Smell-o-scopes, sex robots, and choose your own adventure movies.
"Futurama" has made a lot of big predictions about the future, and some of them have already
come true!
"Futurama" is hardly the first piece of fantasy or sci-fi that included a zany wrist-mounted
device, but it does boast one of the most over-the-top — and bizarrely realistic — takes
on the trope.
Leela's wrist-mounted widget, which she once called the Wrist LoJack-a-mater, was used
as a two-way radio, a screen for "Pong" and "Tetris," a scanner, and a surgery laser.
It was also used for video calls and whatever else the writers needed it for at any given
moment.
"Hmm.
This thing I wear on my wrist says they're not poisonous."
Modern wrist-mounted devices became more common after the inception of "Futurama," with Apple,
Samsung, and others inventing their own "smartwatches'' that connect to your cellular phone and deliver
texts, health information, and news headlines.
Modern smartwatch devices don't quite do everything that Leela's Wrist LoJack-a-mater might do
— no surgery lasers yet — but they're still pretty darn futuristic in their own
right.
"The Smell-o-scope!"
Located in the tower of the Planet Express building is one of Professor Farnsworth's
most wacky inventions: the smelloscope.
In the future of "Futurama," it is revealed that each heavenly body has its own unique
aroma, and Farnsworth had found a way to detect said smells from lightyears away.
And while one can't breathe in space particles to actually get a whiff of the cosmos, some
scientists have theorized what space might smell like judging by the many particles in
the eternal vacuum.
How the smelloscope actually works is never explained in "Futurama," but the operations
of a field olfactometer called the Nasal Ranger are ready to be studied for the curious.
Olfactometers have a variety of uses, including sniffing out gas leaks or detecting sewer
damage.
The funnel-shaped device is fitted over the nose, and one can take a deep breath in to
sniff something far away that has been enhanced by the meter's chemical workings.
To date, olfactometers are not used for spatial detection, but surely that is mere steps away.
When "Futurama's" main character Fry sees his first 31st-century movie, he is surprised
to learn that the movie stops every few minutes to conduct an audience poll as to where the
story should go next.
The disembodied voice leading the polls is played by Russ Leatherman, the once-ubiquitous
voice behind the call-in movie times service Moviefone.
"If you want Calculon to race to the laser gun battle in his hover Ferrari, press 1.
If you want Calculon to double-check his paperwork, press 2.
Enter now!"
Interactive movies have become increasingly common over the years, and many modern video
games have come to resemble films with minor control elements throughout.
In 2018, Eko published an interactive sequel to the 1983 computer thriller "WarGames" called
simply…
"#WarGames," wherein a viewer could choose which screen to watch of a cluster of conversing
characters.
The narrative would change depending on which one you were watching.
Something similar was done on the short-lived streaming service Quibi in 2020 with their
film "Wireless," which let viewers watch an actor in a car or what was on the character's
phone, depending on how the viewer oriented their phone screen.
There was also the Netflix film "Black Mirror: Bandersnatch," the feature-length "Black Mirror"
episode which polled viewers as to which path they wanted the story to take.
This approach was also tried by Netflix' "Captain Underpants'' series, as well as other kid-friendly
shows.
It is often looked down upon for humans to date robots in "Futurama," as having a programmable
sex celebrity at your beck and call 24 hours a day would be so alluring as to cease human
progress entirely.
Regardless, Fry finds a way to create a robot girlfriend modeled after actress Lucy Liu
— who plays herself — disgusting his co-workers.
Fry eventually has to break up with his Lucy Liu-bot when he learns that celebrity robot
clones are made by torturously shocking the preserved, still-living heads of the actual
celebrity.
The episode climaxes with an army of Lucy Liu robots engaged in battle.
"Ow.
Ow.
Ow, ow, ow.
System error.
Does not compute…"
"Woohoo!"
While sex dolls are nothing new — RealDoll has been in business since 1996 — functioning
robotic sexual partners are closer to being a reality all the time.
A company called Realbotix has already developed a customizable robot bust with a realistic
face and speech, based on yourself.
Famously, comedian Whitney Cummings had one made of herself and incorporated it into a
bit of hers.
It's only a matter of time before RealDoll and Realbotix are working together to make
a fully customizable companion.
In the universe of "Futurama," suicide booths are located on every corner.
The implication is that modern life has become so intolerable that euthanasia became a coin-operated
industry.
The show's suicide booths were often played for quick bursts of gallows humor, a cynical
running gag left over from grimmer '90s sensibilities.
Over the years, fans of "Futurama" would note that the writers began employing them less
and less — although they do still pop up from time to time.
"Let's get this show on the road."
"Oh no.
You're going to die alright.
But it won't be suicide…
it'll be murder!"
However, the writers were recently validated: In December of 2021, a sleek, specialized
euthanasia pod had been invented in Switzerland.
The pod is an airtight chamber wherein the user would be sealed in, and their air supply
would be replaced by nitrogen until suffocation occurs.
It's worth noting that euthanasia is legal in Switzerland, only one of seven countries
worldwide that expressly allow the practice.
It is also legal in eight of the United States.
There are no coin-op euthanasia machines on street corners, but for better or for worse,
something that was started as a grim "Futurama" gag has now made its way to reality.
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