11 Inventions from ‘Back to the Future II’ We Wish We Had

Now that Mattel is finally releasing a “working” Hoverboard from Back to the Future II, here’s a list of 11 tech that needs to get here before 2015.

The future world of Back to the Future II was filled with wild and strangely plausible future technology.

Last year we finally got the Nike’s Self-Tying Shoes. This year Mattel is making a Hoverboard that “glides” over “most surfaces.” We already have multiple TV channels and a bunch of other things, but there is some tech that we’re missing.

Since we’re three years from the future world of 2015, where are our self-drying clothes and holographic movies?

Here’s a list of technology from 1989’s Back to the Future II that we hope is coming soon.

1. Robot Gas Station Attendants

We’ve got drive thru car washes and can pay with a debit card, but we still have to get out of the car to pump gas. It just feels wrong.

2. Holographic Movies

3-D is becoming common, but it’s getting lame. In BTTF2 Marty almost gets eaten by a strangely blocky holographic shark. Now that’s a Jaws sequel worth watching. No glasses. No theater. Just you standing on the street being eaten by a shark. George Lucas would have a heart attack just thinking about it. He could release another set of the Star Wars series. Is there a movie you’d like to see as a glorious holographic film?

3. Retrofitted Flying Cars

Flying cars have been a staple of science-fiction futurism for decades. There are some flying cars available, but they’re incredibly expensive and impractical. BTTF2 took it to another level. What if you could buy a kit and just convert your clunker to a flying car? What car would you change into a flying car?

4. Gray’s Sports Almanac

In the film, Marty buys an almanac that goes all the way back to 1955. That’s amazing since it was made out of space age thin paper since it was so small. A book with that many stats should have been the size of a phone book. Maybe it was a retro style eBook? Imagine carrying around your favorite book, or all your books, and it had pages you could turn and a book you could hold? As much as I like eBooks I still miss holding one in my hand.

5. Hands-Free Video Games

Yes, we have the Kinect and the Wii, but those can’t be found in your average video arcade. Raise the level of tech to the point were ten-year-olds are laughing at our controllers and Nintendo Power Gloves.

6. Mr. Fusion

All the problems with electric cars would be solved with “Mr. Fusion” which converts biomatter into fuel. Just head to the garbage dump, load up the trunk and you’re ready to hit the road.

7. Self-Drying Clothes

Marty ends up the town square pond and climbs out. Amazingly, his jacket dries itself! Wouldn’t that be awesome? What would be even better would be stain-removing shirts, but that kind of technology is decades away. Not like wearable soundboards.

8. Wearable Soundboards

The most popular phone apps are soundboards. That way you can make applause, fart sounds or other useful sound effects to everyday life. In the movie someone calls Marty as chicken. One of Biff’s gang members really brings it home by pushing a button on his vest and making a clucking sound. I can think of at least 50 times today I could have used one of these vests.

9. Cafe 80s

We have retro 50s diners all over the place, but we don’t enough retro 80s diners. It would be easy too. M.C. Hammer could wait tables. Speaking of waiters…

10. CGI Waiters

In the movie, Marty goes to “Cafe 80s” and computer monitors are floating around taking orders. Not only are they computerized, they’re famous dead people like Ronald Reagan and Michael Jackson! I’m sure they can fix that weird Max Headroom glitching. I want Michael Jackson to take my order for a Southwestern pita. I still can’t believe the 1980s were over thirty years ago.

11. All-Natural Plastic Surgery

Plastic surgery can be expensive and messy. In BTTF2 Doc Brown “went to a rejuvenation clinic and got an all-natural overhaul. They took out some wrinkles, did a hair repair, a change of blood.” Sure we can take out wrinkles and change noses, but how many are all-natural and organic? I’d love to see a Vegan hair transplant. Would you change something if it was quick, easy and good for the environment?

What technology from Back to the Future II, or any future movie, would like to see? What would you do with it?

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