Have you ever wanted to climb up vertical walls like Spider-man, but you can’t be bothered to get bitten by a radioactive spider? Enter the Vertical Ascender, a contraption concocted by some Utah State University engineering students.

You were a backpack that houses a glorified vacuum cleaner and this is then attached to a couple of suction pads for your hands. These pads “stick” to the wall or whatever vertical surface you want to climb and that’s about it. The demonstration also makes use of some specialized footwear to let you feet get a decent hold on the wall too.

Each of the suction pads looks to be quite large–about the size of a legal file folder–but that’s probably not where you’ll find the biggest hurdle. The vacuum, unsurprisingly, is quite loud, so don’t expect to go on any stealthy superhero missions with Peter Parker. I’m pretty sure the bad guys will hear you coming.

[Source]