A veteran Hollywood conceptual artist riffs on his designs for the future.

You’re probably not familiar with his name, but you’ve almost certainly seen his work.

Edward Eyth is a designer, sculptor and arts educator. In the late 1980s, he was on the team of visual futurists who helped create the conceptual technology in Back to the Future Part II. (In other words, he envisioned and drew what 2015 might look like. The set designers and decorators made his fantasy into reality.) The Pacific Grove resident is the former creative director for The Jim Henson Company, an adjunct professor in fine arts at Monterey Peninsula College and a visiting arts teacher at Robert Louis Stevenson School in Pebble Beach.

His other film production credits include costume and set art design for Hook with Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman, and the suit design in The Rocketeer.

The Weekly: What future technology from 2015 in BTTF II would you have actually liked to see in the real 2015?

Edward Eyth: The flying cars, since it would probably mean less traffic, a better experience for pedestrians and ideally faster transportation. It would be a better outcome all around, with the possible exception of an occasional vehicle plummeting back to Earth.

What technology should have realistically been created by now?

Using your thumbprint to open your home door lock or pay for things would be pretty convenient. The technology exists but hasn’t reached all the possible consumer applications.

Was there any really cool design that didn’t make it into BTTF II?

My favorite would be the RoboNanny. It was a cyborg caregiver I designed that could provide for the needs and comfort of a baby without human participation. It had a flat panel monitor that ran a video loop of the mother to create a nicely synthesized intimacy. I didn’t have kids at the time, but once I did, I was even more fond of the idea. The RoboNanny was actually built for the film and shot for a scene, but ended up on the editing room floor. Not much different than sitting your kid in front of the television.

The Hoverboard and Nike auto-lace sneakers are popular items from BTTF II that might actually come into production. Would you like to own either of them?

I’m pretty sure those aren’t being produced or accessible to the public just yet, but close. The Hoverboard would be fun to try, but the auto-lace sneakers would be great for my kids; I’m perpetually tying shoes. So I’m in, assuming they are realistically priced.

Film technology has come forward quite a bit with CG and other digital tricks. What modern films have inspired you?

The fully computer-generated films continue to amaze me. I loved Disney and other 2-D animation as a kid, but now I watch Pixar films with my sons, and I’m probably more engaged than they are. I’m in awe of how realistic and immersive the experience can be. You get these evocative performances that are fabricated and pixel based, like in Up or The Boxtrolls and WALL-E. As for science fiction, I worked on so many films back then, I think I’m maxed out on them.

Where do you go for technology and future news and inspiration?

It’s impossible to keep up with all the progress, which seems exponential and boundless and kind of overwhelming to see how technology is disrupting so many industries and institutions, and forcing everyone to reassess tools, methods and priorities. Embracing change seems mandatory for survival today.

Do you ever find technology to be too much?

There needs to be a level of balance. I still like to draw with traditional media. My favorite drawing tool is a classic 2B graphite pencil.

If you could take Doc Brown’s DeLorean time machine anywhere in time, when would you go to?

That would have to be anywhere in the future, at least 50 years from now. I’m sure it would be disorienting and even incomprehensible, once you arrived, based on how quickly things evolve now. Not sure anyone would be able to accurately predict life in Back to the Future 2215. It would be fun to take a stab at it though, on the generous assumption humanity has survived until then.

View Edward Eyth’s concept art design from Back to the Future II at his website: www.eeyth.com