# List of existing technologies predicted in science fiction

This list of existing technologies predicted in science fiction includes every medium, mainly literature and film. In 1964 Soviet engineer and writer Genrikh Altshuller made the first attempt to catalogue science fiction technologies of the time.
Alongside first prediction of a particular technology, the list may include all subsequent works mentioning it until its invention. The list includes technologies that were first posited in non-fiction works before their appearance in science fiction and subsequent invention, such as ion thruster. To avoid repetitions, the list excludes film adaptations of prior literature containing the same predictions, such as "The Minority Report". The list also excludes emerging technologies that are not widely available. The names of some modern inventions (atomic bomb, credit card, robot, space station, oral contraceptive and borazon) exactly match their fictional predecessors. A few works correctly predicted the years when some technologies would emerge, such as the first sustained heavier-than-air aircraft flight in 1903 and the first atomic bomb explosion in 1945.

## Literature

| Work | Author(s) | Publication year | Predicted technology | Name(s) in the work |
| Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon | Cyrano de Bergerac | 1657 | Space rocket | Machine |
| The Blazing World | Margaret Cavendish | 1666 | Submarine | Ships that could swim under water |
| Giphantie | Charles-François Tiphaigne de la Roche | 1761 | Photography | Unnamed, descriptive |
| Symzonia: A Voyage of Discovery | Adam Seaborn | 1820 | Jet engine | Unnamed, descriptive |
| Probable Tall Tales | Thaddeus Bulgarin | 1824 | Aviation | Aerial stagecoaches |
| Probable Tall Tales | Thaddeus Bulgarin | 1824 | Printer | Writing machines |
| Probable Tall Tales | Thaddeus Bulgarin | 1824 | Kingston valve | Openings with valves for letting water into a special bulkhead in the hold |
| The United Worlds, a Poem, in Fifty Seven Books | Mark Drinkwater | 1834 | Android | Androides |
| The Year 4338: Petersburg Letters | Vladimir Odoyevsky | 1835 | Rapid transit (subway), electric multiple unit, aviation | Electric carriage (for electric multiple unit), galvanic flying machine (for aviation) |
| The Wicked Prince | Hans Christian Andersen | 1840 | Airship | |
| The Air Battle; A Vision of the Future | Hermann Lang | 1859 | Remote control devices | |
| From the Earth to the Moon | Jules Verne | 1865 | Solar sail, splashdown | Both unnamed, descriptive |
| The Brick Moon | Edward Everett Hale | 1869 | Space station | Brick moon |
| Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas | Jules Verne | 1870 | Electric submarine, gas-discharge lamp, taser | Submarine Nautilus, Ruhmkorff apparatus, gun |
| "The Great Electric Diaphragm. Some Account of the Telegraphic System of the Baron O---" | Robert Duncan Milne | 1879 | Radio | |
| "The Senator's Daughter" | Edward Page Mitchell | 1879 | Electric heating | Thermo-electrode |
| Mizora | Mary Bradley Lane | 1880 | Synthetic meat | Chemically prepared meat |
| Robur the Conqueror | Jules Verne | 1886 | Autogyro, helicopter | Flying engine Albatross |
| "In the Year 2889" | Jules Verne or Michel Verne | 1889 | News broadcasting, videotelephony | Phonotelephote (for videotelephony) |
| Electric Life | Albert Robida | 1891 | Television, videotelephony, aviation, biological weapons, miniskirt | Telephonoscope (for television), aeronefs-omnibus (for aviation) |
| Six Thousand Years Hence | Milton Ramsey | 1891 | Machine translation | |
| "The Great Brown–Pericord Motor" | Arthur Conan Doyle | 1891 | Heavier-than-air unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) | Brown–Pericord Motor |
