Forget What’s New—Imagine What’s Next
How to Craft Sci-Fi Tech With Staying Power
An author’s job is conjuring up visions of tomorrow that feel prophetic, not dated, a few years down the line. And if we want to pen sci-fi that stands the test of time, we’ve got to start dreaming bigger than the latest shiny gadget on store shelves.
The secret? Envisioning tech so compelling and plausible, we find ourselves wishing it into existence—then sharing those visions with anyone who’ll listen.
Take my space opera, the Anisian Convergence. My characters go everywhere in “HUD Contacts”—smart contact lenses with augmented reality and virtual displays. Did tech like that exist when I wrote the story? Hell no. But I could see contacts were how AR was inevitably going to land in our lives. I just wanted to sketch out what I thought that tech might look like if it became as ubiquitous as cell phones are today.
The fact is, if your plot hangs on some scientific breakthrough, you’d better grasp how it might really shake out—and shake things up.
But don’t just reimagine what’s out now. Start dreaming decades ahead, about what life-changing problems still need solving, or what human experiences we’re still aching to unlock.
Think about how today’s tech could evolve to make those futures possible.
I think the folks in Cupertino who developed Apple’s Vision Pro, did just that. They looked at current VR/AR, took the good, ditched the bad, and developed something with the intention of developing a fully immersive VR/AR tool. I think that’s the future—though, not as a bulky headset. Not sure how that’s going to pan out… but it’s a step in the right direction.
But that’s an author’s real superpower. We’re not restricted to current technological advances or, even, reality. No, we come at life with an open and curious mindset intent on spotting the seeds of ideas that might change the whole game.
The future is ours to create, one mind-blowing tale at a time. So forget what new gadget passes for “the latest thing.” Imagine what comes next and make it real.
The future is unwritten, so start scribbling! Make the future you want to see exist in the stories you tell.
Me, I just wanted to adventure with HUD Contacts. If we’re lucky, the real world comes chasing after.
But either way, long as we’re dreaming, future’s looking bright.
Oh, and if Apple wants me to demo the Apple Vision Pro, I have some room in my schedule for that. 😉
The ANISIAN CONVERGENCE begins with FALLEN HUNTER…
A Breach in spacetime…
A family broken by betrayal and deceit…
And the power to unmake the galaxy in the hands of the one woman who never wanted it.
