You hear your phone ring. You look down, and what do you see? Ah. Incoming video call. After you hit decline, think about how commonplace video chat’s become.



For a long time, the idea of seeing someone from across the world was only in science fiction.



So how did it go from looking like this…to this?



Let’s find out how the science fiction inspired science reality.



As communication devices have dramatically changed, Sci-fi has been a step ahead, imagining new devices, and their effects on society--for better….



“Come in, Dick Tracy”



…and for worse.



“Hey, quit stalling. Get back to work!”



Mobile phones and tablets appeared in sci-fi years before we had them in real life.



But what we’ve wanted all along is face-to-face contact -- through a device.



At least since the invention of the telephone, illustrators and authors envisioned combining pictures with sound.



Like French author and illustrator George du Maurier’s “Telephonoscope”, which looks like a combination video phone and flat screen TV.



The videophone appeared in the first episode of The Jetsons in 1962, when Jane Jetson had a chat with her mother.



“Mother.”



Various versions of video chatting appeared in sci-fi TV and movies during the twentieth century.



“Yes, what is it?”



Meanwhile, AT&T’s Bell labs was developing a real-life “picturephone.”



In April 1964, the picturephone debuted for public demonstration at the World’s Fair in New York.



Two months later, service began with booths in Chicago, New York, and Washington, DC.



First Lady of the U.S., Lady Bird Johnson, made an early Picturephone call to Dr. Elizabeth Wood of Bell Labs.



“May I congratulate you and all who have helped make this great scientific stride possible?”



The system was impractical for home use, involving expensive equipment and a hefty fee per-minute.



“I’m sure there’ll be many youngsters off at college, and many mothers and fathers back at home that will find this a great joy.”



Video chatting remained elusive for 3 more decades, until we had the Internet, computers with cameras, and the software to make it work.



“I’ll bet your next best customers will be grandmothers.”



“ I’m sure of that, yes.”



Skype software was introduced in 2003, and Apple’s FaceTime followed in 2010. We finally achieved the dream of the video phone.



Now call your grandma. She’d love to see you.