Conventional fire extinguisher sprinklers are pretty low tech and do a lot of damage for how effective they are. There are smarter systems too, but are all based on fixed sprinkler heads. What I propose here is an infrared camera that watches the place, and if a fire breaks out, a jet of water would be aimed directly at the fire.

Could also be used to enforce no smoking laws (indoor or out), or have similar functionality to Mr Burns' large red button labelled "Hounds"
-- afinehowdoyoudo, Apr 19 2011

Would be useful in some places, like art galleries perhaps. Where select items are worth more than the building itself. In something like a mall though, regular sprinklers a better investment.
-- bob, Apr 19 2011


From the help file:

"baked - a snarky way of saying "widely known to exist". "

I'm not sure that having seen it conceptualized in a movie qualifies as actually existing. I'd say "preheated" is more applicable.
-- normzone, Apr 19 2011


Could also be used to enforce no smoking laws. [+]
-- swimswim, Apr 19 2011


I would say that getting the idea on film and showing it to millions of people involves a little more baking than writing a few sentences about it on the internet. We are in the pursuit of never before touched ideas, and they are essentially limitless. No offense to the poster, I like the idea.

In my experience, however, I've noticed that posting an idea that was clearly previously set forth in a work of fiction almost never leads to an actual mfd, just a little frowning from the sour grapes. And perhaps I disagree with this.
-- daseva, Apr 19 2011


The Alamodome in San Antonio, TX uses this type of sprinkler system to cover the arena floor. It was adapted from a system manufactured for fire supression at petrochemical plants. It malfunctioned during the Spurs first home game soaking a large portion of the audience.
-- cblunds, Apr 19 2011


//It malfunctioned during the Spurs first home game soaking a large portion of the audience.//

Sp.: functioned.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Apr 19 2011


Apparently it was triggered by a fireworks display. That sounds like functioned to me.
-- normzone, Apr 19 2011


I tend to agree with [marked-for-deletion] on the grounds of WTCTTISITMWIBNIIWR.
But I have not seen Iron Man (although I want to, now) or any fictional representation of this idea. Just tapped into the zeitgeist, I guess.
-- afinehowdoyoudo, Apr 20 2011


I saw a documentary (tried and failed to find a link) about (presumably, but I thought it was in Asia) the Alamodome fire suppression cannon system.
Therefore, [Marked-for-deletion], baked, commercially available and operating in the real world.
-- neutrinos_shadow, Apr 20 2011



random, halfbakery