Life in plastic is fantastic, but it doesn't have to be fantasy. Watching the Barbie movie this weekend (shout out to my friend Eleanor for coordinating outfits) I was genuinely blown away by the quality of what could easily have been a two-hour-long advert for a toy line. It's subversive and sad and sweet all at once and you need to go and see it.
Barbie (and Ken, but who cares?) lives in a magical world that seems perfect and far more advanced than our real world, but it's not actually that far away. Here are 3 bits of Barbie tech that are almost real.
1. The Iconic electric Corvette
One of the most striking elements of Barbie promotional material and a pretty big part of the movie, is the Pink self-driving Corvette that goes between Barbieland and the real world.
The model that Margot Robbie's character uses is a C1 Corvette, that was introduced in the 50s, but this version has a surprise feature, and we're not talking about Ken hiding in the back seat. According to its listing in the Forza Horizon 5 DLC, It's electric.
An electric Corvette might seem slightly unusual considering its association with American muscle but there is in fact one on the way in 2024 (in time for a sequel perhaps?).
The Corvette E-Ray is a much more modern machine of course (and it's actually real) but capable of doing 0-60mph in 2.5 seconds and with 655 combined horsepower, it could get you from here to Barbieland in a flash.
2. Pink... everywhere!
The Barbie movie has started something of a stylistic revolution, with Barbieland understandably dominated by pink. It's not just the outfits either, in Barbieland all the furniture is pink, the streets are paved with pink, and the President even lives in a Pink White House (Pink House?).
In the real world, we've seen watches, toasters, fridges - there's even a pink iPhone supposedly coming. But if you want to make everywhere in your home pink, exactly like Barbie's Dreamhouse, then you can actually do a pretty good job of it.
With Phillips Hue and Wiz smart lighting, it's easy to make your house into a pink paradise. The Phillips Hue Gradient Lightstrip can change the vibe in any room, while green-fingered Barbies and Kens can try the Hue Lilly Spotlight for their garden.
3. Mugs of the future
By mugs, I don't actually mean the various different Kens. This might not be one that you dwelt too much on, but in the movie, Barbie 'drinks' out of a mug without anything actually coming out. Then, in the real world, she throws water over herself not expecting to actually drink liquids. As a clumsy spiller, this definitely appeals to me.
Of course, we do still need to drink liquids, but there are ways to prevent spillages. Some of the best travel mugs feature spill-prevention features and also keep your coffee warm.
If you're looking for a high-tech mug solution (and who isn't) then you could even consider the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth-compatible Ember Smart Mug, which lets you set an exact drinking temperature.
