A Star Trek lecture by Prof. Hiroto Chiba, who became a visiting professor at Kyoto Information Graduate University (KCGI) this spring, was held on August 1 at Kyoto Computer Gakuin (KCG) in front of Kyoto Station.Star Trek is a science fiction series of television that began broadcasting in the United States in 1966, and was aired in Japan at that time under the title “Space Daisakusen”.So far, 5 TV series and 12 movies have been produced, and it is a world-famous science fiction work.Prof. Chiba is a Star Trek expert in Japan and operates the official Japanese website (STARTREK.ne.jp).He is also a veteran of the KCG Computer Museum because of his deep knowledge of computer history.
This lecture entitled “Future Technology Seen in SF Star Trek” was held as one of the KCG Summer Festa events.According to Prof. Chiba, Star Trek as a science fiction feature is that it avoids unscientific ideas and draws technologies and events that are logically as consistent as possible.The spacecraft and various machines that appear in the work were devised in the light of the level of science and technology at that time, considering whether they could be realized in the future of the 2260s.Therefore, at this event, Prof. Chiba gave a lecture on how far the science and technology imagined in the science fiction world at that time was realized 50 years later.Various future technologies and devices such as spacecraft, transfer equipment, communication equipment, and recording media were taken up.Here are 3 of them.
Comparison 1: How far has the spacecraft been realized?
A typical artifact created by combining the best of science and technology at Star Trek is the spacecraft USS Enterprise.It is a giant ship with a total length of 289 meters and a total width of 132 meters. It travels in space faster than light by warp navigation.Has a spacecraft comparable to this been realized?The international space station is the largest spacecraft in the modern world, but unfortunately this space station is inferior to the Enterprise in many ways.The total length is 108.As small as 5 meters, outer space cannot move freely.The biggest drawback is that it cannot fly faster than light.
Comparison 2: Has a data terminal been realized?
At Star Trek, the crew held a data terminal about the size of a thick laptop in one hand and wrote or displayed the data with a pen.Is this type of data terminal realized?Compare with a modern iPad.Although iPad is smaller and lighter than a data terminal, it is not only capable of inputting and displaying data, but also has a GPS function and a voice / photo / video recording function.With this type of equipment, modern technology already surpasses the imagination of science fiction.
Comparison 3: Is the transfer device realized?
The biggest idea of Star Trek is a transfer device that moves creatures and objects instantaneously.The principle is that the object is broken down into quantum quantities, transferred, and reconstructed at the destination.Is this transfer device realized?Unfortunately, there are currently no comparable devices developed.Transfer devices are considered to be the most difficult to realize among Star Trek future technologies.Future full-scale research is awaited.
Star Trek Japanese official website
http://www.startrek.ne.jp/
Summer Festa 2015
http://kcg.edu/summer-festa/2015/
