6 Gadgets From Spy Movies That Became Reality

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From James Bond to Ethan Hunt, there are plenty of big-screen spies who have used a variety of high-tech gadgets to achieve their goals. Sometimes these gadgets are too improbable to be a reality, like an invisible car or a cigarette gun—not that there aren’t some who try. But sometimes reality catches up with fiction, and these improbable ideas of ingenuity become mere consumer products or experimental military projects.

It’s not uncommon for movie magic to jump off the big screen and into the lap of consumers. Real-world technology has caught up with even the old-school technology of “Star Wars.” At least some of the gadgets spies use are a little more believable. No, nobody wears a laser in their watch, as cool as that would be, but today’s watches can do a lot more than just tell the time. Several everyday items we take for granted can be seen in older movies, helping the hero gather intelligence or escape from a sticky situation. Chances are you already own some of these gadgets—the ones available to the general public.

Jetpacks were a secret means of transportation

A jetpack may not seem like the kind of gadget a spy would use. Spies are supposed to be quiet, stealthy, and unnoticeable, and jetpacks are the opposite of that. Not only are they loud, but the sight of a man zipping through the air is anything but discreet. They also don’t fit in your back pocket. Secret agents need items that can be easily accessed, but that didn’t stop James Bond from using one in 1965’s Thunderball , and kids around the world have been craving one ever since.

In 2017, a man named Richard Browning — founder of Gravity Industries — built his own jetpack and broke the speed record (32 miles per hour) with it. Although his design is more based on the “Iron Man” suit, with boosters attached to the hands to help the pilot balance, that’s not the only jetpack in production.

In fact, Popular Science has tracked the development of jetpacks over the years, with many designs being created. The U.S. military funded a rocket belt project in the 1960s that brought people even closer to owning real jetpacks. The problem was that a jetpack couldn’t sustain flight for more than 20 seconds or fly faster than 15 miles per hour. The idea of jetpacks never faded, and now there are potential military applications for them. Jetpacks are now gaining popularity enough that the Dubai Sports Council, in conjunction with Gravity Industries, organized the world’s first jetpack races.

Smartphones are a spy’s best friend

Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond in 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies used a fingerprint scanner phone that could remotely control his BMW 750. It was certainly a phone ahead of its time, but feature-packed cell phones are a dime a dozen these days, and James Bond’s old gadget wouldn’t impress viewers today. Of course, no one’s smartphone can stun anyone, which is another feature of Bond’s phone. But it wasn’t the first time viewers had seen the silver screen spy using such an advanced phone.

Smartphones, the Swiss army knife of technology, are a fixture in every modern spy movie. They are used for GPS tracking, monitoring cameras, sending and receiving encrypted messages, and securing things with a fingerprint scan. Unlike James Bond’s phone, which scanned fingerprints to break into secure locations, a real smartphone’s fingerprint scanner usually acts as a security measure to keep intruders away from sensitive materials. It’s safe to say that the real thing has surpassed Hollywood’s imagination.

Smartwatches are now common

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Communication devices are essential in the world of intelligence gathering, and Hollywood has always been creative in the ways that covert agents communicate with their superiors. The most common use was the watch, because it used to be inconspicuous. Before cell phones, almost everyone wore some kind of watch—analog or digital. Before Apple debuted the Apple Watch, the “Spy Kids” had watches that could connect to satellites, the Internet, and let them watch TV, which is much closer to reality than other versions of smartwatches in cinema. Most versions of the “smart watch” only allowed the characters to send and receive messages, like a walkie-talkie.

Today, these tiny wearables can do so much more than even the most creative Hollywood writers could have imagined. They track user steps, act as heart rate monitors, help pay for goods, help with navigation, and much more that we might take for granted. And a significant portion of the world is familiar with smartwatches. According to Demand Sage, as of 2024, more than 220 million consumers will own and use smartwatches. They are no longer a fantasy.

Tracking devices have become a common consumer item

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It wasn’t uncommon for an undercover agent to place a tracking device on a criminal’s vehicle or even on their person. These tracking devices came in many forms, but they were always as small as a button. What seemed too advanced for anyone but government agents to use is now commonplace. Of course, most people use them to prevent losing a wallet, keys, or other benign item. What are these consumer-grade tracking devices? Apple’s AirTags and other similar gadgets like the Tile.

These little gadgets send a Bluetooth signal to the phone, showing the user where the device is on a map. Unfortunately, sometimes that’s too much power for a human — sometimes it’s a bad guy stalking our hero. While Apple and other developers have intended to use trackers on household items, some misguided people have taken advantage of the devices. In 2022, a class action lawsuit was filed against Apple after bad actors used AirTags to stalk and harass two women.

This wasn’t the only time AirTags were used in a malicious manner. Apple eventually implemented safeguards and cooperated with law enforcement on all AirTags incidents. Stay safe and use AirTags and similar devices responsibly.

Smart glasses have almost caught up with Hollywood

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Watching Ethan Hunt or James Bond run around in glasses that display important information is something everyone would love to have. It also looks really cool: from X-ray glasses to facial recognition, various spies in cinema have used smart glasses for a variety of purposes. Imagine wearing glasses that automatically display traffic conditions, eliminating the need to search for your phone. Of course, smart glasses are not what Hollywood imagines them to be.

They can’t display contextual data, such as the name of the building you’re looking at, and very few real-world designs have a wire frame. Smart glasses are typically bulky to accommodate the cameras and other technology built into them. The smart glasses market started slowly because many consumers aren’t fans of the look of the products. The closest a company has come to regular glasses with its smart glasses design was Ray-Ban with its Ray-Ban Stories. But even they aren’t true smart glasses that use augmented reality. They can take photos, record videos, and make and receive phone calls via Bluetooth.

While this is useful, it is somewhat limited compared to what people expect from smart glasses. Currently, to stay on the fringes of reality, movies depict advanced contact lenses that can do everything once imagined in smart glasses. Perhaps reality will catch up with this technology in the future.

Honorable Mention to sQub, the First Underwater Car – in a Sense

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In the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me, Roger Moore, as James Bond, drove a Lotus Esprit Turbo—now owned by Elon Musk—that could double as a submarine. While it’s not exactly a gadget John Q might have every day, a fan of the idea turned it into a real thing. Thanks to the creativity of its CEO and a die-hard James Bond fan, Rinspeed unveiled the world’s first submarine in 2008, in honor of the 1977 film. Aptly named sQuba—the “Q” is a reference to Bond’s quartermaster—the experimental convertible can seamlessly transition from cruising along the road at 77 mpg to diving below the waterline, continuing to dive to a depth of 30 feet at 1.8 mph.

Did we say convertible? Yes, that’s a caveat. For safety reasons, CEO Frank Rinderknecht designed the car as a convertible, to allow passengers to escape from the vehicle immediately in the event of a crash. It’s not exactly the same car as the Lotus Esprit Turbo that Roger Moore threw into a dock in 1977. Of course, there are no torpedoes or other weapons on board either. However, it does have an integrated oxygen tank, so that the driver and passenger can remain in the car while it’s underwater. There’s no way a real James Bond could use this car without showing up at a diplomatic gala in a dry tuxedo.