I enjoy watching television programs from decades past. Over the weekend, I came across an episode of Tomorrow’s World, a highly enjoyable British show about science and technology that aired from 1965 to 2003. Tomorrow’s World provided a showcase for the unveiling of new tech that would later become commonplace. Created by Glyn Jones, the series proved popular with U.K. viewers due to the live demonstrations it offered—especially since a few of them failed.
This makes watching episodes now a fascinating mixture of awe at what the producers got right with their predictions and amusement at what was off the mark. The show introduced viewers to breathalyzers, home computers, light pens, touchscreens, artificial grass, synthesizers, automated teller machines, payment cards using chips and personal identification numbers, pocket calculators, digital watches, mobile phones, compact discs, camcorders, barcode readers, robotic vacuum cleaners, breast cancer radiotherapy, and more.
Tomorrow’s World accurately predicted the widespread use of smart cards.
At the time, a lot of it likely seemed like science fiction and fantasy. So much of what Tomorrow’s World predicted would be in use down the line, however, actually came to pass. It’s anachronistically fascinating to see presenters wearing clothing styles from the 1960s to the 1980s while holding up objects we would associate with the modern day; imagine Mad Men‘s Don Draper using an iPad, and you’ll understand what I mean. It’s impressive how often BBC’s writers accurately foresaw what the world of their tomorrow—our today, sometimes even our past—would be like. One episode that proved prophetic aired in 1987, and it introduced “Tomorrow’s Person.” You can view a video of that segment at BBC Archive’s Twitter page.
The BBC foresaw the advent of smartwatches.
The segment’s presenter told viewers he carried very few items in his pockets: “a few smart cards, holograms of my family, and we’ve finally solved the problem of lost keys—don’t have any in the first place.” Here we are in 2022, and that’s spot-on. Debit and credit cards have become smart thanks to the use of radio frequency identification and other technologies, while holograms are so ubiquitous they’re used in all sorts of cards, ranging from payment cards to collectible trading cards. Keyless entry systems for homes and automobiles, meanwhile, are now commonplace. My wife and I recently purchased a new car, and we found that for pretty much every model manufactured after 2020, that feature was standard.
The segment’s presenter added, “Each unique fingertip opens all the different doors in my life, when I press them against pattern-recognition pads.” Again, the show got very close with this prediction. As I’d previously noted in an article about how the film Back to the Future foresaw modern-day innovations, biometric sensors can read and authenticate a user’s fingerprints near-instantly, then transmit a unique ID number to a reader, such as one employing Near Field Communication technology, and thereby confirm that person’s identity.
A printer in every briefcase? OK, not every prediction landed.
I found especially intriguing the following statement: “I also carry my doctor around with me. A tiny biosensor under my tongue analyzes chemical changes in my saliva and radios any changes that I ought to know about to my tie, which changes color so I can intercept most illnesses before they become a problem.” Granted, I’m unaware of any neckties that will turn lime green if their wearer is ill, but the rest of that statement is impressive. Basically, Tomorrow’s World unknowingly predicted the use of sensors to transmit data not to a wearer’s suit, but rather to medical providers for the purpose of remote health monitoring, which now takes place at hospitals worldwide.
The predictions didn’t end there, either. The presenter wore a wristwatch with telephone and TV components, as well as a satellite connection so he could receive information from computers around the globe. That probably seemed like Dick Tracy to viewers back then, but he basically described an Apple Watch—in 1987. He also sported a “3D TV,” featuring a head-mounted display he could view while traveling via mass-transit systems. Amusingly, he put the gear on backwards, which illustrates how new the technology was at the time, since he had no idea how to use something we immediately would recognize as a precursor to smart glasses and augmented reality headsets.
Enjoy your head-mounted 3D TV… just be sure not to wear it backwards.
Of course, the show’s track record was not a hundred percent accurate. In the segment above, the presenter beamed onto the set via a Star Trek-like personal transporter and wore a suit chemically treated to make it thermosensitive so it would absorb heat if he was hot and releases it if he was cold, enabling him to maintain a constant body temperature. (It’s worth noting that the latter would be theoretically feasible with today’s technology, even though companies aren’t marketing such apparel.) Another episode, meanwhile, included a segment about fold-up cars that would be able to fit into a suitcase. Since we’re not quite yet The Jetsons, don’t expect that innovation any time soon.
What’s more, the presenter carried a briefcase containing a printer so he could read the information from his smartwatch on a sheet of paper, prompting modern-day viewers to chuckle and think “Oh, so close… yet so far.” As one commenter at the above-linked Twitter video noted, “The smartwatch is spot on and then, BAM, a printer so you can read the information. They reckoned technology will change, but not human preferences.”
Neckties that turn green when a person is sick would have been quite handy these past two years.
At the end of the segment, the presenter offered one final prediction, “Someone will be back in 20 years’ time to analyze just what happened to ‘tomorrow’s person.'” Well, it’s been 25 years and it’s safe to say tomorrow’s person became today’s person… aside from briefcase smartwatch printers and business suits that monitor for diseases and excess body heat. I congratulate BBC for getting so much right about the world in which we now live. I just wish we had the personal transporters. There’s a shop in England I’d like to beam over to so I can purchase a lime-green health-monitoring necktie.
Rich Handley has been the managing editor of RFID Journal since 2005. Outside the RFID world, Rich has authored, edited or contributed to numerous books about pop culture. You can contact Rich via email.