| The Angel of the Revolution | George Griffith | 1893 | Air-to-surface missile, radar, sonar, heavier-than-air aircraft flight | Missile boring its way through the air for the centre of the fortress, air-ship Ariel |
| A Journey in Other Worlds | John Jacob Astor IV | 1894 | International telephone network | Descriptive |
| A Journey in Other Worlds | John Jacob Astor IV | 1894 | Videotelephony | Kintograph or visual telegraph |
| A Journey in Other Worlds | John Jacob Astor IV | 1894 | Hidden camera | |
| A Journey in Other Worlds | John Jacob Astor IV | 1894 | Phosphorescent paint | Strips of nickel painted white, and showing a bright phosphorescence at night |
| A Journey in Other Worlds | John Jacob Astor IV | 1894 | Radar speed gun, | |
| A Journey in Other Worlds | John Jacob Astor IV | 1894 | Chemical weapon | Asphyxiating bombs containing compressed gas that could be fired from guns or dropped from the air |
| Propeller Island | Jules Verne | 1895 | Audiobook | |
| The Crack of Doom | Robert Cromie | 1895 | Atomic bomb or hydrogen bomb | Disintegrating agent |
| The Island of Dr. Moreau | H. G. Wells | 1896 | Organ transplantation | Unnamed, descriptive |
| The War of the Worlds | H. G. Wells | 1898 | Laser, chemical weapon | Heat-ray (for laser), black and poisonous vapour by means of rockets (for chemical weapon) |
| When the Sleeper Wakes | H. G. Wells | 1899 | Military aviation, automatic door | Aeroplanes (for military aircraft) |
| "The Imp of the Telephone" | John Kendrick Bangs | 1902 | Videocassette recorder | |
| "The Land Ironclads" | H. G. Wells | 1903 | Armoured fighting vehicles, joystick with firing button | Land ironclads |
| "Sultana's Dream" | Begum Rokeya | 1905 | Solar power, seasonal thermal energy storage | Unnamed, descriptive |
| "With the Night Mail" | Rudyard Kipling | 1905 | Airmail by airplanes | |
| The Last Miracle | M. P. Shiel | 1907 | Hologram | |
| Red Star | Alexander Bogdanov | 1908 | Nuclear engine, automated plant | Etheroneph (for nuclear engine) |
| The War in the Air | H. G. Wells | 1908 | Military aviation | Fleet of airships |
| A Columbus of Space | Garrett P. Serviss | 1909 | Nuclear-powered spaceship | Atomic balloon |
| "The Machine Stops" | E. M. Forster | 1909 | Home automation (smart home), television, videotelephony, social media | Cinematophote (for television) |
| The Emperor of the Air | George Glendon | 1910 | Wankel engine | |
| "He of the Glass Heart" | George Allan England | 1911 | Artificial human heart | |
| Ralph 124C 41+ | Hugo Gernsback | 1911 | Solar power, television, tape recorder, sound film, videotelephony, radar and spaceflight | Telephot (for videotelephony), actinoscope (for radar) |
| The Great Aeroplane. A Thrilling Tale of Adventure | Frederick Sadleir Brereton | 1911 | Jet propulsion | |
| The World Set Free | H. G. Wells | 1914 | Atomic bomb, nuclear propulsion | Atomic bomb, atomic engine |
| Beyond the Earth | Konstantin Tsiolkovsky | 1920 | Artificial gravity, lunar rover | Artificial gravity |
| R.U.R. | Karel Čapek | 1920 | Robots | Robots |
| "The Devolutionist" | Homer Eon Flint | 1921 | Artificial human heart | |
| "The Secret of Artificial Reproduction" | Clement Fezandié | 1921 | Cloning | |
| "Number 87" | Eden Phillpotts | 1922 | Discovery of francium | |
| The Absolute at Large | Karel Čapek | 1922 | Nuclear reactor | Karburator |
| Men Like Gods | H. G. Wells | 1923 | Email, voicemail | Unnamed, descriptive |
| We | Yevgeny Zamyatin | 1924 | Interstellar message, specifically Voyager Golden Record | Unnamed, descriptive |
| Metropolis | Thea von Harbou | 1925 | Robots | Machines |
| In a Thousand Years | Vadim Nikolsky | 1926 | Atomic bomb explosion in 1945 (Trinity test) | Atomic explosion of 1945 |
