History Main / EverythingSensor

* The ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes uses a handheld device called an Omnicom.

* In the Literature/{{Boundary}} series, A.J. Baker uses nanotechnological "Faerie Dust" to scan just about everything for everything. Justified in that the Dust's capabilities are fairly well defined and based on actual research work being done now and extended into the future; the Dust Motes are very small computing devices with micro-scale sensors and actuators but can act in concert wirelessly, within limits of the power available and their programming.
* The Thaumometer, and related devices used by wizards on the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', are handy devices apparently running on Phlebotinum, used to ascertain the precise degree of eldrich, strange and potentially unseemly things going on in the vicinity of Ankh-Morpork and Unseen University. Most wizards carry one somewhere about their persons as the accepted Everything Sensor. Ponder Stibons is never without one.

* In ''Series/MaxHeadroom'' [[MagicalComputer the "System" (IE the internet) worked like this.]]

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Crimestrikers}}'' the titular team's standard equipment includes the Scanscope, which (according to the gamebook) "can detect, scan and analyze anything the heroes need it to in each story." It's also a [[CommLinks communications device]].

* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'': Incoming Scan Data...
** It's not ''just'' a scanner, it also translates ancient (dead?) languages, and hacks ''everything''. One scan data from a Space Pirate terminal talks about how the Hunter is casually annihilating their best encryptions.
** There's also a passive sensor that alerts Samus to environmental dangers, such as fire or lava.

* ''VideoGame/StarControlII''. When you go to a planet, you can scan it in one of three different ways: Scan for minerals, scan for life forms, or scan for energy readings (though it won't tell you much about the readings you get... you have to land on the surface to find out what's what). Also, scanning will give you other information about the planet, such as its tectonic movements, level of hazardous weather, average surface temperature, and gravity. Oh, and there's also an autoscan feature which does all three basic scans one after another, showing you anything you'd need to know about the planet.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' plays this straight with the Detective Skull, which tells you important stats of the monster you're fighting...then parodies it with the Defective Skull joke item, which is an Everything Sensor that only gives ''useless'' information. For example, it might tell you that the monster you're fighting ''has'' HitPoints (but not how many), or pick a random, absurdly high number and say the monster has that many hit points, or say that it has "approximately [[EleventyZillion eleventy-seven hojillion]]" hit points.

* ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfMordor'' has Talion acquire "Wraith Vision" allowing him to see everything similar to Arkham's Detective Vision. Justified as he is possesed by a Wraith that can naturally see this way
* ''VideoGame/TimeShift'': Your on board A.I warns you about electrical hazards, fire hazards, quantum anomalies, shielded enemies, structural instabilities and...concealed threats, which could be landmines, enemies about to burst though doors or giant mechs tearing up the place. You can only tell which one after they happen, making the warning slightly less useful.

* ''{{VideoGame/Homeworld}}'': You can research and construct two units to enhance your fleet's sensor capacity in two different ways: the Proximity Sensor is a little drone ship that can reveal ships under a [[InvisibilityCloak cloaking device]], and the Sensor Array is a much larger drone ship that lifts the FogOfWar across virtually the entire map.

-->'''Spock:''' Our ship's instruments are specifically designed to locate and identify any object in our universe, be it energy or matter.

** One TNG episode does claim that there are materials their internal sensors are not calibrated to scan for by default, and the Danger of the Week just so happens to be cause by one of the materials which went out of common usage decades ago.

* ''The Snows of Ganymede'' by Creator/PoulAnderson, the Planetary Engineers carry a 'general unit' which can be modified for any purpose required, as they are an order of {{Gadgeteer Genius}}es.

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[[quoteright:300:[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spock_tricoder.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[TheSpock Mr. Spock]] can detect anything with the tricorder. Even [[MySensorsIndicateYouWantToTapThat that]], yep.]]

->'''Tricorder:''' ''widdily-wee! widdily-wee! widdily-wee!''
->'''Spock:''' Captain, this entire planet is made of widdily-wee.

** Smartphones in general. Current smartphones have accelerometer, magnetometer, microphone, cameras, proximity sensor, lighting sensor, thermometer, GPS. No wonder there is a tricorder app downloadable for Android.
*** Not anymore. [[http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/09/02/2229200/Android-Tricorder-Killed-By-CBS CBS killed it.]]

** Not so cute when used [[http://news.discovery.com/tech/bomb-detecting-dowsing-rod-demonstrates-danger-of-pseudoscience.html to detect bombs.]] It gives a false sense of security.
** In 2010 [[http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/world/europe/24scanner.html?_r=0 a man was arrested for selling such bomb detectors to Iraq.]] Iraqi officials accused him of causing thousands of deaths, because police relied on his detectors and didn't notice explosives.
** The saddest part? If you type "bomb detecting dowsing rod demonstrates danger of pseudoscience" into a search engine, the first results are links to yet another such swindler.

