Friday Fun: One fictional gadget is all you need to make your life wonderful

[DPKJ]

Computers and technology industry is always inspired by fictional gadgets that were once part of movies, shows, books and comics. Few examples are,

• Tablet computer `PADD from Star Trek` (today's iPad)
• HAL 9000 a voice activated computer from Space Odyssey (kind of Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant)
• 3D printers from various movies
• Video call from Space Odyssey (today's FaceTime, Skype, and more)
• Smart watches from comics as early as 1930's (today's Apple Watch, Android Watch etc)

What is one fictional gadget you want to own or want to see become a reality?

My choice is a Light Saber, and I wish I can move it like mighty Master Yoda.

Remember, answer to every thing in this community is also 42 :-)

[Jimmy Seddon]

@DPKJ I think you just named everyone's #1 gadget, let's be honest who doesn't want a light saber.

On a more functional perspective, part of me thinks a sonic screwdriver could be fun to have:

[DPKJ]

I was sure about you @Jimmy Seddon aka Chief Ninja of the community!!!

[David Willson]

Doesn't work on wood :D

[Scott Theus]

@Jimmy Seddon It's not the real thing, but it's a start.

[Jimmy Seddon]

Yes! I won a gift card to a local VR game cafe at our company Christmas party, my wife and I are planning to go soon and I definitely want to try that!

[DPKJ]

Don't forget to share details with us!!

[Deepanshu Natani]

I would like to have a "transporter" as seen in Star Trek movies.

I can use it to travel to any part of the world.

Imagine just after I post this answer and use the Transporter and meet you guys @DPKJ and @Jimmy Seddon :-)

By the way, may the force be with you!

[DPKJ]

Nice choice, reading about difference between, "Transporter" and "Quantum Teleportation Device" might entice you (nice geek stuff :-) )

[Jimmy Seddon]

That is a good point @Deepanshu Natani though I don't know how a feel about having my molecules scrambled and thrown through space ;)

[Monique vdB]

Oh a transporter! Yes!

[Kimberly Deal _Columbus ACE_]

Yeah this is really tops on my list too!  I'm all ready to "beam" up!

[Scott Theus]

Nope, not me. I'd end up like Jeff Goldbloom in "The Fly."

[DPKJ]

Oh no!!!!

[Dharma Ramos]

Oh man, so many:

• Mr Fusion - Back to the Future
• Transporters - Star Trek
• Replicators from - Start Trek

To name a few.

But I would have to say the Med Bay from Elysium. Having lost someone to Cancer makes you wish there was some magical, or in this case technological, cure that could get rid of any ailments. Of course, like Elysium, even if it did exist, it would probably only be available to only the wealthiest of people. 

[DPKJ]

@Dharma Ramos  Sorry for the loss.

I never thought it like this, my Grand Father had brain-tumor, as per doctors it was never fully cured. Now, I wish to have same gadget. He was my hero.

[Kathy Hart]

Sorry for both of you on your losses. 

Mr. Fusion would be super cool, and could help with some eco-issues, like overflowing garbage dumps to some degree in addition to removing reliance on fossil fuels. 

[DPKJ]

Nice one, this way everyone will have happy life.

[Zak Laughton]

I absolutely need a portal gun.

[Dara]

I second this! All the times when I could see my train on the other platform but couldn't get to it on time... Though technically that would only work if everything was covered in toxic moon-dust, but hey, that's a technicality :p.

[DPKJ]

Train and platform, and your idea reminded me of platform 9 and 3/4 for Hogwarts Express. :-)

[John Funk]

I don't know if you would call it a gadget or not, but I need one of those personal space crafts on the Jetsons to skip over traffic on the daily commute!

[DPKJ]

Genuine problem!

[Celina Zamora]

Definitely a transporter like Star Trek. Hands down. 

[Earl McCutcheon]

I would have to Go with a TARDIS, its kinda an all in one option....... It would come with the ability to travel anywhere in the universe at any point in time and include a record of the universe past and present including the plans for making a sonic screwdriver, ability to generate new rooms with items that you may need for your adventures or food, as well as granting anyone that enters the ability to understand and communicate in all languages effortlessly,  and I mean come on its bigger on the inside :) 

[DPKJ]

For sure this thing is big inside. :-)

[Mike Rathwell]

I am slightly late to this party but a) I am interested to see so many similar "wishes" and b) had almost the same ones myself. For me

• Transit disks from "Ringworld" in a style where they are on street corners with a cardinal entry/exit such that a step takes you immediately to the next street corner in that cardinal direction. Removes the need for cars, public transit (actually would become the public transit) while making an entire city the "walkable neighborhood)
• Transit booths such as found in "Pillars of Eternity" where one steps into a phone booth, dials the number and you go to that place. Removes the need for all manner of transport, not to mention the time involved getting from place to place.
• Compressed space from the "Walter Stickle" trilogy where, like the Tardis, space inside a room is as big as needed/desired. Could have a highly dense population base where all live on an acreage inside their "door"

[DPKJ]

You need everything :-)

[Kat Warner]

It will be great when universal translators improve and are readily available.

