Vol. 1: Wishing upon a Star with a Mobile Phone

The Ubiquitous Society, Viewed from an Imaginative and Scientific Perspective.

In previous times, the 21st century was portrayed as a dream world of sorts through media such as anime and movies. That world had moving walkways all over the streets, robots coexisting with humans and working actively everywhere, invisible tunnels stitched through forests of buildings, and the like. Now, in the 21st century, some of those visions have been realized, while others remain a long way from becoming reality. In the midst of this, there is something that has been completely achieved today that was not even remotely featured in the panoramic dream world of yesterday: the technology advancements and spread of mobile phones.

A wireless phone smaller than your palm is now something that almost everybody has. This multipurpose device can be a camera or a TV, and it can even let you send electronic letters (known as Short Message Service, or SMS) and/or e-mails, depending on your phone type and location. Not even the imaginative powers of the dream creators and visionaries of yesteryear could have imagined that mobile phones would be as convenient and ubiquitous as they are now. This article looks back at how "communication" was portrayed in the imaginative world.

The dream world of yesterday didn't anticipate modern telecommunications technology, as such. Nevertheless, it did actually portray a "shadow" of the mobile phones of today. The wireless devices used by the Scientific Special Search Party (SSSP) and Ultra Garrison in the Ultraman series were portents of the future. Their portability and size are comparable to the mobile phones of today. The biggest difference is that only a select few could hold them in the dream world. Furthermore, in that world, you could only use the device to talk among your own group. In the case of Ultraman, it was within the squad. Hence, it was a very cleidoic communication system, one incapable of operating freely in the overall environment.

In addition, those dream-world wireless devices did not look like something that was particularly easy to use. For example, the SSS's device was placed inside a star shaped badge, which was worn on the left pocket of a uniform. When a call would come in, the antenna would come out of the badge and the recipient would talk into the antenna. However, since the badge was placed on the uniform and could not be removed, the recipient had to look down and face the badge every time in order to communicate. This is not very intuitive, nor is it at all convenient.

By contrast, the wireless devices used by the Ultra Garrison in the Ultra Seven series did not have this problem. They were shaped like a wristwatch and had a cover that could be opened by pressing a button. Communicating was not a problem because you brought the device close to your mouth to talk. Moreover, a display in the back of the device's cover showed an image of the person to whom you talking. However, you could see only the face of the caller, and there was still the problem that the callers were limited to a certain group of people. The device would have been more useful if it could receive more types of information, such as maps and geographical information, data on monsters, and such.

Those useful features were included, though, in the mobile phone used in the spy movie "Agent Cody." Because that film came out recently, in 2003, the phone's shape was very similar to that of the mobile phones of today. When the LCD of the device was placed horizontally, a 3-dimensional hologram of the necessary information would appear, in addition to the image of the caller. One might think that this capability would be useful and make carrying out a task easier. However, the 3-dimensional hologram feature is a bit overboard because it makes the caller's image and other information visible to the people nearby. For a spy, that would make this communication tool inconvenient, if not outright dangerous.

In the dream world, the fictional characters who truly value confidential information are members of the Unicorn agency in the Giant Robo series. The wireless device they used was a metal bar that looked like a pen. The head part of the unit stretched out like an antenna of a radio, and the entire length would expand to about 80 centimeters. The brilliant thing about the device is that it was designed to allow you to place your ear and mouth against it so you could have private conversations. By contrast, the aforementioned SSSD’s badge device and many other wireless devices in the dream world were used without direct contact. Thus, bystanders could hear the voice of the caller. That would be totally unacceptable for justice-serving organizations like the Unicorn agency, where clandestine action is essential.

Interestingly enough, that great device looks like a silver antenna by itself. Where the microphone and speakers are, is a mystery. The antenna itself vibrates, so perhaps the sound is transmitted through the antenna.

In recent films, mobile phones have been illustrated even more. Since the "Power Rangers: Wild Force" series which was broadcast in 2001, the superhero squadrons on TV used mobile phones as the device for changing into their superhero form. Then there was the mobile phone used by the 2003 Kamen Rider Fighters. It was extremely multifunctional. It could be used to communicate, to change to superhero form, to power up, to speed up, and even to change a bike into a robot. Oh, and it also served as a laser gun.

As the mobile phones in our real world continue to become more like those imagined in the dream world, it makes me think. If Ultraman were to start using a mobile phone, how big would it be?

My current mobile phone is about 11 centimeters long when closed and weighs about 98 grams. Ultraman is about 23 times taller than I am. So that means, if proportions are maintained, an ultra mobile phone for him would be about 2.5 meters long. As for the weight, taking my phone's weight to the 3rd power, his phone would weigh about 1.2 tons. Which means, it would basically weigh about as much as a small car.

This is quite dangerous. When talking on a mobile phone, 5 to 10 minutes can pass by very quickly. Ultraman as it is well known, can only stay active 0n the Earth for 3 minutes. If the phone conversation were to prolong a bit, Ultraman would revert back to his human form. Then he could be crushed to death by his huge, heavy mobile phone!

Radio communication is via electromagnetic waves in both the dream world and the real world. However, if the stage were to be the galaxy, "speed" becomes an issue.

In the anime “Space Battleship Yamato,” communication from Uranus to the Earth is sought in one scene. The distance from Uranus to the Earth is at least about 2.6 billion kilometers. At that distance, it would take about 5 hours for the recipient’s response to come back!

If we think in this way, Orihime and Hikoboshi in the Tanabata tale would be the ones who are most unfortunate. Orihime’s planet, Vega, and Hikoboshi's planet, Altair, are 14.6 light-years apart. If he would talk to her on a mobile phone, it would take 29.2 years for him to receive her reply. So, a response to a love message spoken at the age of 21 would finally come back at age 40! Even with the strengths of the Tanabata god and the one special day in the year where the two can meet, one can imagine how lonely it would be during the remaining 364 days in the year where they could not meet.

Members of the Ultraman family are not affected by such “speed” inconveniences, though. That is because they hold a communication medium that allows them to instantly communicate the Ultra star to the Earth, despite the distance of 3 million light-years between the two. In essence, it is an "ultra"-high-speed e-mail delivery system. They use Ultra (of course!), a sign language of sorts that corresponds one-to-one with the Japanese syllabary. For communicating in outer space, there is nothing more convenient.

Personally, I have a request for the Ultra family. On your way to the Earth, would you please stop by Vega and Altair, and teach Orihime and Hikoboshi the Ultra sign…? Oh wait, that’s not possible. What am I thinking? Tanabata is originally a Chinese legend. The Ultra sign does not support Chinese! The hardware is extremely good. If only the software could be a bit more versatile.

By the way, it is amazing how much imagination could be flocked in this topic of "communication.” There seems to be an abundance of thoughts on technology that could come in handy in the real word. For example, although a mobile phone with a hologram display feature might be hazardous on spy missions, a mobile phone with a shaver function would be very convenient for a man on a business trip!