Data scanner

A data or book scanner was a device which could be used to store text and other data in the form of photograph-like images.

Merely by waving it at printed text and images, it could record and store them as information inside itself or transfer the data to a computer (TV: Everything Changes). Toshiko Sato, a particular admirer of the scanner, compared it to an iPod for books. Despite Torchwood 3's policy that alien artefacts must never leave the Hub, Toshiko took the scanner out several times in order to experiment with it. (WEB: torchwood.org.uk, TV: Everything Changes)

It had practically unlimited storage capacity. Toshiko speculated that alien archaeologists used the scanner to record ancient writings. (WEB: torchwood.org.uk)

It could also be used as a lockpicking device. (TV: Cyberwoman)