4:26 PM
Every gadget discussion always includes weapons and vehicles and appliances, today we at GeekyLists say, "No more." We also wanted to base it on how having these things around would affect our lives. To narrow the playing field of literally tens of thousands of devices we decided on ground rules. They had to appear in a movie (I know, but books and comic books would make the list 50 items long), the express purpose could not be a weapon or armor, they cannot be a mode of transportation in time or space, they must be transportable in that they could fit in a back pack, and it couldn't be considered a character in its own right.
This disqualified almost every over used answer we had seen and thought was a cop out, except for the doctors sonic screw driver, which is over used and can apparently do anything handy, so it was excluded too, then we all readily agreed to the rules. The numbers are not a ranking and randomly selected.
1. The cloaking device from predator
I would argue that near invisibility is a much better option than complete invisibility for everyone. It has all the practical advantages of not being seen/recognized while on the run and at the same time it isn't perfect enough to make everyone paranoid all the time. At close range you can tell if someone was moving near you, but you could sit an observe things while still or at a distance. So it would be a lot more effective on animals and mindless things than on humans, so fun and research would get a bigger boost than crime. It lets you get into just the right amount of trouble and is still incredibly useful for tons of things. And you don't have to worry about if your friend has one.
Get Predator, Predator 2, Predators here
2. The Pasiv Device from inception
I know in the movie it is used against people to subtly change there minds, and that might have a lot of valid uses, but I think it has many other advantages. You could compress time in order to figure things out, or extend deadlines for ideas you are working on, even a whole team of people could do this together. For limited runs you could visualize and manifest anything you where trying to work out.
I think they really dropped the ball on how this could be used to help fix people with phobias or trauma. It could help with addictions, rehabilitation, really any kind of therapy. Plus, it could just be fun, as far as entertainment value and being able to go on an adventure feels totally real except you can't die, sure its random, but even that sounds like part of the fun.
Get Inception here
3. The tricorder from star trek
While technically there are three types of tricorders, they only really show a difference in the software between engineering and field, and the medical one has a detachable sensor probe for finer readings and is otherwise just a software change. We don't feel that its a big enough difference to count as three seperate gadgets because the technology is identical, the usage is the only thing that changes. It is a sensor array that checks a database and tells you what you are seeing. It is such a basic thing that the help it gives is constant, it can tell you what anything you find is, what is around you, how something is different than what it should be, or what illnesses are there that shouldn't be. It is basically a portable forensics lab mixed with wikipedia and a cellphone. Cell phones are actually just less useful tricorders, and everyone uses them constantly.
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4. The point of view gun from hitch hikers guide
While it may not solve all arguments instantly, it would make them last 5 seconds. I like the idea of people seeing other perspectives and empathy, it solves one of the biggest problems we all face in our daily lives, and that is miscommunication. If you count up the amount of time you spend re-wording or trying to explain yourself, you can see why this would give you months of extra time a year.
Watch hitchhikers guide to the galaxy now
5.The men in black neuralyzer
Assuming we all just focus on the more innocent applications of this. We all make mistakes, sometimes you say things you don't mean. The other uses of this though are completely lost in the films. It is possible to completely change a memory. Now this is useful if you want to erase a mistake, but it is even more useful if you want to add something. The vacation you never have time for, you just came back from it, it was super relaxing. Also the ability to erase something tragic and out of your control happening to you and replace it with say, getting covered in a blanket of kittens and then having ice cream, its pretty invaluable. The only problem is you would definitely need a de-neuralyzer handy to keep people honest.
Get the men in black trilogy here
6. Seeker droids from star wars
With ships, vehicles, weapons and armor out, and a lot of the universe not showing up in the movies, almost 80 things got taken off the table. Seeker droids might seem like a weak choice, but its really not. They are couriers as well as weapons, they fly, they stay single minded to just find someone. Search and rescue would be revolutionized, no shipping addresses ever, you would never have to worry about a package being intercepted, and instead of calling someone or packing a box, you could send anyone anything one could carry in an instant. Given the speed of them, the multiple uses, and the tech they employ, they would revolutionize a lot of different aspects of every day life for the better. Your day would be 4 times easier and twice as personal.
Get The star wars complete saga here
7. Translator microbes from farscape
At some point there had to be a universal translator, because the value of those is so apparent, but the Farscape version is completely internal and can get passed down to your kids. Whether or not it can be transmitted other ways is unknown, but I like the idea of a future where everyone can talk. If you were worried about a drunken encounter and you get a call from the free clinic, and it turns out you didn't get herpes but you don't need to take a foreign language for college anymore, I say that is a big win for the future.
Get Farscape the complete series here
8. Weyland Modular Computing Device from Prometheus
While the design may look like a painted rubix cube, it is stated that it can not only show recreations but work with sight sound and touch. What this cube becomes them is a portable holodeck. It is generations ahead of any other form of virtual reality. You could just drop a cube on the floor and be somewhere else. It isn't used to its full potential in the movie, but its wireless and works like a projector, so not only could you do everything a holographic relay could do, but you could essentially make it show anything you wanted with some editing, and actually feel whatever it showed you. Think of every vr application you have ever seen and then make it better, smaller, and portable.
Watch prometheus now
9. Nano machines from Virtuosity
The nano machines can take any programmed avatar including animals, and build a regenerating real world body for it, it is 3d printing meets robotics on a cellular level. You could have a pet that never died, make laborers or trades men to do specialized skills. The possibilities are pretty endless, any real or fictional character could come to life in your house and interact with you. For that alone it is invaluable.
Get virtuosity here
Hopefully that was a little more towards what people where thinking about. If we missed any, feel free to comment. We had fun debating this one because its a bit of a blind spot. If you like this post or the site, it would be really helpful if you took the time to use the symbols on the top right of the header, and followed on facebook/twitter/googleplus, I promise we only update for new articles or at least semi decent jokes or news, but there is 0% needless spam. Thank you for reading.
