TECH-COM
Even though we don’t have real hover boards or jet packs, the technology of the present world is marvelous. Right now, you’re probably reading this on a device that can access most of humanity’s collective knowledge, contact someone from almost anywhere in the world and watch a trailer endlessly. While these instances might just seem quite similar to our daily routine, ideas like those used to be trapped inside comic books and other fictional sources.
For example, the concept of Virtual Reality was described well through the last Spielberg movie Ready Player One showing us how much technology can evolve. Those fascinating worlds of tomorrow shown have set a template for the real world’s future. While some worlds have remained purely fictional, other comics have predicted real-world technologies with some good amount of accuracy.
Now, we will show you some medical gadgets or devices that were predicted by comic books. We will deal with devices that are having a major impact on modern society as well as widely available to its consumers.
1)Smartwatches by Fitbit and Samsung
In 1931, an iconic detective named Dick Tracy gave way for heroes who didn’t wear masks. He didn’t have a cape as well. He was famous for his gadget, Two-Way Wrist Radio. The watch, which added a video screen helped in creating an image on how smartwatches would eventually function. Thanks to his Wrist Radio, smartwatches became a tech touchstone that seemed inevitable.
While there were attempts to make a smartwatch in the early 90s, none of them went well until Healthy Metrics Research, Inc. aka Fitbit in 2007 released a demo of a wristwatch that counted the number of steps walked by a person for a fixed time interval. This then gave rise to competition from tech giants like Apple and Samsung to create a device that could revolutionize how people saw digital watches thus enabling features like Heart rate detector, amount of calories burned a day and organize daily work. Samsung even used Dick Tracy’s watch in an advertisement for its Galaxy Gear in 2013.
2) Artificial Limbs
After characters like Cyborg in DC Universe and Forge in Marvel lost their limbs, they were able to use incredibly advanced prosthetics in their respective worlds. Since these characters are fictional, their prosthetic limbs might give them super-powers.
Modern Prosthetics have come a long way from their ancient roots. Earlier limbs were made out of wood or iron but now they are made out of carbon fiber. Through myoelectric stimulation, many artificial limbs can convert electrical signals from muscles into movements. For example, the new Bebionic3 Myoelectric Hand, which is made out of aluminum and alloy knuckles, move like real human limb by responding to muscle twitches. It is so sensitive, which means that the person can peel vegetables, type on a keyboard and even dress themselves as well.
3) Expensive Bionic Lenses
From Stan Lee’s Avenger, Hawkeye, these contact lenses were far to imagine it happening in the real world. Well, looks like a company named Ocumetics brought it into the market. These lenses are made in order to re correct any power of a human eye using some computing techniques that are very much close to our domain. Well, that sounds complicated.
Due to its high price, tech giants such as Google have already started working on making it even better by adding features like overlaying images, notifications onto the real world like low blood glucose alert ( if they are diabetic ), etc.
4) 3 D Printers
Over the years, Superman has shown us some crazy sci-fi objects that have ended up in dust after one or more uses. One of those devices that appeared in his comic#51 where he used a “processing machine” to create large busts from pictures of his scientist friends.Well, now the 3 D Printer has gone over rapid changes over the past few decades. For example, the MakerBot Replicator has helped in creating the model of any human by using full body 3 D scans. Superman’s device doesn’t look all that different from a 3 D printer.
Now more comic book technologies towards the medical field are possible in the near future due to the advancement in engineering and science. Many call comic books as a piece of junk. Well according to a wise man “To invent, one needs a good imagination and a pile of junk.”
