You don’t need to be born with a genetic mutation or be exposed to solar radiation in order to become a superhero. All you need is the cash to buy some pretty exclusive technology. Here are 10 devices that will have you climbing walls like Spiderman or painlessly taking a bullet like Batman.
The XOS 2 is your real-life Iron Man suit
Image: Screenshot
This military exoskeleton is designed to make a soldier’s workload a little lighter. It works with the wearer to make lifting heavy objects or carrying a heavy pack effortless.It’s expected to be deployed to battlefields within 5 years.
Climb walls like Spiderman
Image: Comic Wallpapers
Engineers at Cornell University have createda “palm-sized device that uses the adhesive power of water to create a reversible adhesive bond capable of sticking to glass, wood and even brick.” Funded by the military, they hope to adapt it to allow a user to climb up walls.Yes, that’s right — Spiderman gloves.
Clothes that make you invisible
Image: Motherboard.TV
True invisibility isn’t impossible at all.Zang Xiang of UC Berkeley has used “metamaterials” — artificially engineered structures that have properties not seen in nature, such as negative refractive index — to affect light by sending it around the material. The effect is literally that of an invisibility cloak.
Sling fire like the Human Torch
Image: Dylan Love
Did you know the military has a heat-ray gun?It’s called the Active Denial System, and when it’s activated, it causes a target to feel a burning sensation. Military officials say it’s actually harmless, but it’s still an effective way to get enemy units to surrender.
See through walls like Superman
Image: Screenshot
Here’s another trick in the military’s back pocket — a special penetrating radar array that can literally see through walls. It can identify if any people are on the other side so soldier’s know what to expect before entering a building.
Banshee’s scream
Banshee might not be the coolest superhero, but the military uses a machine that duplicates his ability. Mounted on ground vehicles and ships, the Long Range Acoustic Device delivers a painful blast of sound to anyone in its path.
Hear like Superman
Image: Dylan Love
It’s one of Superman’s lesser-known powers, but he can hear everything. While this spy microphone might not be as powerful as that, it’ll definitely pick up things you weren’t hearing before.
Fly like Superman
A much more recognizable superpower! The Rocket Belt, produced by TAM, is literally a personal jetpack.
Here’s something straight from Batman’s utility belt
Atlas Devices manufactures “rapid access solutions,” or grappling guns that pull you up once they latch on to something.
Batman’s technology has inspired an entire government program
Image: Wikipedia
BATMAN is not a specific technology, but rather the name of an initiative that stands for “Battlefield Air Targeting Man-Aided kNowledge.” Soldiers have to lug around lots of heavy equipment on the battlefield and it aims to reduce that load by sticking to its motto of “lighter, smarter, deadlier.”
