1. Google Glass
I'm including Google Glass in the list of things that Star Trek has already inspired as the test and review models are already in the field. I suspect that this single device will result in as massive a change in our lives as the introduction of the mobile phone. The addition of augmented reality will change our lives in ways that we can't even imagine yet. Google Glass is expected to be released during 2014, and already there are some legal implications to be considered. For example, there is a court case right now about someone wearing them while driving (whether or not they were using them) which could be an interesting argument, because after all wouldn't a GPS programme on them be a logical use. In Star Trek they were specifically shown to be used by the Dominion to view the broadcasts from other ships that were shown on large screens by other races. While some reviewers of the Google Glass (and I would have thought this too) that Google Glass was inspired by the devices seen used by the Dominion (as pictured) in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, it has also been said to have been inspired by Geordi La Forge's ViSOR. Personally I'm leaning towards the DS9 inspiration as the two items are just so similar. Of course the main difference with the Google tech is that there will be apps although I doubt that the Dominion would have admitted if there was a way that the glasses allowed them to play games or otherwise goof off. They were a bit serious for all that. I'm not sure if Google ever did come out and say that it was directly inspired, but certainly the volume of mentions that linked the two in the press would suggest that at some point it was mentioned in a press release. Certainly Google claimed that the inspiration behind their version of Apple's Siri was Star Trek. Personally I'm not certain if it actually was inspired by Star Trek or rather the inspiration was because Apple is pretty litigious.