Photo [Lore Sjöberg/Flickr]
Some super heroes are born with special powers (Superman), some are transformed by a tragic and improbable scientific accidents (Spiderman, Hulk) and some just kick butt with their amazing gadget hacking skills (Batman, MacGyver). You’ll need precisely one guess to know which we prefer here at Gadget Lab. That’s why we’ve put together a list of ways that you, too, can become a schizophrenic, Lycra-clad crime fighter.
Grappling Hook
The ATLAS Powered Rope Ascender is small enough to be carried on a utility belt and, when deployed, can drag you to the top of a tall building in a single 10 feet per second bound. Designed by MIT student Nate Ball, the reverse rappelling device is now being manufactured by military supplier Atlas Devices. Combine this with the Tactical Pneumatic Launch System, which will throw a line up 120 feet and you can get your Spidey on. Check a video of it in action at Danger Room.
Product page [Atlas]
Flying
The human body is good at many things, but racing through the air isn’t one of them. To get airborne, we ugly-bags-of-mostly-water need some help. Thankfully, there have been a few birdmen willing to risk their meatsacks for us, and the gizmos they came up with will let us fly through the air, although maybe not with the greatest of ease.
The jetpack is the classic one-man flying machine. For $125,000 you can buy this rocket belt from Technologia Aeroespacial Mexicana. The price includes training and "a special machine to make your own unlimited supply of rocket fuel." You can keep the whole lot in your underground super hero’s lair.
Yes! Rocket Belts finally arrive [Gadget Lab]
Product page [TAM]
X-Ray Vision
What good is a super hero without X-Ray vision? It’s full of practical uses, as Superman showed us when he used it to see through Lois Lane’s clothes. But X-Rays probably aren’t the way to go, unless you want to send everyone around you off to the oncology ward.
The T5000 from Thruvision is a terahertz imaging system which can see through clothes. Designed for use in airports, it’s not quite portable enough to fit into a pair of specs just yet, but you could easily mount one on your Batmobile. The T5000 will spot concealed explosives, liquids, narcotics, weapons, plastics and ceramics from 80 feet. Unfortunately, it won’t tell you the color of Lois’ panties.
British Security Camera Can See Through Clothes [Gadget Lab]
Product page [Thruvision]
Batarang
The Batarang is clearly based on the boomerang, the antipodean airfoil. These are thought to have been used for combat, but with a real boomerang you’ll have to choose whether you want to knock the gun out of the Joker’s hand or to have the boomerang return to you. It’s unlikely you could manage both.
According to Wikipedia, boomerangs were used for hunting, but only to scare small animals out of hiding. There’s another big problem with Batman’s favorite shuriken, too. If it’s sharp enough to cut through rope, and heavy enough to break through glass, who wants to catch it?
Photo [WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot/Flickr]
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