actual missions to Mars in an attempt to find alternative planets for colonisation are becoming very real, meaning that even though space travel has become far more normalised over the last few decades, it’s likely that it’ll become a very real part of our reality in the near future.

 

2. Holographic Technology

 

Holograms formed part of the very earliest Star War films and are still very much part of the imagined Jedi world.

Arguably the most iconic holographic scene in the Star Wars universe was Princess Leia’s desperate plea for help from Jedi, Obi Wan. Undoubtedly, holograms seemed absolutely unfathomable before the turn of the millennium, and in the ’70s and ’80s when the first three films gained success, even ordinary television was a fairly exciting phenomenon.

Nowadays, however, holograms are actually very real. You’re unlikely to receive a, “Help me, Obi Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope” message any time soon, but other than that, the technology very much exists.

Its main utility, as it stands, is in the healthcare industry and advanced engineering, as the tech allows for more realistic depictions of 3D models.

While this may not seem quite as exciting as Jedis having holographic cellphones in their pockets to receive highly classified messages from intergalactic princesses, it’s still pretty incredible as far as modern technology goes.

 

 

3. Bionic Limbs

 

After Luke Skywalker loses his arm in a devastating altercation with Darth Vader in Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (no wonder he had daddy issues), the film’s protagonist is forced to learn how to get by with only one good limb, despite the fact his ability to use a lightsaber was an essential requirement for him to succeed.

Thus, George Lucas gave him a prosthetic – or should we say bionic – limb. According to the storyline, Luke was able to regain his sense of feeling via the bionic arm and even use it to control the force.

The idea of “the force” may be a totally made-up concept (although it would be cool if it wasn’t), but Luke’s advanced prosthetic arm is actually somewhat of a reality these days.

In fact, more so than you may think. Not only have engineers and scientists created technology that has allowed them to build highly advanced prosthetics with extended function, but they’ve actually modelled it (somewhat) on the idea of Luke Skywalker’s arm.

So much so that famous inventor Dean Kamen actually invented a bionic arm and named it “The Luke Arm”. The project was funded by the New Hampshire-based DEKA Research and Development Corp.

 

4. Repulsorlift Technology

 

Not to be confused with the notion of repulsors from Iron Man and the Marvel Universe, repulsorlift technology is an idea from the Star Wars franchise that refers to a technology that partially combats gravity, allowing objects to hover and/or float.

So basically, we’re talking about flying cars.

In Star Wars, things like landspeeders, podracers and actual flying cars appear throughout the movies, especially in the first, second and third episodes in which Anakin seems to take a real shining to speed and general thrill-seeking behaviour (the foreboding certainly was very real).

Now, jumping out of high-rise buildings and landing in flying vehicles powered by repulsorlift technology and driven by our Jedi masters may not be on the cards for most of us, but what has entered the realm of possibility is so-called “hover” technology.

With advanced technology, experts have developed things like real hoverboards, hovercrafts and even trains that function by means of magnetic levitation technology. This may not be “anti-gravity” in the way that Star Wars intended, but it has pretty much the same effect, and it’s certainly not something many people would’ve expected to become a reality in the previous millennium.

 

5. Droids and AI technology 

 

Plenty of die-hard fans argue that the true heroes of the film franchise are R2-D2 and C-3P0, the trusty droids that lived alongside the two main generations of our favourite Star Wars characters.

Whether their popularity is due to their advanced mechanics and technological prowess or their ability to make witty remarks (and beeps), there’s no question that when the films first came out, the idea of having a robot as a friend was not on the cards.

However, as technology has progressed and improved dramatically, engineers have been able to ideate and build the most incredible robots, and with the help of artificial intelligence, they’re actually able to interact with humans too.

Viewers used to find R2-D2’s snarky-sounding retorts and C-3P0’s panicky warnings to be endearing, and the characters (other than, perhaps, Han Solo) seemed to care for them and their wellbeing as they went about their adventures. And now, having robot assistance, whether it’s for doctors in surgeries or anything else, is becoming very real.

Nowadays, we can not only talk to robots, but they can talk back, making use of AI to come up with unique, insightful responses that are barely discernable from real human conversation.

I’ll be the first to say that no robot – or droid, shall we say – could ever live up to the incredibly high standards of R2, C3P0 and the new-age droids that followed in their footsteps in Star Wars’ Disney era, but there’s no doubt about the fact that having robots become part of our everyday lives is a very real part of our future.

 

Bidding Farewell to James Earl Jones

 

As we bid a final farewell to James Earl Jones, there’s no doubt that he’ll be forever remembered for his incredible contribution to not only the Star Wars movies and his role as the incomparable and unrivalled Darth Vader, but for his greater contribution to the industry as a whole.

While Jones may be gone, the world is lucky enough to be left with not only his iconic voice as Vader, but the incredible technological creativity and innovation that the Star Wars films gave us, arguably inspiring some of the coolest and most incredible inventions of our time.

Even though Anakin was prophesied to bring balance to the force in the Star Wars universe, James Earl Jones brought his own version of balance to his work in film.

By achieving the ultimate juxtaposition in personifying the epitome of both good and evil by means of the characters of Mufasa and Darth Vader, James Earl Jones has shown the world true authenticity in his craft, and that will be his legacy.