Sci-Fi tech that became a reality

If you're a ‘Star Trek’ fan then you'll appreciate that when the show was first made, it was ahead of its time in the technology used by Captain Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise.

This week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a £6.5m prize was offered to anyone who can create a Star Trek-style medical "tricorder", a high tech data recorder well remembered from the iconic show. Sponsors Qualcomm want someone to create a gadget that can measure and capture a person's health statistics and diagnose a set of 15 diseases.

It's certainly the stuff of the future but the showfloor of the Consumer Electronics Show was also filled with cinematic-style technology that has actually come to fruition. Here's five of the best:

Ford Sync

Ford's Sync and MyKey technology was first unveiled last year but it's really moving on a pace in a bid to turn our motors into the equivalent of K.I.T.T. from ‘Knight Rider’. It may not provide a Turbo Boost to escape the traffic jams but as well as allowing parents to limit the speed their kids can drive and connecting the audio system to voice control, you'll now get apps too.

Ford have said in-car technology is vastly upgradeable through new software updates ad owners can be sent USB keys with a download on them for ease and simplicity. Whether syncing devices with Bluetooth, Auto Parking or being sent data from the office to your dashboard, the next few years of in-car technology look very exciting indeed.

Samsung SUR40

The SUR40 is a table working Microsoft Surface technology to turn the top into a touch-controlled computer displayed on a 1080p 40 inch LCD screen. Microsoft Surface looks like cutting edge ‘Minority Report’-like technology but is nothing new as it is already in use by a range of governments and other organisations.

The SUR40 is handsomely priced at around £8,000 but if they could just squeeze that down to a couple of grand for a smaller version, just think of the fun to be had indoors. Could the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show be the one to showcase an everyday coffee table accessible to many of us for the right price?

Vuzix AR Smart Glasses

Offering military-style holographic images in front of your face, these monocular glasses are as close to ‘Terminator’ territory as we're likely to get for now. Another version placed in a pair of sunglasses creates a heads-up display of content while still allowing you to see the real world around you… like lampposts or banana skins on pavements.

So whether you're watching videos or browsing the web or simply staking out using night vision, watching where the eyes lead us is going to be a very interesting journey indeed.

Samsung Transparent Smart Window

Now this one really gets the geek pulses racing. The Smart Window is just that, a proper window that turns into a touchscreen display. In the ‘Matrix Reloaded’ they only managed this in black and white in Zion. On one hand you can use it to see out into the street while on the other you can instantly turn it into an information device to display the latest weather, news or video with other apps all controllable from your fingertips. And you'll be pleased to know Samsung promise it can also be blanked out to provide privacy from the outside world.

Sony Smart Watch

From James Bond to Dick Tracy, a watch that can make calls has been a staple of every single cinema spy. But despite a lot, and we mean a lot, of trying, no-one has cracked a proper marketable version that works well and looks good. LG had a go at it a few years back and failed miserably.

This Sony attempt has a very small screen but decent touch controls. It differs from the norm as it has to connect to an existing mobile to work- it doesn't contain a SIM card. You can sync wirelessly via an app to your handset to read all your texts and reply. You can also make a call assuming you've connected a Bluetooth headset to the, let's be fair, pretty ugly looking thing on your wrist.