Can Iron Man Technologies Potentially Solve Climate Change Problems?

It is an idea Tony Stark himself would have thought of. But no, this is not part of the Marvel Comics storyline anymore. In June 2019, Iron Man actor Robert Downey, Jr., announced at Amazon’s Re:Mars Conference in Las Vegas his plan to create a coalition that will clean up the earth using new technologies, including robotics and nanotechnology.

While details on his plan remain few and far between, two observations make this development newsworthy.

First, another famous actor (that being Leonardo DiCaprio) has taken up the cudgels against climate change.

Second, Downey is stepping into the realm of his onscreen persona Tony Stark’s high-tech world.

We wonder then: What Stark technologies could Downey learn from and how can these be adopted for environmental protection projects? Let us count the ways.

J.A.R.V.I.S. and Smart Homes

J.A.R.V.I.S. is to Tony Stark as Albert is to Bruce Wayne. Well, sort of.

Short for “Just a Really Very Intelligent System,” J.A.R.V.I.S. is an artificial intelligence (AI) system that manages Stark’s smart home environment, assists him with his projects, and—imbued with speech recognition capabilities—engages with him in conversations.

Iron Man banks on J.A.R.V.I.S. to give him data-driven solutions. For the superhero’s mansion, J.A.R.V.I.S. not only adjusts the thermostat or lights, for instance; its database also collects values on the power, voltage, current, temperature, and other elements that make Stark’s mansion comfy. As an advanced data analytics engine, it can prescribe as well as predict. It did help Iron Man and the Avengers figure out how to defeat Ultron.

TAKEAWAY: The real world has companies such as Google’s Nest Labs, which offers homes the same Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities. Big data collected on heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning help reduce a homeowner’s electricity consumption costs by intelligently adjusting the cooling or heating system when needed.

Experts argue that the long-term solution must be one where the world completely shifts to renewable energy. Since this 100% use of renewable energy is not happening anytime soon, a stop-gap option is better than doing nothing. Reducing consumption and improving energy efficiency remain relevant—albeit quick-win solutions—in communities that still rely on carbon-emitting sources of energy such as fossil fuel.

Drag-and-Drop 3-D Data in Thin Air

In the movie, we see J.A.R.V.I.S. activate its holographic computer to allow Stark to drag and drop three-dimensional (3-D) data in thin air using his hands.

Impressive, isn’t it? But let us momentarily ignore the bells and whistles of a holographic computer, and focus on the potentials of the interactive data analytics system instead.

TAKEAWAY: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Brown University have an interactive data analytics system called “Northstar” that, while not yet meant for holographic computers, has a user interface (UI) that supports touchscreen devices such as interactive whiteboards.  Like Stark, users can manipulate features to view trends and patterns from their data sets using their fingers or a digital pen.

Northstar’s key feature, however, is its ease of use that even folks with limited data science know-how can learn to do complex analytics quickly and accurately. After all, Northstar researchers aim to democratize data science.

Solving climate change issues requires data. A user-friendly data analytics platform would be useful to environmentalists who may not have enough data science experts in their group.

AR Inside the Iron Man Suit

When Tony suits up as Iron Man, his field of view is overlayed by 3-D holographic images, or statistics and other information on what he is seeing.

In the real world, holographic images are slowly becoming commonplace. For instance, Mazda’s and BMW’s latest car models have head-up displays where speed, fuel level, and water temperature are projected directly onto the windshield to keep drivers’ eyes focused on the road ahead.

TAKEAWAY: Augmented reality (AR) technology has practical applications in saving the planet. Do you want people to see a possible dystopian future if climate problems are not addressed? Bring them to the future via AR headsets.

This is what the National Trust, a charitable organization working for environmental and heritage conservation in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, did. Inside AR-installed rooms, visitors can witness how six of the National Trust’s historic houses gradually deteriorate due to pollution up to the year 2050.

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These three uses of technology may not directly clean the earth, true. They are, however, options that can make it possible for every individual to learn how far the Earth has been degraded (via data analytics), understand the repercussions if no significant change happens (via AR technology) and consider solutions that can be immediately implemented (via smart home applications).