"Google is a godsend." Artist Syd Mead Tells NPR

Blade Runner "Curb Scene" Concept Art by Syd Mead

Syd Mead is a concept artist and designer for movies like Minority Report, Tron and Blade Runner. In an interview with NPR, the veteran artist describes his approach to producing futuristic concept art and the future of technology.

Describing himself as a "visual futurist" that starting with a script he develops his designs with the director and production designer. His greatest tool these days is the search engine "Google."

"Google is a godsend." Mead says, "You download different research tracts on that specific subject and find out that we're implanting cameras in people's eyes now,

"They're working on artificial nanoscale retinas. And so you start with that technology leap, or possibility, and then you design around that. To me, science fiction is reality ahead of schedule."

Talking about things as diverse as Iris scanners, like the ones in Minority Report he says "If something is a good idea, then it will probably come true, either because of economic pressures, or just simply invention. Technology tends to climb on its own past accomplishments. If you've solved three or four problems, you can probably solve eight more."

Its interesting to hear how he uses current technology to drive his art and create realism.

Overall, it's a good short article and well worth hearing from one of the premiere artists in the industry.

Head over to NPR to read the article and check out amazing work on Syd Mead's website http://sydmead.com.

What do you think? Can an artist predict the future using Google? 
 [Image Source: http://www.wired.com]