Video has become an integral part of everyday life. We’re so used to making video calls, collaborating via videoconferencing, and recording, watching and sharing videos at a moment’s notice. But of course it wasn’t always like this.
Two-way communication using video was once the stuff of science fiction. The concept of video calling made an early appearance in Fritz Lang’s ground-breaking 1927 film Metropolis. The huge and complicated apparatus that appears in the movie is a far cry from today’s simple, streamlined desktop solutions.
Later in the 20th century, video communications began to appear in real life. On its first manned space flights, NASA used radiofrequency UHF and VHF links to communicate between the craft and ground control. In those days, video collaboration was still in the realms of high technology: expensive and far beyond the reach of most commercial and personal users.
As the decades went by, video communications appeared in movies and TV more and more. It gradually made the transition from far-future scenarios, such as in Star Trek and Space 1999, to being presented as a part of everyday life, as the technology crept closer and closer to widespread real-world use.
Ridley Scott’s acclaimed 1982 classic Blade Runner is notable for depicting a video payphone. It is a sign of the times, and the increasing prevalence of video communications, that while we use video calls more and more today, the payphone is increasingly becoming a thing of the past.
In 1989, Back to the Future Part II brought our imaginations a step closer to the modern technology of 2015. In the film, protagonist Marty McFly takes video calls from a co-worker and his boss on his television set. This was a prophetic echo of today’s smart TV apps, which allow face-to-face video chatting.
By the 1990s, the digital age was in full swing, with the emergence of the Internet and advanced video compression technology. Now video collaboration is possible for organisations and individuals around the world. But it hasn’t stopped here. We’re always moving forward toward the next advancement, finding new ways to communicate more effectively face-to-face, the human way, even though we may be miles apart. And it will be interesting to see what the future brings.
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