《星球大战》中的交通技术离现实还有多远

现在互联网的所有门道我们都已经摸清楚了（不是吗？），紧接着交通运输正成为21世纪的一个重要科技增长点。既然我们拼命想让人和物都移动得更快、更智能、更有效率，还有什么比《星球大战》更适合做准绳，来评估我们迈向未来所取得的进步呢？

当然，这个系列电影的故事发生在很久以前的遥远星系——你打着火把也找不着。不过想到这一系列科幻电影中最不可思议的一些东西已成为现实或快要实现，总会让人觉得更如痴如醉。以下就是《财富》杂志最喜欢的几样片中事物。

注：以下内容与《星球大战：原力觉醒》无关，不必担心看到剧透。

会走路的机器人

它可能很快就会出现在现实生活中。作为一款军用车辆，AT-AT的设计理念存在很大的误区。但这没有阻止美国国防部先进研究项目局在Boston Dynamics公司的帮助下，将这个概念转变为一批会爬行的机器人：Spot、BigDog和Cheetah。它们主要用于配合未来的士兵作战，不过出于某种原因，这些机器人显然也拥有投掷手榴弹的功能。

喷气式背包

波巴·费特的曼达洛盔甲有着十分鲜明的头盔设计。但JetPack Aviation终于研发出了一款几乎和他的喷气式背包一样时髦的产品。这款喷气式背包名为JB-9，还没有上市。这家公司表示将仔细筛选潜在客户，重点是观察他们应对突然事件的能力。这可能会限制JB-9背包对赏金猎人经济的影响。

陆上飞艇

我们可以在这款设备身上感受到一股复古未来主义的气息，也可以指出科技界在打造一款会飞的汽车方面获得的最新进展。不过更有趣的是一款基于地面的悬浮概念车。初创公司Arx Pax表示，如果使用磁悬浮技术的话，这种概念车有可能成为现实。唯一的缺点是，你需要一段用铝制成的道路。所以说，卢克的陆上飞艇。离我们还有相当遥远的距离。

智能交通

我们在《星球大战前传》中看到，城市星球科洛桑上的飞行器和其他近地车辆都在空中有序地行驶，却没有任何可见的交通信号。这需要科学家正在研发的计算机控制和无线通信技术的支持。实际上，美国交通运输部随时都可能发布车辆的无线通信标准。

没错，科洛桑也有自己的交通运输部。看来就连科幻电影也逃不开现实中的官僚机构。

无人机

《星球大战》中充满了飞行器和机器人士兵。不过在现实世界，无论在战场还是在商界，这些东西基本上还需要人类的远程控制。然而，无人机也在飞速发展，正在执行绘制地图、救援、执法等各种任务。与此同时，人们开始担心无人机的发展将对人类自身构成威胁。

极速赛车

没错，在电影中你已经看到了两个参照物。（毕竟，“总是有两个在那里，” 尤达说。）令人惊讶的是，在现实生活中，未来的赛车只有少数几种发展方向。然而，最近宣布的电动机器人汽车巡回赛，将把无人驾驶技术与扣人心弦的一级方程式赛车结合在一起。不过，这种赛事直到2016年才会开始举办，所以我们目前还是只能欣赏第一人称视角的无人驾驶赛车。

太空旅行

这是一个宏伟的目标。在登月之后，很难说我们在星际旅行领域获得了多大的进展，不过私人公司进军太空的消息还是令人鼓舞。从埃隆·穆斯克的SpaceX、理查德·布兰森的维珍银河和杰夫·贝佐斯最近成立的蓝色起源来看，我们至少有足够的信心和雄心在将来某一天进入太空。（财富中文网）

译者：严匡正

审校：任文科

Now that we’ve got this whole Internet thing figured out (right?), transportation is one of the big tech growth spots for the 21st century. And as we work to move people and cargo faster, smarter, and more efficiently, what better benchmark is there for evaluating our progress into the future than Star Wars?

Yes, of course the films take place a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away—put down those torches. But that just makes it even crazier that some of the wildest aspects of the fantasy films are either already here, or getting close. Here are just a few ofFortune’s favorite examples.

[Note: None of the following is based on The Force Awakens, so enjoy some spoiler-free reading.]

Walking Robots

Let’s say it right off the bat: as a military vehicle, the AT-AT’s design is incredibly misguided. But that hasn’t stopped the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (with help from Boston Dynamics) from scaling the concept down into a creepy robots with names like Spot, BigDog, and Cheetah. They’re largely intended to accompany future soldiers, but apparently also need to be able to throw cinder blocks for some reason.

Jetpacks

With his Mandalorian armor, Boba Fett still has the distinct edge in helmet design. But JetPack Aviation has finally perfected a real jetpack nearly as sleek as his. The pack, known as the JB-9, hasn’t gone to market yet, and the company says it will carefully screen prospective customers with a focus on emergency responders. And that may limit its impact on the bounty hunting economy.

Landspeeders

We could go retro-futuristic on this one, and point to recent progress in the ongoing quest to build a flying car. But even more interesting is the concept of a true land-based hover vehicle, which startup Arx Pax says is possible using its mag-lev technology. The only downside is you’d need a road made of aluminum—so Luke’s landspeeder is still far, far away.

Smart Traffic

In the prequel films, we get some up-close views of the city-planet Coruscant, where speeders and other near-surface vehicles flow in neatly interlocking airborne traffic patterns—without any visible traffic signals. That implies computer control and wireless communication, tech we’re already developing on Earth. In fact, the Department of Transportation is expected to announce standards for wireless vehicle communication any day now.

And if you’re wondering, yes, Coruscant has its own Department of Transportation. You can’t even escape the reality of bureaucracy in a fantasy film, it seems.

Unmanned Drones

Star Wars is full of flying droids and robot soldiers. But in the real world, most of their counterparts, both in war and commerce, are still remote-controlled by humans. However autonomous drones are proliferating, doing everything from mapping to rescue to law enforcement work—as well as triggering fears about their threat to humanity.

Podracing

Yes, you’re getting two prequel references. (After all, “always two there are,” says Yoda.) Surprisingly, we live in a world with a few options when it comes to futuristic racing. However, a circuit for electric robot cars was recently announced, pairing Formula One excitement with driverless technology. But those races won’t begin until 2016, so in the meantime we’ll just have to be entertained with first person video drone racing:

Space Travel

This is the big kahuna. It’s hard to say whether we’ve made much progress towards an interstellar future since the moon landings, but the entrance of private companies into the space race has been encouraging. Between Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, and Jeff Bezos’s recently launched Blue Origin, we’ve certainly got at least enough ego and ambition to get make the jump to hyperspace, someday.