| The Garin Death Ray | Aleksey Tolstoy | 1927 | Laser | Hyperboloid |
| Amphibian Man | Alexander Belyaev | 1928 | Aqua-Lung | Underwater suits with oxygen tanks |
| The Struggle in Space | Alexander Belyaev | 1928 | Mobile phone | Wireless telephone |
| Electropolis | Otfrid von Hanstein | 1928 | Microwave oven, Global Positioning System (GPS) | |
| "Evans of the Earth-Guard" | Edmond Hamilton | 1930 | Vernier thruster | Rocket's side tubes |
| Paradise and Iron | Miles J. Breuer | 1930 | Home automation, self-driving car | |
| "The Black Star Passes" | John W. Campbell | 1930 | Solar-powered aircraft | Solar engine, one that could be placed in the wings of a plane to generate power |
| "The Message From Space" | David M. Speaker | 1930 | Videotelephony | Visiphone |
| Underwater Farmers | Alexander Belyaev | 1930 | Diver propulsion vehicle | |
| Brave New World | Aldous Huxley | 1932 | 4D film | Feelies, works of art out of practically nothing but pure sensation |
| "Pygmalion's Spectacles" | Stanley Weinbaum | 1935 | Smartglasses, virtual reality | Magic spectacles (for smartglasses) |
| The Star KETS | Alexander Belyaev | 1936 | Space station, extravehicular activity, satellite | |
| "Sugar in the Air" | Ernest Charles Large | 1937 | Artificial photosynthesis | |
| "Helen O'Loy" | Lester del Rey | 1938 | Domestic robot | Helen O'Loy |
| "Blowups Happen" | Robert Heinlein | 1940 | Nuclear power plant | |
| "Coventry" | Robert Heinlein | 1940 | Solar vehicle | Vehicle with "sunpower screens" |
| "Solution Unsatisfactory" | Robert Heinlein | 1941 | Atomic bomb | U235 in a controlled explosion, a one-ton bomb that would be a whole air raid in itself |
| "Nerves" | Lester del Rey | 1942 | Widespread nuclear power | |
| "Waldo" | Robert Heinlein | 1942 | Remote manipulator, robot-assisted surgery | Waldo F. Jones' Synchronous Reduplicating Pantograph; later in acknowledgment some remote manipulators were dubbed "Waldos". |
| "Fakaofo Atoll" | Ivan Yefremov | 1944 | Underwater television | |
| "Shadow of the Past" | Ivan Yefremov | 1945 | Hologram | Light imprint |
| "A Logic Named Joe" | Murray Leinster | 1946 | Computer, Internet, server | Logic (for computer), tank (for server) |
| Space Cadet | Robert Heinlein | 1948 | Mobile phone | |
| "The Veldt" | Ray Bradbury | 1950 | Home automation (smart home), 4D film, virtual reality | Happylife Home (for smart home), odorophonics (for 4D film) |
| "There Will Come Soft Rains" | Ray Bradbury | 1950 | Robotic vacuum cleaner | Small cleaning animals, all rubber and metal |
| Foundation | Isaac Asimov | 1951 | Pocket calculator | |
| "Rock Diver" | Harry Harrison | 1951 | Helmet-mounted display | Oscilloscope screen set inside helmet |
| "The Pedestrian" | Ray Bradbury | 1951 | Self-driving car | Police car |
| Islands in the Sky | Arthur C. Clarke | 1952 | Space station | Space Station, Inner Station |
| Childhood's End | Arthur C. Clarke | 1953 | Oral contraceptive, DNA paternity testing | Oral contraceptive, infallible method of identifying the father of any child |
| Fahrenheit 451 | Ray Bradbury | 1953 | Earphones (earbuds), flatscreen television, automated teller machine (ATM) | Seashells (for earbuds), wall-TV (for flatscreen television), bank which was open all night and every night with robot tellers (for ATM) |
| The Caves of Steel | Isaac Asimov | 1953 | Fingerprint scanner | Unnamed, descriptive |
| The Star Beast | Robert Heinlein | 1954 | Mobile phone | |
| The Magellanic Cloud | Stanisław Lem | 1955 | Internet, smartphone with internet access, additive manufacturing file format, 3D printing | Trion (for internet), pocket receiver (for smartphone), production prescription (for additive manufacturing file format), the automaton (for 3D printer) |
