Item from Futurama by Matt Groening & David X. Cohen
A gold television-like device that predicts the outcome of any 'What if?' question — limited to three uses per year, each one producing increasingly unhinged alternate realities.
The What-If Machine was invented by Professor Farnsworth to explore hypothetical scenarios. It visualizes the answer to any 'What if?' question but can only be used three times per year. The scenarios it generates are the basis for the show's 'Anthology of Interest' episodes, which explore questions like 'What if Bender was 500 feet tall?' and 'What if life was more like a video game?' The machine once became Bender's poker buddy before destroying itself. It should be noted that one of its what-if scenarios actually came true: the Professor asked 'What if I invented the Fing-Longer?' which he later did.
A golden device resembling an old television set with a bowl, coil, cog, transistor, and motherboard as key components. Its method of activation is never the same twice. Sits in the Professor's laboratory gathering dust between its annual three-question limit.
Also known as: What-If Machine