The Terminator, Astro Boy, R2D2 and a Segway

What do these four things have in common? Hmmm, lemme see…

Well, they are all in display at the recently-opened SM Science Discovery Center at the Mall of Asia. If I was any younger, I’d be glued to the glass walls protecting watching some of these decades-old icons.

The Terminator, my favorite sci-fi movie when I was a kid which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. The succeeding sequels were cool but not as exciting as the first one. There’s a new TV series running now called The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The first 2 episodes are already out. Click on the thumbnails to view larger image.

Astro Boy, a cartoon sci-fi TV series I used to watch every Saturday morning back in the 80s. It’s the only reason to wake up early on a Saturday actually, aside from my other favorite cartoon show, Thundercats. Astro, an android living in a futuristic world, is the main character and the story revolves around him and his battles against much stronger and powerful robots. Click on the thumbnails to view larger image.

We all know R2D2 from the Star Wars movie. It resembled that remote-controlled toy robot Milo (that powdered drink mix) used to raffle away as the grand prize back in the 80s. Now, I think it was the other way around. There’s also that multimedia player and video projector R2D2 featured at the CES you can buy if you’re a Star Wars fan. Click on the thumbnails to view larger image.

The Segway. I’d love to have one of these one day. Nice replacement for a bike if you don’t like the pedals. Don’t think this is EDSA-worthy though. Come to think of it, the Segway has been around for quite some time but haven’t really see one in action around here. Anybody seen the Segway running in the streets lately? Besides, I think they’re pretty expensive too. Click on the thumbnails to view larger image.

Then, there’s also that holographic image projector game that works like a Wii of sorts. It takes a picture of the players in a specified playing area, projects their holograms into the wide screen and you play whatever sports on the monitor by acting it out on thin air. The game play are really basic but the idea is cool and fun.