From Reel to Real: Exploring the technologies of Star Wars

Note: This article was first published on 17th December 2019 and is re-published for Star Wars Day.

To all self-respecting pop culture fans, Star Wars isn't just famous for its depiction of an oppressive dictatorship versus a motley crew of freedom-fighters, nor is it for its signature opening sequence and music theme. Like most sci-fi franchises, a large part of its appeal also stems from its futuristic technology, like lightsabers and hoverbikes. While it's a pity we don't have either of those yet, but there are some other things from that galaxy far, far away that are pretty similar to what we have in the here and now, and that's what we'll be looking at today.

Cybernetics: Sticks and stones can break your bones

But not if they're made from durasteel. Or something. Anyway, here's our first topic for today: medical tech and prosthetics. But before we delve into the discussion proper, we hope everyone's acquainted with this guy.

Now, now, let's save the red lightsabers and Force-choking for the afterparty. Indeed, if we're talking about prosthetics there's no way we're skipping Darth Vader. The (primary?) antagonist of the Star Wars franchise is not only a master of the Dark Side of the Force, but he's also the series' epitome of prosthetic technology and cybernetics. I mean, the dude's literally just an organic torso with a bunch of mechanical limbs encased in a suit of armor.

What's really cool about this is that most of the "futuristic" tech found in Vader's suit are actually not that far off from medical apparatus that we already have. For example, there's his signature respirator, which you might find similar to the "oxygen boxes" used to help newborn babies breathe. Other similar contraptions in this regard include the breathing equipment and oxygen tanks used for space exploration and scuba diving, although those are more of "supplies" than "respirators" per se. 

There are also Vader's mechanical limbs themselves. Granted, you won't find any of those made from durasteel yet - most prosthetic limbs are primarily constructed using titanium, which is hardy yet relatively lightweight. Speaking of which, the Star Wars franchise is also home to the ever-familiar, quadruple lightsaber-wielding cyborg that is General Grievous.

Unlike Vader, this bloodthirsty fellow is almost completely machine, sporting robot arms that can handle movements otherwise impossible for a human being. 

In any case, there isn't an actual need for our hands to be able to spin in continuous 360-degree circles, which is probably why they haven't got around to that yet. No pun intended. Current prosthetic arms and legs aren't as nimble as the General's either - they can handle running and jogging fine, but are still pretty delicate stuff by comparison. Essentially, they're not something you'd expect to last through an intergalactic war.

Droids: Rise of the Machines

Whirr. Boop. Beep.

Oh, hi there, R2. You too, C-3PO.

Yes, it's time to talk about the bots. Droids like this duo above have long been a staple of Star Wars, and to be honest it might not be wrong to say their presence sparked a new wave of interest in robotics and artificial intelligence. Regardless, in the decades since the movie first premiered, both of those realms have undeniably come a long way, to the point where many industries utilise robots to accomplish otherwise labour-intensive or dangerous tasks. From bomb disposal to packaging frozen pizzas, robots have played a huge part in increasing productivity and output in various fields, although I'd say we're still pretty far off from sentient automata like our favourite blue and golden droids.

Read: Meet Auberon, a made-in-Singapore firefighting exoskeleton

Still, if it's any consolation, we've at least got merchandise and appliances that resemble them. Take this R2-D2 and BB-8-inspired rice cooker, for instance. Wonder if they go "Beep boop!" when the cooking's done?

In terms of A.I., the most advanced candidate we have to date is DeepMind's AlphaGo Zero, an ultra-advanced, self-learning computer software that is able to play the strategic board game Go. It managed to beat the original AlphaGo software 100-0, and that's really impressive when you consider that the latter was already able to defeat the current human Go champion Lee Se-dol 2-1!

Read: The amazing things Google is doing with AI

Fortunately, it's not at the point where we have to worry about the whole "Genisys is Skynet" thing from Terminator: Genisys. Yet.

Lasers: The art of shooting to miss

Let's be frank: it's a well-known fact that Stormtroopers can't hit the broad side of a barn door. But what makes them so interesting? Is it the iconic outfit and general firearm inaccuracy, the fact that many of them were originally clones (before the Emperor decided to replace them with human conscriptions), or their blasters with the familiar "pew-pew" sounds? Maybe it's all of them.

We'll get to that cloning part in a bit, but let's talk about the blasters first, and by extension, weaponry in Star Wars. Lasers, in general, have always been viewed as "futuristic tech", simply because people find it difficult to fathom being injured by what is essentially a beam of light. Of course, we don't see dedicated "blasters" in the hands of modern soldiers, but lasers are already being used in a wide variety of purposes, from the military (night-vision goggles) to everyday cosmetic and surgical procedures.

