Skip to main content

dc - Were Batman's phones used to map surroundings using custom hardware? How did he distribute them?



In Nolan's Dark Knight, Batman (or rather Lucius Fox) develops a technology which allows using a phone as a mini-radar (I didn't quite catch if it was using EM like radar or sound like sonar, but given this is Batman I wouldn't be shocked if it was sonar).




  1. Was this technology detailed anywhere as being hardware based or software based?




  2. If it was stated as hardware based, how exactly did Batman manage to equip pretty much everyone in the entire city with a new phone containing that hardware in the short time period that the movie takes place in? If it was software based, how did he download the software to both emit and receive the signals onto EVERYONE's phone without the cell companies objecting[1]?




I am looking for answers from canon (movie, script, DVD, delete scenes); creative team interviews; or if there are specific DC comics that Nolan based the movie on, I'm ok with answer from those specific comics if it matches up to the movies.



[1] If it was software, I would accept an answer listing the (canon) fact that Wayne was a major cell carrier in Gotham


h/t: Based on a comment on another post.



Answer



How did it work?


When Lucius Fox and Bruce Wayne are discussing the device (around 33 minutes in), we learn that the device really is powered by sonar:



[Lucius hands Bruce a phone]


Bruce: What’s this?


Lucius: I had R&D work it up. It sends out a high-frequency pulse; records the response time. For mapping an environment.


Bruce: Sonar. Just like a…



Lucius: Submarine. [nodding]



We get confirmation that it’s sonar at the 1 hr 56 min, when Batman shows Fox his mass-scale implementation of the idea. As far as I know, this is also the closest we get to knowing whether it’s software or hardware.



Batman: Beautiful, isn’t it.


Lucius: Beautiful? Unethical. Dangerous. You've turned every cellphone in Gotham into a microphone.


Batman: And a high frequency generator-receiver.


Lucius: You took my sonar concept and applied it to every phone in the city. With half the city feeding you sonar, you could image all of Gotham.



Unfortunately, I think that the software/hardware distinction is ambiguous:





  • The word “turned” suggests that this is a modification to existing phones. Lucius also says “every phone in the city”, which is impossible if you have to upgrade all the existing hardware. (You might get good coverage, but not complete coverage.)


    That would suggest a software patch, probably distributed virally or through the cellular carriers (more on that shortly).




  • On the other hand, this is the first time Lucius has seen the technology. Anything he says about it is necessarily a guess; he doesn’t know how this actually works, or he would have tried to stop it. Custom hardware is very plausible.


    Further, as your answer on What is the time frame for Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises? attests, The Dark Knight is set in 2008. In the real world, I doubt this level of monitoring could be achieved with 2008-level phone hardware. In the real-world, he’d need to have added custom hardware for this to work. (So how much does Batman-world tech mirror the real world?)






How was it distributed?


I don’t know if Wayne Enterprises were a major phone carrier in Gotham (it wouldn’t surprise me, but I can’t find canon either way), but they might have some good links. At the 59 minute mark, there’s this very telling conversation between Bruce and Lucius:



Lucius: Did you reassign R&D?


Bruce: Yep. Government telecommunications project.


Lucius: I wasn’t aware we had any Government contracts.


Bruce: Lucius, I’m playing this one pretty close to the chest.



I can’t find anything else in the film that this conversation might be referring to, so I assume that this is Bruce reassigning R&D to build his large-scale sonar device. The “Government project” line suggests that he’s using his political influence to force this change through, so nobody is objecting. (Or at least, not loud enough to make a difference.)



There isn’t more detail on the Government’s involvement. I doubt they would allow him to spy on everybody in Gotham, so there’s probably a smokescreen to hide the true purpose from the officials. Or perhaps Lucius is right: the reason he doesn’t know about the Government contracts is because they don’t have any, and Bruce is going behind their backs.



Batman Wikia


The Batman Wikia article about the lenses says that it was a computer virus, but doesn’t source this assertion:



Batman later innovated the idea to an extreme, writing a virus that inserted the program into every cell phone in Gotham



It also alludes to an interview with Christopher Nolan where he might have discussed the lenses in more detail, but it doesn’t provide a link and I haven’t been able to find it.



When asked in an interview along with Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale said that the device was put into the cowl by Lucius Fox, who first invented the gadget, and it was part of his entire suit which helped him see better in the film.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How do Pokemon trainers collect their winnings?

According to Bulbapedia , Prize money is the money that a Trainer pays out at the end of a battle. So we know that the money comes directly from the trainer that just lost, and not some third-party committee or sponsor. But how is this done? It can be easy seeing the random trainers who challenge you along the way wanting to wager and then, after admitting defeat, sticking to their word and handing over their hard-earned pokebucks. Then there are the likes of Team Rocket and Giovanni, who also give money once they lose. This doesn't seem like something people in a criminal organization would willingly do. From this it appears that trainers have no say in whether or not they cough up the dough after losing, but I can't find anything on how exactly the funds are transferred from loser to winner. So how do Pokemon trainers receive their winnings?
Post a Comment
Read more