6 gadgets that give you real-life superpowers

By Cat DiStasio

Nearly every child dreams of having superhero powers, and it's safe to say a lot of adults still wish for them too, if the success of the recent Marvel films is any indication. Luckily, engineers and inventors have come up with some really cool gadgets that give plain ol' homo sapiens awesome, real-life superpowers. If you've ever longed for a cloak of invisibility or dreamed about having superhuman strength, you'll be excited to check out these amazing advances in technology. Read on to find out what kinds of super strengths these newfangled gadgets can give you.

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Scale tall buildings

This contraption won't help you leap tall buildings in a single bound, but it will help you scale the walls. A clever then-13-year-old boy used recycled vacuum cleaners to gain spider abilities, just like his favorite superhero Spider-Man. Despite skepticism from his parents, teachers and classmates, Hibiki Kono followed his dream and created a backpack-mounted climbing apparatus, which he uses to scale tall brick walls. The adults around him make him use a crash pad, just in case, but we don't think he's ever fallen. The one caveat, aside from the noise, is that Kono can only climb as high as the power cord will reach.