Tomorrowland Predictions 30 Years Ago 2025

In 1995, the BBC's World of Tomorrow program decided to predict what the world would look like 30 years from now in 2025.

The show, which is no longer airing, featured Professor Stephen Hawking, one of the most famous scientists of the time, who predicted: “By 2025 we can expect huge changes.”

The project team agreed, and came up with a series of world-shaking innovations, from holographic surgery to space junk gel.

So, with the help of some experts—and thirty years of hindsight—let's take a look at what parts of the world Tomorrowland managed to predict today.

In 1995, the World Wide Web really took off—a development that Tomorrowland believed would spell future trouble.

They predicted that “business tycoons” and banks would take control of the Internet by the year 2000, building a “supernet” to which they would restrict access.

This in turn can lead to hacking attacks, viruses and even riots.

judgment – The internet has remained largely open and there have been no riots, but there is no doubt that the hackers' actions have caused pain to many people.

One thing the plan didn't predict was that Nation-state hackers like North Koreaexpertly told by the BBC Lazarus Robbery Podcast.

Cybersecurity is important to governments and companies, and bank skeptics have embraced it Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

The plan speculates that space mining will become a lucrative industry, with companies mining asteroids near Earth for precious metals.

The show also hints that space debris will become an unsafe problem for astronauts. The answer is giant foam gels to slow down debris.

judgment– Well, there's no super foam gel, and the space junk problem is huge. There’s no space mining industry either – but that could change.

Futurist Tom Cheesewright is optimistic about mining beyond Earth.

“The potential wealth is unfathomable and the technology is completely within our grasp,” he said.

“Tomorrow's World” predicts that by 2004, all hospitals in the UK will pass a law publishing surgeons' success rate rankings. Top surgeons would become so popular and earn so much that it would make no sense for them to see patients.

Instead, a hologram of the patient will be sent to them, and surgeons will use a “space glove” to perform the surgery. On the patient's end, the robot will perfectly mimic the surgeon's movements.

judgment – They don't understand it completely correctly, but Robots are helping with surgery.

The show follows a futuristic man (wearing a charming VR headset), his wife and a young girl in what appears to be modern-day London.

In one clip, a woman's floating avatar comes out of a “smart speaker” and tells a man that it's been a year since he went on vacation to “Disney India.” She encouraged him to take the “shuttle bus to Bangalore” for another vacation – which only takes 40 minutes.

judgment – Hyperspeed travel feels as far away as ever, but hologramsmart speakers and VR headsets are becoming increasingly popular.

Elsewhere in the program, we look at a vision for the future of banking.

The story goes that a woman went to a bank to complain that there was no one around, and then withdrew 100 “Euromarks”. The bank gave her the money after scanning the chip on her arm.

judgment– The banking industry is indeed becoming increasingly automated. Despite paying via microchip inside the body is a reality, Other technologies—primarily fingerprint and facial scanning—are more widely used.

Gardeners' World star Monty Don was one of the hosts of “Tomorrowland” 30 years ago. His segment predicts a massive restoration of British woodland thanks to genetic engineering and multi-layered agricultural facilities, leading to the return of animals including brown bears.

Looking back now, he told BBC News that parts of his plan were “utopian” and “naive”.

Looking ahead to the next 30 years, he is pleased that today's young people are “more sensitive to climate change” and believes that by 2055 people will be growing more of their own food.

“Natural rather than trying to change and control it.”

Vivienne Parry is another presenter on the prediction show and hosts the segment on medicine.

She fondly recalls the filming process and the rather limited visual effects at the time. “I had to stay absolutely still. I was wearing a pair of glasses with a little camera attached to them. They were stuck to my face through a big blob of black goo.

“It was a very hot day and this black stuff started running down my face and I couldn't move. The makeup guy came with a long cane to get it off.”

Vivienne has been involved with Genomics England since 2013 and highlights that some of the 1995 predictions about genome sequencing in Tomorrowland have come true as she works on a Research to help diagnose and treat genetic diseases.

Futurist Tracey Follows believes the 1995 plan had a lot of right ideas, but ignored two of the biggest themes of the past 30 years: Big Tech and the spread of social media.

She believes that by 2055, many people will be “cognitively connected” – a hive mind of humans and technology via servers that will help share ideas.

“Brainstorming is literally brainstorming, where you share ideas by thinking about them.”

Tom Cheesewright believes that two of the most exciting prospects over the next 30 years will be materials science and bioengineering.

On the materials side, creating stronger, lighter and thinner devices could change the world, while bioengineering, combined with strict regulation, has the power to transform medicine and solve “some of the biggest challenges facing humanity – decarbonization, clean water ,food”.

So what do you think the world will look like in 30 years?

Whatever your answer, you'd be wise to listen to what Professor Hawking said thirty years ago in “The World of Tomorrow.”

“Some of these changes are very exciting and some are concerning. One thing we know for sure is that it's going to be very different and probably not what we expected.”