At ST8MNT we are more than ready for the new Star Wars series, and not solely for entertainment. Star Wars inspired a feeling of hope in everyone who grew up with it. It gave a feeling of limitless frontiers where anything was possible. That notion has lead to breakthroughs that only decades ago were nothing but a fantasy. This is our list of 5 (seemingly impossible) technologies inspired by Star Wars.

HOVERCRAFTS

Whether you’re gunning down Imperial Troopers on a forest moon or simply heading into Toshi Station to pick up some power converters, you’ll want to do it in real Star Wars style. So you’ll be needing one of these…

The team at Malloy Aeronautics have built a prototype drone and launched an already successfully funded KickStarter page to make a real life hover cruiser. This baby apparently clocks in at 30 mph, 15 ft off the ground and is already available for a cool $85K.

BATTLE DROIDS

We’ve been talking about robots for a long time in sci-fi, but only in the last decade has the possibility of artificially intelligent war machines become a reality.

The now Google-acquired Boston Dynamics is responsible for some of the biggest leaps in militarized robotics, including the famous Big Dog, a micro-Imperial Walker ready to happen. They’re also deep into production on ATLAS; a soon to be ‘stand-alone’ robotic soldier in the making.

Get your lightsabers ready people!

HOLOGRAMS

Sure…Facetime is cool and all, but communicating via hologram?  Now we’re talking!

3 years ago, Microsoft was already breaking new ground in instant hologram projection with the project Holoflector. Holograms, at this point, are not only a reality, but have practically become an entertainment gimmick. Need we remind you of hologram TuPac?

LASER WEAPONS

No Star Wars film would be complete without an abundant use of lasers. Laser blasters, laser turrets, and planet destroying lasers all have to be in the mix.

Although we aren’t blowing up Mars anytime soon, the USS Ponce already totes a fully armed and fully operational Laser Cannon. This weapon technology has the ability to melt through ships, planes, and even enemy missiles.

BIONIC HANDS

I think we all remember when Darth Vader won ‘Father of the Year’ by slicing off Luke’s hand. At the least in the Star Wars galaxy, you can just have it replaced. Though impossible when the original trilogy premiered, these days that tech knowledge isn’t so far far away.

Not only are bionic, mind-operated limbs a reality, but we’ve taken the Star Wars inspired tech a step further. By implanting electrodes into the peripheral nerves in the hand, scientists have managed to build a hand that can simulate the sensation of touch as well.

Just to reiterate, these concepts went from fantasy to reality in less than 40 years. And with technology doubling every two years we may be joyriding the Millennium Falcon in no time (mechanical fingers crossed) We at St8mnt can’t help but wonder if the new films will have the same future shaping impact as the originals, but here’s hoping! Of course, these thoughts wouldn’t be complete without an appropriate send-off, faithful readers of the St8mnt blog (insert best music soundtrack of all time):  May the force be with you.