Now, as the New York Times reports, a company named Oblong Industries is making one of the technologies used in the movie – a gesture-activated interface – a reality.

In fact, the team at work on the device is the same team that built the interface for the movie itself. During a demo at the TED conference, participants watched Oblong founder John Underkoffler manipulate a series of images on a screen in any direction he wanted.

“I think in 5 years time, when you buy a computer, you’ll get this,” Underkoffler told the Times.

g-speak overview 1828121108 from john underkoffler on Vimeo.