Movie Gadget Friday: Brazil
By Ariel Waldman 
posted February 20th 2009 11:57PM
posted February 20th 2009 11:57PM
Ariel Waldman contributes Movie Gadget Friday, where she highlights the lovable and lame gadgets from the world of cinema.
We last left off Movie Gadget Friday on board the Icarus II in the near-futuristic film of Sunshine. This week we transition from space travel to a totalitarian, 20th century, terrorist-ridden society in Terry Gilliam's Brazil. A hybrid between the sexy saxophone solos and gender role reversals of the 1980's with the "Keep Calm and Carry On" culture of the 1940's and 50's, this film dabbles between reality and a dream-like state.
Cyborg Typewriter
This "handhold" device clamps around your hand and five fingers for allowing typing speeds upwards of 150 wpm. Wired between stereo headphones and a flat touch-sensor keyboard, the brace around the hand augments the user's typing accuracy and pace. The exposed wires act as inputs from any user-received audio and mechanically command via electric impulses exact transcripts to be typed out. The system is spoken-language friendly and can determine onomatopoeias, thus eliminating Google-like "did you mean...?" behavior. While it may make a secretary job more efficient, we have to wonder if the inevitable constant hand cramps are worth it. More after the break.
Computer Console
Minimalist in design, these rounded corner consoles combine computational power with entertainment value. The console is able to easily interchange between a text terminal interface and a mediocre resolution television. Though the device was designed with some flexibility in mind (it comes attached to a bendable neck), it fails at delivering some basic functionality. Unless its core users enjoy squinting, most need to install a magnifying add-on for reading text due to its one-size-only construction. We additionally found it annoying how it beeps with every. single. character. input.
Inspector Robot
Inquisitive and impolite, this probing robot wanders the halls of the Ministry of Information as an autonomous spy. The inspector robot comes equipped with three probes to capture optical, audio and other data from potential human threats. Eight wheels provide roving capability while the neck and body are able to maneuver up and down by a few feet, for extra eavesdropping ability. Flaws (beyond the obvious security hazards of leaving wires exposed) include a lack of defense mechanisms for provoked human-on-robot rage and an extremely loud operating mode.
House of the Future Gadgetry
It wouldn't be a throwback to the 1950's without having house-of-the-future contraptions for completing your daily deeds. A 15-jack-input phone controls most of the household appliances and activities, from raising the blinds to rolling out the closet. Other gadgets within the modern residence range from automated kitchen appliances like toasters and coffee makers to shower starters. Tempting as they may be, we caught bugs with the alarm clock and coffee maker that still require some tinkering before we can be convinced to buy.
We last left off Movie Gadget Friday on board the Icarus II in the near-futuristic film of Sunshine. This week we transition from space travel to a totalitarian, 20th century, terrorist-ridden society in Terry Gilliam's Brazil. A hybrid between the sexy saxophone solos and gender role reversals of the 1980's with the "Keep Calm and Carry On" culture of the 1940's and 50's, this film dabbles between reality and a dream-like state.
Cyborg Typewriter
This "handhold" device clamps around your hand and five fingers for allowing typing speeds upwards of 150 wpm. Wired between stereo headphones and a flat touch-sensor keyboard, the brace around the hand augments the user's typing accuracy and pace. The exposed wires act as inputs from any user-received audio and mechanically command via electric impulses exact transcripts to be typed out. The system is spoken-language friendly and can determine onomatopoeias, thus eliminating Google-like "did you mean...?" behavior. While it may make a secretary job more efficient, we have to wonder if the inevitable constant hand cramps are worth it. More after the break.
Computer Console
Minimalist in design, these rounded corner consoles combine computational power with entertainment value. The console is able to easily interchange between a text terminal interface and a mediocre resolution television. Though the device was designed with some flexibility in mind (it comes attached to a bendable neck), it fails at delivering some basic functionality. Unless its core users enjoy squinting, most need to install a magnifying add-on for reading text due to its one-size-only construction. We additionally found it annoying how it beeps with every. single. character. input.
Inspector Robot
Inquisitive and impolite, this probing robot wanders the halls of the Ministry of Information as an autonomous spy. The inspector robot comes equipped with three probes to capture optical, audio and other data from potential human threats. Eight wheels provide roving capability while the neck and body are able to maneuver up and down by a few feet, for extra eavesdropping ability. Flaws (beyond the obvious security hazards of leaving wires exposed) include a lack of defense mechanisms for provoked human-on-robot rage and an extremely loud operating mode.