There are so many people I'd love to have a short chat with where they can speak comfortably in the language of their choosing while allowing me to hear and process language with my mono-linguistic English brain.

One reason I started using "Kat" was that it was easy to pronounce for a wide range of language speakers and 'miaow' to confirm how it is said is nearly universally amusing. I did this when I started working a retail job in a multi-cultural area and it helped out people at ease.

[DPKJ]

SPACE SHIP TO WATER SHIP

[Fernando Bordallo]

Ah yeah!

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Ahh, the Babel fish, a great invention for what it is for, and proves every religion is wrong as a by-product.

[DPKJ]

Nice religion theory!

[Kat Warner]

@Nic Brough -Adaptavist- - feel free to PM me on ACL Slack, but how does the Babel fish "proves every religion is wrong as a by-product"?

[DPKJ]

Nic have solution, always :-)

[Jodi LeBlanc]

I am always saying, "If only I had a teleporter", so that's what I would go with, but hey maybe I should have been saying all along "If only I had a transporter". Maybe then I would have been gifted one by now ;)

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

If you won't let me have a TARDIS (ideally, one as advanced as the Master's, rather than a clapped out type 40), then the next thing on the list is a berth on the "Grey Area", and in third place, living with any GSV.

[DPKJ]

@Nic Brough -Adaptavist-  and what time frame you are looking to visit?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Most of them

[DPKJ]

:-)

[Tim Keyes]

I am really interested in transportation and logistics.  I would love to see additional methods of traversing around the globe cheaper, cleaner, and more efficiently.  A super fast flying transporter that could carry a ton of people and run off of electricity seems pretty exciting to me! 

[DPKJ]

@Tim Keyes  I think you will be the first to see your wish come true :-)

[Tim Keyes]

I am pretty practical person. Maybe I need to wish bigger! Teleporters would be nice too!

[DPKJ]

@Tim Keyes  Way to go!

[Dara]

Not sure if it counts as a gadget, 'cause it's technically a creature (though it's used like a gadget, much like the Hitchiker's Guide's Babel Fish), but I'd love to have a Convertor, from the Valerian and Laureline comics.

         

Besides it being absolutely adorable, obviously, it's also just so useful!. For those that don't know, the Converter can take any object and multiply it. It's canonically dubbed the 'Grumpy Converter' because it's not always very compliant. But it's shown in the comics that when it is treated well, and given lots of energy to recharge itself, it is actually quite helpful and loyal.

I do a lot of craft projects. Not having to make multiples of something, and basically having infinite supplies would be pretty awesome! Not to mention that money wouldn't really be an issue anymore XD.

[DPKJ]

@Dara  Everything counts, so worries. Nice choice!

[Boris MBOUMEHANG]

Very nice topic @DPKJ ! 
I definetely need a time traveling machine, like in "Timeless" (netflix series).

[DPKJ]

@Boris MBOUMEHANGhaven't seen the series but I got the idea of time-machine. :-)

[Kristján Geir Mathiesen]

The ultimate "42" gadget. It basically does anything and everything you need or want to do or have done...  ;) 

[Scott Theus]

...Until it gets blown up to make room for an intergalactic highway. (And don't for get your towel.)

[DPKJ]

:-) nice idea!

[Sri Kumar]

I want something like this :D 

-Sri

[DPKJ]

So much stuff is going on here!!!

[Fernando Bordallo]

Count me as interested too :)

[DPKJ]

Sri and Fernando, now let's make a Kickstarter campaign for this.

[Scott Theus]

I'm going to stick with the Star Trek theme and say I want my very own personal holodeck. I could have an exercises program like Worf's in "Where Silence has Lease," have shoot-out in the Old West like "A Fistfull of Datas," sail a 18th Century Brig like in "Generations," and make my own programs to kayak wherever there is white water.

With all the safety protocols engaged, of course. 

[DPKJ]

:-) Nice.

