Do You Dream of the Jetson Life?

What futuristic program(s) have you watched and wondered what life will be like that someday? As a science fiction writer, I can’t help but do that. I dream of the Jetson life. I’ve longed for the Jetson’s flying car and robots and a technology-filled home since I first watched the cartoon. Sadly, we’ve not come that far but there are amazing things on the horizon. Take a look with me.

The Flying Car

Photo of a "flying van" near a motel sign not exactly the Jetson life
Not exactly the Jetsons
Joy Engelman [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

There are four prototypes discussed in this video. One is called Pal-V One. It’s a car-gyroplane hybrid. If you’ve read My Soul to Keep you know why this one appeals to me.

One of these flying cars runs on unleaded gasoline but you must be a pilot to fly it.

Another one claims that if you can drive a car, you can fly it. And one looks like a miniature space shuttle. It needs only a few hundred feet of flat surface to land. There’s a flying taxi, too. I hope it comes without taxi driver, Korben from The Fifth Element.

Home Cleaning Robots

Not exactly Rosie the robot, but we already have the Roomba vacuum and its kin.

This video discusses eight new robots.

Fedor is a humanoid robot but not intended to be a house cleaner. There are robotic exoskeletons to help children with disabilities learn to walk.

Frurion Prothesis Mech racer—an exoskeleton (A racing vehicle)

One robot captures the Lion Fish, a predator attacking the coral reefs in the Atlantic.

Patterned after the octopus, one robot can pick up hold and put down objects of any shape using suction cups on a tentacle.

The Stan Robotic Parking Valet is now in service in Paris France.

The Robots in this video are the most advanced robots in the world.

The first one discussed is a Japanese robot that actually worked as a news anchor on television. There are robots that can walk and run and avoid objects and ones that can converse with humans.

Home of the Future

This vision of the home of the future comes pretty darn close to the Jetson’s home. But push buttons are passé. Interactive mirrors and appliances are the thing.

Back to Reality

The science fiction often dreams big. We’ve got a way to go to reach the technology of the Jetson’s. But there are dreamers out there with the know-how and the funds to take the next step or two. Who knows? We may be living the Jetson life sooner than you think.

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