In the past 50 years there have been 23 James Bond movies, all off which have featured lethal, futuristic, innovative and sometimes wacky gadgets. With the latest edition, Spectre, soon to be released we have decided to have a look at some of the tech which has transcended the silver screen and became residents of the real world. Here are our top 5 pieces of Bond tech that really exist.
Gyroplane, You Only Live Twice (1967)
The Wallis WA-116 Series 1 gyroplane (AKA Little Nellie). If you have seen movie you would know that this piece of kit has rockets, flamethrowers, guns, missiles , the works.
Little Nellie was actually flown in the film by its designer, Ken Wallis, the president of the British Rotocraft Association. Though only released in limited quantities to the public, this little flying machine was most definitely real.
Ring camera, A View to a Kill (1985)
A device from the Roger Moore era, the same ring allowed Bond to covertly investigate Max Zorin’s home during a garden party, the ring camera is tiny even by today’s standards.
However nowadays miniaturized camera are everywhere like in the “Camer-ing”, a discreet digital camera built into a ring. Designed by Hveonsik Studio & Jean Yengwon. All we await is for this secret agent tech to reach production.
Sony Ericsson K800, Casino Royale (2006)
Crazy to think how far phones have come over the last decade, as in 2006 Daniel Craig was show cases the latest and greatest in phone technology the Sony Ericsson K800i cyber-shot. Now this was an amazing piece of equipment, it has GPS and a fast 3.2 mega pixel camera, a new revelation at this time.
In Casino Royale, it was one of the few times Bond relied on a gadget anyone could get their hands on. It was such hit a limited edition was released to cash in on its supporting role in the movie.
As usual the movie version had some features such as an injectable sensor that could monitor Bonds vital signs (when he poisoned in the casino). This might sound odd but there has been talk of particular manufactures (Apple) hoping to make this feature a reality.
Remote-Controlled Doors, Thunderball (1965)
Ok, nothing new to us now but at the time this was astonishing stuff. The tech at this time was only roughly ten years old, so you can imagine the audience reaction when Emilio Largo pushes a button on a pocket size device and the doors to the SPECTRE briefing room open.
As I said this is not new to us now as it can be seen on most American garages, and private home gateways. Sure now there’s even apps that will do the exact same job but none of this is the same as the opening up of the gateway to the world’s best spies world.
Polarizing Sunglasses, A View to a Kill (1985)
Roger Moore really did get some awesome gadgets and the Polarizing sunglasses are no different. In “ A View to a Kill” these special sunglasses allowed Bond to see through tinted windows. Something that is very handy for Bond to have in his repertoire.
However Oakley , the sunglasses manufacturer’s not only created a pair of glasses with polarized lenses but it also included integrated headphones, a 128MB music player and Bluetooth! They don’t look half bad either, just imagine Mr. Bond in the Aston Martin wearing a set of these.