[Shawn Kessler]

Didn't the holodeck malfunction a few times in Generations--trapping users inside in deadly scenarios? Not sure the safety protocols were all that safe... ;)

[Poorvi Jhawar]

I want a dream-sharing machine, Portable Automated Somnacin IntraVenous Device (PASIV) from Inception. 😊

I think it would be super cool to be able to experience someone else’s dream - very fascinating. 

[DPKJ]

@Poorvi Jhawar  All for the dreams, you reminded me of John Lennon.

A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.

- John Lennon

[Poorvi Jhawar]

@DPKJ 

Hahaha, I LOVE HIM! Now that you say it out loud - he could be a contributing factor :D

[Fernando Bordallo]

I've read through the whole thread expecting for my wish gadgets to have been named and to my surprise, not there yet!!!! 😮

Was I the only one dreaming of someday moving around the city like Marty McFly?

[DPKJ]

Hover board :-)

You will be early everywhere!

[Scott Theus]

ooof...I'd break my neck for sure. 

[Carla_Cox]

I would have so many accidents with such skate board... eventually I would die. I did dream about it as a kid, but my favorite B2F invention was the DeLorean! :D 

[Carla_Cox]

I always had this idea of a fictional device that could scan my printed books to help me search for terms or phrases, the same way you actually do it on digital copies. It would save so much of my time! Not sure how that could work though, somehow it would have to be able to scan the entire book to search for its content... maybe with a super sensitive laser reader... IDK :P 

[DPKJ]

Nice one @Carla_Cox  and I think that is pretty much a possibility.

[Tim Keyes]

I agree with @DPKJ that we will see this one day!

[Zak Laughton]

Found a device, and it's not fictional! Couldn't find a price, but it can't be cheap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03ccxwNssmo

[Carla_Cox]

Ooooh 😍, but it doesn't look like it's on sale yet. It's a prototype, and apparently the same one since 2012?? I should research it. Thank you for bringing this up to my attention! There's a super awesome invention I had followed for about a decade. It became a reality last year, a portable camera printer with the spacial movement technology of a computer mouse, with a special ink that allows to print in ANY surface and can I can keep talking about it. It's called PrintBrush by PrintDreams

[Zak Laughton]

WHOA. Mind blown. This PrintBrush is incredible!

[Samie Kaufman - Your Gal at Gliffy]

I think it'd be wonderful to have a bag with an infinite amount of space inside (but it never gets heavier), like Mary Poppins' bag or Hermione's charmed bag in the sixth Harry Potter book.

I use public transportation, so to be able to go to from the gym to work to school or some other exhausting combination without having to schlep multiple bags around would be wonderful. I'd have tons of snacks (in bulk, minimizing packaging!), a whole place setting and silverware, multiple outfit changes, a yoga mat, all my study materials... I'd be ready for anything my day throws at me!

Yes, I could just teleport to and from wherever instead...but this seems more realistic. ;) 

[DPKJ]

Oh! your are the first to take a Harry Potter route :-)

[Davin Studer]

I think I'd have to say I would like one of these ... with a genie inside of course.

[DPKJ]

@Davin Studer  if we may know what are three wishes?

[Davin Studer]

Hmmm. Probably something like this.

1. I would wish to be a billionaire. I know it sounds trite and greedy, but I would love to be able to have the funds to actually help others in a meaningful way. It would be nice to also not have to stress about money and be able to spend more time with my family.
2. The self discipline to not become greedy with the billions that I have.
3. I would of course wish to set the genie free. : )

[Mike Rathwell]

One could simplify the billionaire bit by taking the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy approach where one has the "Galacticard that keeps on working even though you never send in the payments".

Then one can spend money without having to WORRY about money. 

[Davin Studer]

Maybe, but then I would not ACTUALLY be paying for anything. I'd be racking up debt and depriving someone of the payment they deserve. My hunch is, my second wish would then prevent me from actually using the card. Which would effectively negate both wishes and I all would have done is set the genie free ... which is still good, but less so. : )

[DPKJ]

Great going!

When you let Genie free don't forget to give him address of Mike :-)

[Jason H]

A speeder-bike (hover-bike) as seen in Star Wars:

But it looks like the Dubai Police might beat me to it:

[DPKJ]

Ha ha ha! Dubai is next level.

[Shawn Kessler]

I will take one of these:

With the upgrade :)

[DPKJ]

I wish you only get the first one :-)

[Emily Koch]

Agreed, as much as I'd like to shorten dividing up work, have you seen what that gauntlet can do to people?

[Adrian Stephen]

I think the universal remote control from the movie "Switch/Click" was pretty cool, without its side effects! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZNC5emNyEQ

[DPKJ]

Adam Sandler in the house, 'Bath, Bed and Beyond.........'