| The City and the Stars | Arthur C. Clarke | 1956 | Immersive virtual reality games | Central computer, which virtually ran the city |
| The Door into Summer | Robert Heinlein | 1956 | Automated teller machine (ATM), robotic vacuum cleaner, computer-aided design (CAD) | Twenty-four-hour bank (for ATM), Hired Girl (for robotic vacuum cleaner), gismo (for CAD) |
| "The Minority Report" | Philip K. Dick | 1956 | Facial recognition system, personalized ads |
| The Naked Sun | Isaac Asimov | 1956 | Flatscreen 3D television, domestic robot | Viewing panels, household robots |
| Andromeda: A Space-Age Tale | Ivan Yefremov | 1957 | Borazon, space probe, powered exoskeleton, ion thruster | Borason, geological bomb, robot station (for space probe), jumping skeletons (for powered exoskeletons), ion trigger motors (for ion thrusters) |
| The Man Without Heart | Oles Berdnik, Yuri Bedzik | 1957 | Artificial human heart | |
| "Prospector's Special" | Robert Sheckley | 1959 | Mobile phone, videotelephony | Telephone, video screen |
| Return from the Stars | Stanisław Lem | 1961 | E-reader, audiobook | Opton (for e-reader), lecton (for audiobook) |
| "The Way You Will Be" | Arkady and Boris Strugatsky | 1961 | 4D film | |
| Razor's Edge | Ivan Yefremov | 1963 | Solar-pumped laser | |
| Podkayne of Mars | Robert Heinlein | 1963 | Video ads in taxis | |
| The Age of the Pussyfoot | Frederik Pohl | 1965 | Smartphone | Joymaker |
| The Cyberiad | Stanisław Lem | 1965 | Life simulation game | |
| The Final Circle of Paradise | Arkady and Boris Strugatsky | 1965 | Paintball, self-driving car, Bluetooth headset | Liapnik (for paintball) |
| The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress | Robert Heinlein | 1966 | Voice user interface, cyberattacks, deepfakes | Computer subverted to attack its owners, computer-generated audio and video fakes used for political purposes |
| 2001: A Space Odyssey | Arthur C. Clarke | 1968 | Voice user interface, tablet computer | Newspad (for tablet computer) |
| Stand on Zanzibar | John Brunner | 1968 | On demand television, laser printer | |
| "The Scarred Man" | Gregory Benford | 1970 | Computer virus | |
| Cyborg | Martin Caidin | 1972 | Robotic prostheses | |
| When HARLIE Was One | David Gerrold | 1972 | Computer virus | |
| Imperial Earth | Arthur C. Clarke | 1975 | Personalized ads, search engine | Personal messages (for personalized ads), Comsole (for search engine) |
| The Shockwave Rider | John Brunner | 1975 | Hacking, computer worm | |
| One Hundred Years Ahead | Kir Bulychev | 1978 | E-reader, smartwatch | |
| The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Douglas Adams | 1979 | Audio translation device, Wikis | Babel fish |
| "Burning Chrome" | William Gibson | 1982 | Internet | |
| Friday | Robert Heinlein | 1982 | Internet | |
| The Descent of Anansi | Steven Barnes, Larry Niven | 1982 | Tethered satellite | |
| Neuromancer | William Gibson | 1984 | World Wide Web, virtual reality | |
| Islands in the Net | Bruce Sterling | 1988 | Smart shoe | |
| Paris in the Twentieth Century | Jules Verne | 1994 | Skyscrapers, gasoline-powered cars, electric street lights, electronic dance music, fax, internet, electric chair, weapons of mass destruction | |

## Films and TV series

| Film | Release year | Predicted technology | Name(s) in the work |
| Back to the Future and Back to the Future Part II | 1985, 1989 | Voice user interface, tablet computer, videotelephony, augmented and virtual reality, flatscreen television, fingerprint scanner | |
| Star Trek: The Next Generation | 1987–1994 | Smartwatch | |
| Until the End of the World | 1991 | High-definition flatscreen television | |
| Her | 2013 | AI-generated art (drawing and music), advanced talking AI in video games, AI personalities based on historical characters | Samantha |