A pair of goggles with "lenses" divided into nineteen sectors, covering contiguous portions of the spectrum from ELF to gamma rays, sensed by means of an enormous array of aerials, a smaller array of aerials, thermocouples, unfiltered CCDs and Geiger counters, all processed and sorted into a field of view each covering about a third of a radian. The lower ones would be a bit dire owing to the fact that the wavelengths are around eight times the diameter of Earth, but eventually you'd get radio signals, mobile 'phone signatures, the groovy terahertz transparency, thermal imaging, the rather less groovy near infrared transparency and fluorescent tree thing, actual normal vision and radiation detection, and with radiation sources also night vision goggle facilities. The display can be switched between a full-spectrum sectorised view, a compressed view with radio waves shown as red and gamma rays in violet, or with a dial on the side you can tune it into the right wavelength exactly to rather like, depending on the frequency, an analogue radio receiver.

The purpose of this device is twofold. Firstly, it's moderately OK as a useful if rather impractical idea. Secondly, it works as a countermeasure weapon against the submarine ideas in the product:weapon:countermeasure category by being an echo of the "bifoggles" idea rather than an echo of the submarine ones.
-- nineteenthly, Nov 11 2008

random, halfbakery