Running head: Technological Review

A Technological Review of The Minority Report Katherine Nickie Fanning Athens State University

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Technological Review In the movie The Minority Report, there were many different types of technology used in that version of the future. While they were all very cool and fascinating to watch, the four technologies that interested me the most were multi-touch interfacing, 3-D/hologram videos, epaper, and personal advertising. These were the technologies that I felt could be bested used in a classroom setting. Even though I did not like the movie, I was impressed with how close the technological predictions were to many of the types of technologies we use today. Process of Prediction In order to make the technologies in this movie believable, the movies producer, Steven Spielberg, invited some of the greatest minds in Science and tech to get together and brainstorm for ideas for the movie (Han, 2012, para.4). Neil Gershenfeld, Shaun Jones, Douglas Coupland, Peter Calthorpe, and Jarion Lanier were some of the great minds that were in attendance at what was termed the idea summit (Han, 2012, papa. 2). This collaboration took place in 1999 in Santa Monica, California at the Shutters Hotel. These people spent two days brainstorming for ideas for this movie. According to an article on Wired.com, these scientists and movie producers would sit around and ask questions about how the things we experience everyday could possibly be different in the year 2054. Questions like how would transportation be different, and how would advertisement be different. There were even graphic artists on hand to draw their ideas. Most of the ideas that were considered did not make it into the movie. They even kept a notebook which they called 2054 style book which was eighty pages long (Han, 2012, para. 5).

TECHNOLOGICAL REVIEW Multi-Touch Interface

According to Wikipedia, the definition for multi-touch interface is the to the ability of a surface (a trackpad or touchscreen) to recognize the presence of two or more points of contact with the surface (2014). Just think of your smartphone or tablet, and even some computers. These gadgets use a multi-touch interface. Anytime you enlarge something on your screen, you are using multi-touch. While this technology is available, it is not exactly as it is shown in the movie. The movie shows actor Tom Cruise using this type of interface in the air, but current technology is not thereyet even though Microsofts Kinect is very close. This type of technology could be very exciting in the classroom. In fact when I saw this used in the movie, I thought about the interactive whiteboards, and how great they are in a classroom setting. For my current job, this could be used when I have to find out what classroom a particular class is taking place, and when setting up a student to take a placement test. 3-D Video/Holograms The Oxford English Dictionary states that hologram is A pattern produced when light (or other radiation) reflected, diffracted, or transmitted by an object placed in a coherent beam is allowed to interfere with an undiffracted background or reference beam related in phase to the first (or identical with it); a photographic plate or film containing such a pattern (2014). The main character from the movie watches holograms of his wife and dead son, and while these types of videos would be very cool, they are not available exactly as they are shown here. However they can be made, but according to Neil Gershenfeld, MIT professor and Minority Report summit attendee, the problem for 3-D styled holograms projected in mid-air is that the physics don't work (Gardiner, 2012, para.13). This would be an amazing technology to use in a

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classroom. In a literature class, the teacher could show a hologram of a poet reading one of their poems, or a writer reading an excerpt from one of their books. The teacher could also show the students holograms of places where stories were said to have taken place to help the students to understand the feeling of a story. If a hologram could be used to teach Charlotte Perkins Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper where the main character loses her mind, and begins to slide around the room on the floor, then the students could see and really understand the intensity of this story. Epaper According to Geoff Dailys article Epaper, epaper is an electronic display that would have the readability of paper--with a reflective surface rather than the emissive display of computer monitors and cell phones--as well as the same flexible form factor (2005). The epapers that were shown the movie The Minority Report had the ability to update at any time. The current research for epaper is not that far advanced, and according to Daily the main problem with getting this technology into the market is the flexibility aspect (2005, para.3). Although ebook readers do use a type of epaper just not like what was seen in the movie. I really do not see this technology becoming too popular because we can currently get any information we need on our phones, computers, and tablets, but Dailys article claims that all this accessibility has enabled a real-world epaper application (2005, para. 8). I can image using it in my current job because it would be very helpful to the staff, the students, and me. It would be so easy to update information about FAFSA, orientations, registration, and many other things. It is possible to send emails with this information, but getting students to read them is a different story, and with this type of technology it would just pop up for them to see.

TECHNOLOGICAL REVIEW Personal Billboards The Minority Report movie used personalized billboards when the main character was inside the mall. They were able to generate information especially for him and suggest purchases. This exact concept will not be possible until retina scanners are everywhere, and everyones irises are on file, but the aspect of generating information specific to one person is

already being used. Any time that a person logs into a computer, one they use regularly, and uses Google to search, Google will load information relevant to them. Ebay does the same thing. If there could be smaller versions of personal billboards for students, they could be used to target a specific area that a student needs. For instance, if one student was working on literature while another student was working on History, they both could get information generated specifically for them. Personal Interest While researching the information for this paper, I ran across an article about an invisibility cloak. This article, written by James Vincent, claims the University of Texas has designed an active invisibility cloak (2013). This cloak has a superconducting thin film which is powered electrically. This research is still ongoing, and in its beginning stages, but it has the potential to actually work. Conclusion At the time the Minority Report movie was made many of the technologies portrayed seemed far-fetched, but research shows that some them are used today. Most of us use the multitouch interfacing on a daily basis. If a person reads with an ereader, then they are using epaper. Even though personal billboards are a thing of the future, we already experience something

TECHNOLOGICAL REVIEW similar when we log on to our computers. While the technology for 3-D videos and holograms

are still in development, there may someday be available for public use. This an exciting time for the development of technology and the sky is the limit.

TECHNOLOGICAL REVIEW References Daily, G. (2005). EPaper. Econtent. Retrieved from http://athsu-mt.iii.com:50080/ebscoweb/ehost/detail?sid=16229fd0-213a-4360-b67f-

67b6ebaf7559%40sessionmgr111&vid=2&hid=128&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2Z Q%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=16541008 Gardiner, B. (2012, June 21). How Accurate Were Minority Reports Technology Precogs? Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/06/minority-reporttech/?viewall=true Han, A. (2012, June 27). What went down at Steven Spielbergs Idea Summit to create a realistic future for Minority Report. Retrieved from http://www.slashfilm.com/stevenspielbergs-idea-summit-create-realistic-future-minority-report/ Hologram. (2013, December). In the OED Online. Retrieved from http://0www.oed.com.athens.iii.com/search?searchType=dictionary&q=hologram&_searchBtn= Search Multi-touch. (2014). Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-touch Spielberg, S. (Director). (2002). The Minority Report [Motion Picture]. United States: 20th Century Fox Dreamworks Pictures. Vincent, J. (2013). New 'active' invisibility cloak design 'drastically reduces' visibility. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/new-activeinvisibility-cloak-design-drastically-reduces-visibility-8934474.html

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Wired.com (2012, June 21). Inside Minority Reports Idea Summit Visionaries Saw the Future. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/06/minority-report-idea-summit/