Lewis is in trouble. Again. In the movie Meet the Robinsons, the kid inventor is whisked off to the future by time-traveling Wilbur Robinson—and helps his new friend accidentally break the time machine. Now Lewis must not only fix the machine but also deal with Wilbur’s oddball family and face off against the evil Bowler Hat Guy. How do the film’s futuristic gadgets compare with today’s technology? National Geographic Kids scanned the globe to find out.

Robot Helper
With 13 members in their family, the Robinsons need a lot of help around the house. Luckily they have Carl the robot. For instance, when it’s dinnertime Carl’s chest opens up, and mini-robots deliver bowls of spaghetti. A real servant robot is years away, but Domo the robot is bringing the technology closer. Its humanlike arms have springs that help limbs act like flexible muscles. Domo can grab an object with one hand, transfer it to the other, and place it on a shelf. Someday a robot with Domo’s technology may do chores such as unloading the dishwasher and even tidying up your room.

Innovative Transport
The Robinsons’ house has a unique transportation system: tubes! Standing under one tube, Lewis gets sucked up, zips through the house, and pops out a trapdoor onto the front yard. Some real high-tech homes have a Pneumatic Vacuum Elevator, which also uses a “sucking” technology to move cars more safely from floor to floor. As if someone is using a straw, vacuum pumps at the top of the tube suck the elevator cabin up, while the release of air back into the tube forces the cabin down.

Flying Machine
Laszlo Robinson likes to paint—while he’s floating in the air attached to his propeller hat! Like Laszlo’s made-up contraption, a real invention called the Parajet can also help people fly. A propeller and engine pack strap to your back as you sit in a harness. A kitelike wing floats above you to provide the lift that keeps you airborne.

Memory Scanner
The orphaned Lewis invents a Memory Scanner to regain memories about his mom. He punches in the date he wants to remember into a keypad, then lasers help reconnect his brain’s “neural circuits.” In the movie, Lewis scans his brain so he can identify his mother. That can’t happen in real life, but other body parts can be scanned to identify who you are. For instance, every person has a unique fingerprint and iris pattern (in the colored part of the eye). Some cell phones, computers, and security checkpoints can store a person’s fingerprint or iris pattern, then scan it to make sure the person trying to use the machine or enter an area is allowed to do so.

Trick Hat
At the science fair, Lewis’s Memory Scanner is ruined by Doris, an evil hat with mechanical legs and a pop-out lens. Like a spy robot, she flies around and sends back video to the Bowler Hat Guy. Doris is kind of like the security robots at last year’s World Cup soccer tournament. With mounted cameras, the rolling robots patrolled parking lots and fields by sending back video footage to the security center. Heat sensors and radar on the ’bots checked for trespassers.

Fast Facts:

• Jake’s Electronic Store, where Lewis shops, is named after the son of director Steve Anderson.
• What inspired the movie’s futuristic technology? Kids! “We tried to find ideas that felt like a kid invented them,” Anderson says.
• Bowler Hat Guy is voiced by the director, who recorded the lines until a real actor could be hired. But his voice worked so well with the character that they decided to keep Anderson’s lines!