Dragon Ball's story is filled with all sorts of interesting mechanical devices, but few have had more impact on the story than the Scouter.

Scouters allow characters in Dragon Ball to scan an enemy’s biodata from a distance, and that convenient feature, along with their sleek design, have made them extremely popular among fans. In fact, they're so popular that many fans have purchased toy replicas of them or even made their own papercraft versions!

You may be surprised to learn that a similar device actually exists in reality, and it's used at locations where livestock is raised.

This aptly named "Sow-ter" (the Japanese name being a pun on Scouter and the Japanese word for pig, Buta) includes features that allow people to measure the weight of a pig through a camera. But how did the Sow-ter come to be? And what other uses does it have?

We decided to ask its developer, Professor Kikuhito Kawasue from Miyazaki University, about the Sow-ter's specs as well as what kind of technology the Scouters in Dragon Ball might be made with and why in the world they explode.

Read on to boost perhaps not your Power Level but the resolution within you to understand the inner workings of the Scouter!