IT’S BEEN 22 YEARS since Tom Cruise infiltrated a CIA vault suspended from a wire in the first Mission: Impossible flick. This sum mer, Cruise reprises his role as secret agent Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible–Fallout, the sixth installment in the $2.8 billion–grossing series. Aside from its earworm theme song and stomach-clenching (and reportedly bone-crushing) stunts, the franchise is perhaps best known for its futuristic gadgets, often harbingers of tech to come. Our mission: consulting computer scientists, planetary physicists, engineers, and biohackers to find out what’s actually achievable and what’s still, you know, impossible.
Gecko Gloves Mission: Impossible–Ghost Protocol
Hunt scales the exterior of the world’s tallest building using a pair of electronically powered gloves. ANALYSIS In 2014, Stanford University researchers invented paddles that harness the science behind geckos’ sticky feet. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is developing “gecko grippers” capable of grabbing space debris. STATUS Mission accomplished
Smart Contacts
Ghost Protocol
Agent Hanaway pops in a contact lens with facial-recognition abilities. ANALYSIS Augmented reality-enabled smart contact lenses that superimpose information onto the user’s view could be available in three to five years, predicts Aleksandr Shtukater, president of lens startup RaayonNova. Google, Samsung, and Sony all have smart contact lens patents. STATUS Possible
Voice-Altering Strip
Mission: Impossible III
This story is from the July 2018 edition of WIRED.
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This story is from the July 2018 edition of WIRED.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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