I know what you're thinking. Since I have the header image here, I obviously want Samus Aran to be mine in real life. That's not entirely true, and before you say another word, I don't even want her entire armor. I know that was your second guess. =P Even going by individual parts, I'm not interested but in one thing. I don't want the Arm Cannon, I don't want the Hi-Jump Boots, and I don't even want the Morph Ball. I want something that's pretty mundane, at least compared to the other parts that people want.

I want her Scan Visor.

What is it?



The Scan Visor appears in the Metroid Prime games as well as the upcoming Metroid: Other M. One of the default starting visors in the games, it likely didn't see much use with many players because you cannot attack while it is active, yet its use is required for progress through the games (and for 100% completion). The Scan Visor has two primary functions in the games: It interacts with the environment to activate switches or open some doors, and it also scans items, enemies, and computers/tablets/statues/other things found around the world(s) for background information. That second reason is precisely why I want it.

A lot of people played Metroid Prime like your everyday standard shooter with exploration elements--blow lots of stuff up and go exploring for more things to kill. I mean, even if you were one of the people who labeled it a First Person Adventure game, it was very FPSy but still retained the Metroid sense of exploration we all came to know and love. You still shot at and killed a lot of creatures, both native and alien to whatever planet you were on. I was no different in that mindset, but to me, the Metroid Prime games were actually something along of the lines of an educational game. Oh, I'll explain.

I liked the Scan Visor for its encyclopedic function. "Hey, what's that thing?" A quick scan later and not only do I have the name of what I'm looking at (if it's a creature), but some insight into its habits and I even have pictures of it to boot. It's unnecessary in the scope of the game, actually, and that's another reason why I love it so much. You don't need to scan everything in the game to beat it, but the fact that there's actually information on most of the things you find in the game is a nice layer of polish on an already great series. It's kinda nice to know there's more to the things you're killing than just a name, even if it is a one-sentence blurb about its behavior or whatever. And that says nothing of the objects you can scan for information like the tablets around Tallon IV that detail the Chozo's history there and their dealings with what crashed into the planet, or the computers in the Space Pirate labs that explain why they're giving up on copying the Morph Ball technology. Most FPS games don't go into that level of detail on the background, instead focusing on the characters and their motives.

What would you use it for?



That's rather obvious. Let's assume here that if I were to pull it from the game, it'd retain its near-omniscient knowledge on the things I command it to scan. The first thing I'd do is mount it onto a pair of glasses or otherwise incorporate its technology into them--after all, sticking the visor as-is to my face would be silly, and at least glasses would be a natural way to wear the thing without it being too obtrusive. Now with that out of the way, let's take you through a typical day wearing the glasses.

You go to a mall, because that's what people like you do. You're shopping, of course, and you find a book (since this is the picture I poorly edited, so feel free to laugh). At your current store, it's $24.99, but you're frugal so you wonder if this is a good price or not. In the past, you'd have to go back home and look up the prices yourself, but with your trusty Scan Visor on, not only does it tell you what it is you're looking at, but it gives you other information such as price, reviews, or a summary (not pictured).


Oh God it's so bad.

Take things further. Let's go get some lunch. Since you're trying to watch your weight, you train your Scan Visor on your food, and are able to download its Nutritional Facts as well as ingredient list. You have 23.9 ounces of soda in your cup there, and your sandwich is a whopping 400g. While you eat, you open up the newspaper and notice that Joe Celebrity has died, aww. Your Scan Visor reads the name and starts pulling up information on the guy, including a bio, listing of previous works, and other facts. You leave and go to the museum and start looking at the various pieces of art. You're able to easily determine the name of a painting, its artist, year it was completed, as well as the materials used in its construction. While you're checking out the artwork, you meet a pretty specimen of the opposite gender and you strike up a conversation. Your Scan Visor reads information on her and notifies you that she is a known liar and thief wanted by the police, so you leave without delay. You return home and plop down on the couch to watch TV. Your Scan Visor transmits information telling you what's on every channel and gives summaries of the programming.

The simple use is this: Information at your fingertips at any time, be it for shopping, finding out more information about works of art, or determining if your new friend is trustworthy or not. And you know, it'd actually be pretty handy to unlock doors if you drop your keys or something. Sure, it's not in the area of information, but imagine being able to use your Scan Visor as a type of identification ala Minority Report's system of reading your eyes. Of course there'd be countermeasures to ensure that you wouldn't be able to just steal someone else's pair and suddenly waltz right into their home or whatever.

The neat thing about this is, these ideas are already coming into play, albeit slowly. There are apps for this, after all. For instance, I've seen more than a couple of iPhone apps that will 'scan' (take a picture of) a barcode/UPC on a product and compare prices between stores, provided you have a good enough signal and a clear enough shot of the barcode. Of course, a Scan Visor would work infinitely better because, well, it seems to work anywhere, even places with terrible phone reception and no WiFi. =P That and you'd be able to scan something from roughly any angle and determine everything about it.

Another idea of use would be the typical bomb-defusing scenario. You're on the Bomb Squad and there isn't enough time to remotely detonate the device, so you're forced to cut the wires. Since the timer is steadily counting down and cutting the wrong one equals it going off anyway, you're in a bit of a pinch. The thing was homemade too, so you try to look for a clue but the villain who planted it knew you'd try this and made it so you couldn't remove the casing near the detonator without also setting off the bomb. A Scan Visor would be able to look at how it's constructed, its internal circuitry, and if not able to disarm it remotely, would be able to at least determine what wire needs to be cut to save the day. Imagine it being used by the police. It wouldn't be of much use to aid in catching a fleeing suspect, but what about being able to determine what weapons someone is concealing? Or outstanding warrants as my example above.

And then imagine using a Scan Visor in a hospital. I'm sure you've watched all manner of medical drama on TV; I know I have. A person can be at the hospital for any number of reasons, and the doctor examines the person and identifies the cause of whatever's ailing them...usually. What if you armed the staff with Scan Visors? Well, then medical drama would go off the air for good. Instead of someone coming in with a broken arm and by chance they've infected an entire wing with some deadly disease, someone can plainly see what inflictions they have in detail. I'm probably putting a bit too much power in the hands of the visor, I know, but remember that I said the real-world version would retain its near-omniscient powers. I'm sure being able to tell what diseases someone has would be a little intrusive for the standard person, but such a thing would take much of the guesswork out of the whole procedure and it very well could save many lives that could be lost due to improper treatment or treating the wrong thing. Hell, it might even be able to take some of the hassle out of hospital visits. You know how you have to fill out that personal information sheet? A scan would possibly render that unnecessary.

So anyway, I thought the Scan Visor would be a great thing to take out of a game because it would appeal greatly to my interest in learning. Why should I go home to look up junk on Wikipedia when I have an all-knowing pair of glasses on my face? It'll certainly make going out and about a bit more interesting since there's bound to be something new to learn, be it the historic value of a building in the town square, to how bad that burger you're about to eat is for you. And of course when it's used for other things than just my own personal use, it can be a pretty effective tool for just about anything.


When more information is necessary, turn on your trusty Scan Visor!