From saving contact lenses to bulletproof underwear – you could use these Batman gadgets one day

WHEN Batman first appeared on the big screen in 1966, he was hardly the gimmicky hero he knows today.

But in the years since, he’s acquired a vast arsenal of tech — and there’s plenty you could use yourself.

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In the TV show and later in the first Batman movie, the hero’s utility belt was hugely disappointing by today’s standards.

Carry mundane content like Bat repellentEarly Batman was more of a gimmick than the hardened, serious hero we know today.

The modernized Batman is a hulking presence with enough technology to find and trap the Joker before his butler Alfred Pennyworth wears his slippers.

Tests made on Christian Baleand Robert Pattinson’s Batman found that the cost of being the vigilante hero teeters on the edge of a billion dollars.

Spending that much on weaponry and military-grade defense equipment could be flagged by the FBI’s Forensic Accounting Division, blowing your secret identity.

But, if you could find a way to keep your vigilante plans a secret, perhaps with the help of a friendly police commissioner, you might find a way to hone yourself, just like the Caped Crusader.

Here’s what’s available to you now, or will be in the near future for heroes starting today.

Fans of Robert Pattinson’s Batman will certainly remember his first collaboration with Zoe Kravitz’s Catwoman.

Batman equips Catwoman with a set of contact lenses that register objects in her focus and periphery.

But there are all sorts of apps for recording and augmented reality contact lenses outside of spying on the criminal underworld in the Iceberg Lounge.

You can capture memories at a glance, relive moments as you first saw them while watching recordings, and even receive real-time instructions as you hunt down bad guys (or just wander through a new town).

Two companies, Mojo Vision and Innovega, are set to test camera-loaded lenses on people.

“Smart contact lenses are one thing. There’s no product you can go out and buy right now, but I can tell you there will be,” said Mike Wiemer, chief technology officer from Mojo Vision. Business Intern.

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The bat

Being Batman means heights won’t be an issue.

The most detailed on-screen description of the Bat-cape comes from Christopher Nolan’s trilogy.

In Nolan’s world, the Bat-cape is made of flexible fabric, but wired with an electrical charge so it can stiffen up to slide.

MadScience reported that this type of fabric may not yet be feasible, but the capabilities of wingsuits are well known and demonstrated by adrenaline seekers.

In the latest Batman movie, Robert Pattinson swaps cape-based flight for a full wingsuit as he traverses the Gotham night.

A winged costume can be yours for just $1,200 – ask your butler if he can dye it black.

The grappling gun

You’ll need to get up high enough to make your investment in the wing suit worth it – and the ease of a lift just doesn’t sit well with Batman.

The only gun Batman uses – the grappling hook – is one of his favorite gadgets.

Whether escaping Jack Nicholson’s Joker in Batman or stringing Heath Ledger’s Joker in the climax of The Dark Knight, the grappling hook is a combination of speed, power and subtlety.

Built IRL, a YouTube channel dedicated to “creating and doing in real life what you’ve only ever seen in fiction”, has built a working grapple with enough power to lift a person into the air.

Built IRL’s grappling hook also works for descents – in case your wingsuit is in the dry cleaners.

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bulletproof underwear

Like most comic book heroes, Batman wears his tights outside of his costume.

For the reasonable price of $575, a pair of bulletproof underwear can be yours.

Done by Active solutions against violencethe pair are immune “against handgun threats up to .44 magnum and virtually all shotgun threats”.

And yes, Master Wayne, they come in black.

put it all together

Once you’ve dressed up in your open-source Batsuit, you’re ready to hit the streets.

But you won’t be the first hero on the block.

Julian Checkley, a Batman cosplayer, set the Guinness World Record for most functional gadgets attached to a Batman costume with 23.

If that’s too much – in cost or physical exertion – you can always just watch the movie or read the comics and revel in the fandom.

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