While it’s already changed the way we watch television and play
games, the explorative potential of VR is the next big thing. In
2016, Greenpeace teamed up with Alchemy VR to create an immersive
experience of
David Attenborough‘s Great Barrier Reef Dive, where users could
virtually explore the underwater world of the coral reef alongside
him. Similar tech companies have created the Grand Canyon
Experience, allowing users to take part in a virtual kayak tour
through the national park. There’s also Augmented Reality which
takes these virtual experiences one step further, using force and
vibrations to imitate different sensory experiences. While we’re
not convinced it’ll ever beat the real thing, it does allow people
to travel to places that would otherwise be inaccessible.

The English have a reputation for not speaking any languages
other than their own. Pandering to fears of being stranded without
the ability to communicate (and our laziness), Google, Timekettle,
Waverly Labs, Lingmo International and Bragi are only a few of the
technology companies that are competing to develop the first
successful translation earpiece. When this highly specific piece of
equipment will come out (or even be successful) is unclear,
however, so keep that phrase book handy.

Just as self-driving are being trialled, the Avengers of the
tech world have assembled to boost the development of flying cars.
Uber Technologies, Boeing Co. and Toyota Motor Corporation are just
a few of the companies working together to make this sci-fi plot
device a reality. Uber is also developing a city-based aviation
product called Uber Air (essentially, flying taxis). Aside from
being pretty cool, developers are hopeful that flying cars will
help relieve traffic congestion, reduce pollution and lower the
number of accidents.

The Space Race continues with pioneers in galactic travel
desperately seeking to make space tourism a reality. Amazon CEO
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic are
just two of the major companies hoping to develop new spatial
infrastructures and reduce the cost of travel beyond our atmosphere
(but don’t expect easyJet fares just yet). Taking intergalactic
travel to another strata, NASA and SpaceX have both expressed
interest in colonising Mars.

Airport queues are the bugbear of travellers. Luckily for
Londoners, Heathrow Airport is hoping to reveal a £50 million
biometric project by summer 2019. The plans will reduce time and
queueing in terminals by using facial recognition technology
instead of manual checks, without the creepy retina-scans used by
Tom Cruise in Minority Report. It’s hoped that this technology
could reduce queuing time by two thirds.

Since Japan unveiled the bullet train and the floating train,
the race to develop the world’s fastest mode of transport has been
fraught with anticipation and secrecy. Elon Musk’s futuristic
Hyperloop – a super-fast transport system using travel pods in an
air-evacuated tube – promises to take passengers from
London to
Edinburgh in just 50 minutes. Not to be outdone, Richard
Branson has teamed up with Boom Supersonic to attempt at making
supersonic flight a daily occurrence.