House of the Future Gadgetry
It wouldn't be a throwback to the 1950's without having house-of-the-future contraptions for completing your daily deeds. A 15-jack-input phone controls most of the household appliances and activities, from raising the blinds to rolling out the closet. Other gadgets within the modern residence range from automated kitchen appliances like toasters and coffee makers to shower starters. Tempting as they may be, we caught bugs with the alarm clock and coffee maker that still require some tinkering before we can be convinced to buy.
Ariel Waldman is a digital anthropologist and the founder of Spacehack.org.
I love Brazil. One of my faves!
ok, that thing that moves ur hands for you to type 150+ wpm is just giving me chills, imagining that thing moving my fully mobile hands against my will is.. something i am not ready to accept.. its just freaky!
If only they had this back in the days when I'd be on quake 2 deathmatches and had to pause to type my profanities.
Im a Terry Gilliam fanboy, I admit it. Time Bandits and Brazil are 2 of my all times.
What about 12 Monkeys?!?!
This is a damn fine picture. I'm not a huge fan of the dream sequences, but the movie wouldn't be the same without them. A depressing surrealistic 1984... pretty good premise if you ask me.
Masterpiece...from a master
Great movie, watched it a few weeks ago for the first time.
Terry Gilliam usually makes very interesting movies, and this one in particular is very good. I just can’t understand why it has my country’s name …
Uh, because of the song?
I think the song was chosen to match the title; well we had a dictatorship ... but by the events in the movie, a better name would be “North Korea” ...
actually, I think the title really is from the song. The song is quite a large part of the movie: the score, the characters' humming it, &c. That and the fact that the film makes no reference to the country makes me believe that the title comes from the song. I guess the title "Watercolors of Brazil" would have been too froo-froo.
One of the best S.F. movies ever. Sadly underrated, and.... let's admit it, just does not have the kind of, even semi-mass appeal, which makes it a love it or hate it movie. I won't go so far as to question the intelligence of people who hate it, but........... ;-)
Shouldn't it be "Movie Crapgadget Friday: Brazil"?
Onomatopoeias? Don't you mean homonyms?
Bam!
funny. i thought this movie was bad.
whoaa.. amazing gadgets !
movie also must be good .
I never saw this movie, but looks cool.
And... I live in Brazil. xD
Judging by the need for the cyborg typewriter even the movie industry has lost hope for ever having a viable voice recognition solution.
Trippy. I just saw this movie for the first time yesterday. It was on Encore I believe.
are you serious? Brazil is on my Top 5 list of worst movies I've ever seen....i had to do drugs just to watch the entire movie...
Best dystopian comedy ever, and probably Gilliam's best film.
My one of my favourite films ever.
One of those movies where the discussion with friends over coffee later is interesting.
Where did the torture-induced dream sequence start? Just how much of the surreality was the 'real world' and how much was only in the protagonist's mind?
Now I have only seen the first ten minutes of this but, doesn't this seem like Wall-E was influenced by this? In the early Wall-E previews they used the song Aquarela do Brazil, which is what was used in the Movie Brazil.
And from that picture of the robot with the tv screen, reminds me of Wall-E and that video clip is watched. And the distopian theme. But I haven't seen the whole movie, so I could be way off.
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?i=120175867&id=120176144&s=143441
Brazil is one of my favorite movies, and I generally hate movies.
I always loved the "retrotech" of Brazil, which was quite a bit like the hardware in Max Headroom. It goes against every trend technology goes to nowadays, ie streamlning, simplicity, etc. It's almost like some sort of next-gen Steampunk. I'd love a computer with a mechanical typwriter keyboard!
This is what modern day would be like of the Nazi's won the war.
Jeez, my hand cramps are bad enough already....
I read once Terry was inspired when he saw a dude on a beach surrounded by noise and overpopulation and ugliness but the guy was in a sun chair with Brazil playing and tuning out the crud and tuned into Brazil. At least that's what I think I read.
I understand why some people don't like this movie. As I grew older I remember seeing movies like this and not liking them because they were depressing. And I wanted to watch movies to escape anything depressing in real life. But then understood, wow, he's talking about real life. What's really happening. Edifying and amazing in a wild weird way.
Yeah, but it's also necessary *because* of the inevitable hand cramps.