* In ''WesternAnimation/WallE'', the captain drops some dirt "into" a sensor and asks the computer to analyze it. While we never see it analyze anything else, the way that computer responded is a good indication that it can dig up the [[IncrediblyLamePun dirt]] on just about anything it's presented with.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'' is easily the biggest user of this trope.
** Invoked in "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E27TheAlternativeFactor The Alternative Factor]]" when the ''failure'' of the sensors is sufficient proof that a parallel universe is involved:

** Technically, the ships have many different types of sensors (visible, electromagnetic spectrum, radiation, particles, gravity, subspace, etc.) and sometimes sensors of one type may be damaged or offline while others are not.
*** This in turn is aided by the [[ExpositronNineThousand ship's computer]] which is sophisticated enough to simulate fully sapient beings (at least from ''The Next Generation'' onward). The computer is frequently shown being able to theorize and extrapolate from available data based on spoken natural language commands. So the computer is piecing together evidence from a wide array of sensors.

*** And in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' they find a tiny little miniature ''universe'' and their sensors can detect there is life in it. In this case, they explicitly ''infer'' the presence of life based on "localized decreases in entropy" (things were not as random within specific areas within the micro-verse in specific ways which indicated life-forms were responsible)

* The ComicBook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}} uses a handheld device called an Omnicom.

* In ''Anime/MahouSenseiNegima'', [[RobotGirl Chachamaru]]'s is built-right-in.

** Invoked in "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E27TheAlternativeFactor The Alternative Factor]]" when the ''failure'' of the sensors is sufficient prove that a parallel universe is involved:

* ''WesternAnimation/TheMightyDucks'' have the Mask of Drake Ducaine as an example of this; as well as being the sign of leadership, the Mask is also the only way to see through the personal shields of the Saurian Empire, as well as acting as a 'conventional' X-ray machine and able to see through other disguises. Quite a few plots rely on the Mask being the only way to see through certain disguises or deceptions, with one episode involving the Mask being damaged early on solely so that the subsequent plot would take longer (as [[spoiler:the Mask would have quickly revealed that the town the Ducks were visiting was populated entirely by robots rather than people as part of a complex trap]]).

* In ''Disney/BigHero6'', Baymax can do a full medical scan of a patient in about 2 seconds that not only reveals even minor injuries, but also emotional states (via brain chemistry), allergies, blood types, and cholesterol levels. He's later upgraded with an enhanced sensor that can scan thousands of people in the city all at once in about 10 seconds.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Since the ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'' was a superhero game, with superhuman senses being almost commonplace, this sort of thing happened a lot. Especially with PoweredArmor-wearing heroes.
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* The Thaumometer, and related devices used by wizards on the ''{{Discworld}}'', are handy devices apparently running on Phlebotinum, used to ascertain the precise degree of eldrich, strange and potentially unseemly things going on in the vicinity of Ankh-Morpork and Unseen University. Most wizards carry one somewhere about their persons as the accepted Everything Sensor. Ponder Stibons is never without one.

** The tricorder combines this trope with TheLittleDetecto; it's a hand-held, all-purpose detector for whatever GreenRocks or {{Phlebotinum}} residue they're looking for this week.

* The canonical idea of the Thaumometer is given in extra twist or two in Creator/AAPessimal's take on the ''{{Discworld}}''. When hooked up to HEX and a handy omniscope, they become a versatile tool for detecting... just about anything. Even if the reading can be vague, contradictory, confusing or downright unhelpful.

** Additionally, in ''2'' and ''3'', the ''[[CoolShip Normandy]]'' carries a scanning system capable of isolating 4 very specific, useful elements (one of which is not metallic, so it can't just be a metal detector). The same scanning system can also identify anomolies including distress beacons, lifesigns, and shipwrecks. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in its <s>metal</s> element-scanning operations, as the scanner could be measuring density vs. mass and estimating the chances of the specific element at that spot.

* The Thaumometer, and related devices used by wizards on the ''{{Discworld}}'', are handy devices appraently running on Phlebotinum, used to ascertain the precise degree of eldrich, strange and potentially unseemly things going on in the vicinity of Ankh-Morpork and Unseen University. Most wizards carry one somewhere about their persons as the accepted Everything Sensor. Ponder Stibons is never without one.

* In ''MaxHeadroom'' [[MagicalComputer the "System" (IE the internet) worked like this.]]