We all accept the principle that these days, mobile ‘phones are not just ‘phones that happen to be mobile. They’re computers, calendars, diaries, music players, TVs, cameras and devices that allow you to Tweet a photo of what you just had for dinner.
But we’ve all secretly longed for our gadgets to be the stuff of science fiction: you know, laser guns and those medical things from Star Trek that they used to run up and down the body, so that Dr “Bones” McCoy could diagnose what was wrong. Although inevitably he’d just say something like, “He’s dead, Jim”. Anyway, it looks as though all of that is finally coming true.
Life-Saving
At a Consumer Electronics Show, new mobile ‘phones were unveiled that are remarkable, potentially life-saving and – in one particular case – potentially lethal. This was the Show that brought us the fingerprint tech – now used by Apple’s iPhone 5S – so be prepared for these things to hit the High Street.
So let’s take these “add-ons” one at a time and start with the “Tricorder”. We’re calling it that because it’s something that behaves like that thing from Star Trek. Basically it’s a health checking scanner. You run it over your face or body and it reads your heart rate, temperature, respiratory rate and blood oxygen levels. Handy if you want to check someone’s alive but you don’t want to actually touch them. Well, they might be smelly or have something that’s catching. This potential app of the future is currently known as … wait for it … “Scanadu”.
Predator
We’ll leave you with that thought for a moment and we’ll move on to thermal imaging. You know those bits in Predator where you see the world through the alien’s eyes? Basically, this would enable you to wander around in the dark and film things (yes, I know…) Essentially you end up with a mass of shapes in yellow and pink doing whatever they get up to in the dark.
Finally, how would you like to stun someone with your ‘phone? We don’t mean make them so impressed at your new upgrade that they simper, “Oh, wow! I’m stunned!” We mean ACTUALLY stun them, so that they fall to the floor a gibbering wreck. Well, that’s what one new feature could allow you to do. A company called Yellow Jacket has produced a case for your ‘phone that turns it into an electric stun gun. This would fire 650,000 volts into your attacker. That’s not unlike a Taser. Enough to make anyone sit up and take notice.
Although it’s highly unlikely that it would be legal to own one of these bad boys in the UK!
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Ray-gun style apps; coming to a planet near you!
