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Star Wars captured the imagination of the world with their innovative techniques that gave way to spectacular visual effects. These special effects were created by George Lucas and his team who had high expectations and found innovative ways to achieve them. This led to the creation of Photoshop and other editing software to give the films their desired effects. Other technology that these movies inspired includes prosthetic limbs, Artificial Intelligence, Holographic displays, GPS, cellphones, Elon Musk’s robots and many more. These inventions were inspired by art which reminds me of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics). These fields work together to create truly amazing inventions that benefit humanity.

Both this link 8 Times Flat-Earthers Tried to Challenge Science (and Failed) in 2017 | Live Science and this link To 11 million Brazilians, the Earth is flat are great examples of photoshopped images and their effect. Thankfully only 2% of American adults are firm in their belief that the earth is flat while 7% just are not sure. Surfing the web and social media, it is easy to find plenty of images of photoshopped flat earth. Thankfully many of these images are aimed at disproving, but there are websites and social media groups aimed at proving the world is flat. This goes to show how powerful the images and content that we create are. The world wide web is our uniting factor that brings civilization closer together than ever before and we should utilize it to share knowledge and help each other grow for the benefit of all, especially future generations. Imagine if we used photoshop for benefit of knowledge instead of creating photoshopped planets, animals, products and even people and then trying to convince everyone that they are real. The division created by tricking gullible people is a wall holding humanity back from achieving our full potential.

The world is full of colors that we see all around us and they are universally recognized. Colors can influence emotions, greys, blues, greens and purples can be very calming while reds, yellows and oranges can be very exciting. I wonder if Marvin the robot from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was programmed to see in blues and greys or if its depression was just programmed in with its genuine people personalities (GPP) technology. 

Colors also are universally recognized to convey messages. We all recognize green to go and red to stop. From traffic lights to traffic signs and even the markings on the roads, no matter what country you travel to you will see the same colors used and will know what they are directing you to do even if you cannot read the written language. Colors are also used to Convey information universally in the workplace such as hazardous materials identification system and warning signs.

When creating a universal design website, it is important to realize the importance of these colors we all recognize as they can help the users navigate and impact the users over all experience. The colors we choose to use can support the content we create and help us to effectively convey our message.

Moore’s Law is based on economic trend and states that every 2 years computer chips will have twice as many transistors and computing capability per square inch leading to home computers. Since 1965 this theory has been continually proven to be correct. [Link to Moore’s law for further reading]. Babel Fish from the book “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” are yellow fish that are placed into the ear in order to translate any language. We see this in the book when Ford and Arthur hitch a ride on the Vogon spaceship. [Babel Fish earbuds]. Today that technology actually exists. Not in the form of an actual alien fish, but through Pixel smartphones and Pixel Buds that translate language through an app. Before that the was a free website Yahoo! Babel Fish which was then replaced by Bing Translator [Babel Fish website on Wikipedia]. Although Babelfish.com still translates language, today we have many options for language translation services as well as for learning new languages. With all of these options to communicate with people from all over the world the doors to influence and marketing have really opened up for everyone. As content creators we must be honest and transparent. What we publish online is heard around the world and can influence how people think and act. It is our responsibility to consider the consequences of our content before publishing and use our skills for the common good.

In the book “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams the towel is the most important item they bring along with them in their adventure. In this book, the towel is used for hygiene, comfort and even as a weapon. The towel has both practical value and psychological value. It can be used to make a sail, build beach forts, protect you from the sun, keep you warm, shield you from the sun, can be wetted for use in hand-to-hand combat, and keep you dry.

Quote from the book: “Any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odd, win through, and still know where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.” Psychologically the towel was used to convince a strag that the hitchhiker also has other items in his possession which will encourage the strag to lend the hitchhiker other items that he may have lost. The towel made its way into the book Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy through the author Douglas Adams own personal experience hitchhiking and traveling through Europe during which he kept losing his own towel. His travels are ultimately the inspiration for his book. The towel gives control in life to the hitchhiker and due to its importance in this book May 25th is recognized as Towel Day officially since 2001.

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy inspired people to create. From inventions to entertainment to countless blog posts, the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is referenced and credited with the inspiration for the idea. The book has a way of unlocking imagination and sparking ideas through its mix of wonder, amazement, comedy and suspense. For over 40years People have not only kept this book alive but have expanded on it with additional books and games and websites making this book a timeless classic that will continue to live on. Douglas Adams used his own life experiences mixed with his imagination and talent with words to create a fun adventure story filled with ideas that did not exist in the time that the book was written.

Douglas Adams book Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is full of predictions such as Babel.com translation, eBooks, touch screen devices, voice command devices, Wikipedia.com and the British based collaborative h2g2.com. The book Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy even inspired one of my favorite cartoon series Rick and Morty. The fascination with space, time and deep thought are entertained in this book which is why it is also one of my favorite movies. This book will continue to live on and inspire people to use their imagination creating deep though and innovation.

I found the video “Hyperland” to be fascinating and informative. The video structure itself is a great example of what can be done with limited technology. My eyes were opened to both possibility and the history behind it. This video outlined how the technology of the internet came to be and where it was heading. In today’s world we see much of that technology being used today, although AI has yet to take form of a personal butler or similar.

I do believe as technology continues to develop that we will soon see personalized AI guides to the galaxy we call internet. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy also does a great job at not only describing the wild world of the internet, but also predicts technology such as eBooks. Currently we do have AI helping to guide us through the internet similar to the butler. Every day I and many other people use search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

We can buy eBooks off of Amazon. AI, just like the butler, uses the predictive software to help find search results quickly and even throws in suggestions related to our search. In conclusion, both “Hyperland” and Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy did an amazing job at predicting the world of technology.