Thanks to all the new tech we’ve seen come pouring out of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show these past couple of days, you can now use your smartphone to control your home appliances, lights, toothbrush and personal comfort. But here’s the big question: can you use it as a weapon? Or a medical kit? Say, while boldly going where no man has gone before? Scanadu’s new add-ons say yes. Yes, you can—Star Trek style.
The California based company has debuted hardware at the 2014 CES in Los Vegas that, when hooked up to your phone, turns that all-important device into an electric stun gun, a thermal vision camera, or even a Star Trek tricorder (a medical scanner). Take a look at the Yellow Jacket, the case that turns your phone into a stun gun:
Yellow Jacket phone case set to hit shelves in February
Since Scanadu’s first concept of the product back in 2012, the 2014 design is much more streamlined. Unlike the original design, the upgrade can be detached from the phone so it can be used safely around small children or…you know, people you might not want to taser with 650,000 thousand volts of electric shock. The Yellow Jacket is built for the iPhone 5, and should be released sometime next month for the unexpectedly and wonderfully low price of $149.
So you’ve set your phone to stun and are ready for adventure and danger—now you just have to make sure you’re prepared for an emergency medical situation. Luckily, thanks once again to Scanadu, tricorders have become an actual thing.
For those unfamiliar with that term, a tricorder is a previously fictional handheld device from Star Trek that can be used for a variety of purposes, such as medical scanning or data analysis and recording. Scanadu’s version is called the Scout:
Calculate your vitals with the Scout
At the moment, the Scout is just a prototype, but it’s set to do most of the things a tricorder would do. It comes with several sensors that can measure your vital signs, and after holding it to your temple for ten seconds, those sensors measure your health statistics and send that data off to your smartphone.
The Scout prototype still needs FDA approval and is supposed to be field-tested this March, so there’s no way to know when it’s hit the shelves. So until then, try to avoid getting into fights with your new stun gun. Or, you know, at least visit the doctor after you get into fights with your new stun gun.
And remember:
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