The best and most prominent example? It's one that everyone should be familiar with: LASIK, or if you want the fancy term, Laser in-situ keratomileusis.

Don't worry; the procedure isn't as complex as its name. By making use of a tool called a microkeratome or a femtosecond laser to reshape and alter the corneal tissue (that's in the eye, by the way), those with short-sightedness (myopia) or long-sightedness (astigmatism) can have their vision corrected or at least, mitigate the use of spectacles and contact lenses. 

But for all it's supposed benefits, such procedures do cost a very pretty penny, which is probably why most people just stick to using a pair of spectacles for the most part. In any case, while vision correction is cool and all, we digress.

Lightsabers: How could we forget?

Honestly, if we wanted to talk about Star Wars weaponry, nothing really comes close to scratching the lightsaber for sheer iconicity. After all, it would be no exaggeration to say that the franchise's glorified light-stick essentially redefined the foundations of what people considered a "sci-fi weapon", so much so that most people would still think of lightsabers when asked to name one. 

Believe me, I think laser swords are cool, but as much as I'd like to actually have one, they're still a work-in-progress as far as the real world is concerned. But the swordsmanship aspect, though - that's something that isn't exclusive to the galaxy far, far away, and we have good news for all aspiring "Jedi Knights".

No, you won't be able to strangle people by gesturing at them, but there are various "lightsaber" academies all over the world (including Singapore!) that trains members to wield various types of model sabers for sport.

Watch: 7 forms of lightsaber combat in the Star Wars universe

If you've ever been to one of these performances or seen them practising, the word "cool" doesn't exactly do the discipline justice. Just Google it and check them out - most of these academies operate like your everyday enrichment classes, anyway - weekly training sessions, grading competitions, showcases, and so on.

On a side note, don't be fooled by the term "model sabers" - these "athletes" aren't using the regular kids' sabers you can snag off a Toys 'R' Us shelf. The ones they use for duelling are extremely sturdy and can cost hundreds of dollars just for a high-quality, single-sided saber. If you're interested, we've compiled some options for both the dueller, collector and the regular ten-year-old kid (or kid-at-heart!) right here.

Carbonite Freezing: Don't kick the bucket, freeze it

Let me make this very clear: of all the ways I can see myself leaving this world, being frozen in carbonite for an alien to put on display is NOT one of them.

On that note, I'm sure Han Solo was thinking the same thing before he emerged as a black, human-sized ice cube back in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, which was then presented to Jabba the Hutt as a trophy. Here's a video clip to jog your memory:-

Play

Jokes aside, the concept of "freezing yourself" in the hopes of being revived once the appropriate tech appears in the future is actually a thing right now. It even has a name too: cryonics.

As far as we know, the practice, at least in our world, doesn't exactly involve freezing your whole body when you die, but rather just your brain. Consider it "human hibernation", if you will. Unsurprisingly, the whole process, which costs a ridiculous amount of money, has proved to be rather controversial since the public generally views the people involved as trying to "play God", but that hasn't stopped some from signing up, nor has it deterred other creatives from exploring the concept.

And by creatives, we mean movie directors and game developers. Captain America is a shining example when it comes to movies, and as for games, we have the climatologist Mei from first-person shooter Overwatch. In fact, the latter even uses cryonics as part of her combat repertoire, being able to temporarily freeze people and herself. 

Hmm...what else do we have on the list? Ah, cloning.

Clone Troopers: Two is company, and three's a crowd

As another side of science that was explored heavily in Star Wars, advanced cloning tech gave rise to soldiers with the same personality as the bounty hunter Jango Fett, fittingly called the Clone Troopers. However, most of us are more accustomed to calling them Stormtroopers, which isn't wrong - the term "Clone Trooper" was changed to "Stormtrooper" after the imfamous Order 66 was executed and the conversion of the Galactic Republic into the Empire. 

Anyway, in reality, we still don't have the necessary tech to mass-produce clones of animals, or people, for that matter. But scientists have had some successes along the way. The cloning of the sheep called Dolly in 1996 was by far the biggest breakthrough, although it wasn't as easy as popping the original into a machine, pressing a button and having the clone pop out like bread from a toaster.

The cloning of Dolly involved the removal of the nucleus from an adult sheep cell, then using that nucleus to artificially produce a clone. Of course, in between all that is a medley of scientific terms and processes that seem as hard to pronounce as they are to understand, which we will go into detail another day.

And there we have it, real-life cloning in a nutshell.

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