As we see everyday electronic gadgets becoming smaller and hackable, GPS and RFID tracking mechanism are embedded in many objects and intelligence is one Google click away, we are seeing a major trend here and will last many more years. Thanks to Q and M, not only Bond had access to a constant supply of gadgets that helped him to get his mission completed and it actually inspired many of today’s latest innovation. Agent 007 is always guaranteed to have the most outrageous and innovative gadgets ever to grace the silver screen. It takes a lot to save the world.
Without them, James would never have gotten close to beating Mr. Goldfinger or Dr. No. Not all his gadget made it as a home run. For every garrote watch, exploding toothpaste, and GPS phone. Other than the exploding toothpaste, all these are becoming real and affordable today. Here are some examples:
Fake Fingerprints - In what has become known as the "Gummi Bear Attack", Japanese cryptographer Tsutomu Matsumoto demonstrated that your fingerprints could be copied and used to create fake ones pretty easily, as suggested in Diamonds Are Forever. Using gelatine as found in chewy sweets like gummi bears, he showed that a latent print could be lifted from a glass and used to fool 80% of fingerprint scanners tested.
Digital Voice Changer - Bond uses a gadget with a cassette tape inside to change his voice, sounding on the phone to the movie's villain like one of his fellow bad guys. It's a simple trick you can now so with free software. Some allow you to tune it to simulate someone’s voice.
Stylish Amour - A special range of lightweight bullet-proof clothing that can not only protect you from a would-be assassin but also make you look good. It is the creation of Miguel Caballero, a Colombian designer, who first developed his bespoke range of clothing 16 years ago back home. That's probably why the Indian range is marketed under the name, Discreet Inners The Black Collection - leather jackets, slim-line Italian business suits and polo shirts. Although Mr Caballero will not disclose what his body armor is made of, he says they have been tested against a range of ballistic weapons, from revolvers to Uzi submachine guns.
iPhone-controlled Automobile - In 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies, Bond becomes his own backseat driver, steering his car using a touchpad on a phone showing the view out of the front window on its display. Mobile phones with accelerometers can now be used to control toy cars using free software dubbed ShakerRacer. Military robots controlled using the Nintendo Wii remote were demonstrated by US researchers. They say it makes controlling a robot used to investigate unexploded bombs or mines easier, and plan to use Apple's iPhone to display video from Wii-controlled robots. Imagine what you can with Android.
James Bond is cool. Like all men, I love his gadgets, cars and his idea of a vacation. Ideologically speaking, none of us should aspire to the Bond’s ideas. They are sexist, heterosexist, xenophobic, everything that is not politically correct. At least according to Prof James Chapman (Leicester University). No need to take it too seriously, it is not about him; it’s all about the gadgets.
