The world of Dragon Ball is full of unexpectedly impressive technology, ranging in use and effectiveness based on which species have developed it. While humanity has largely been surpassed in many regards, there's actually one advancement pioneered by humanity that's surprisingly similar to the full effectiveness of a major element from the Marvel Universe: Capsules.
Capsules, aka Hoi Poi Capsules or DynoCaps, depending on the translation, are crucial little pieces of tech that have been used throughout the entirety of the Dragon Ball franchise. They have appeared up to and including Dragon Ball Super, and their usefulness -- unlike many other things in the series -- doesn't seem like it will be outclassed any time soon.
Capsule Corp. Technology were some of the first technologies introduced in the Dragon Ball franchise. Created by Dr. Briefs, the tech is used by Bulma during her time exploring the world and hunting down the Dragon Balls. The Capsule Technology is what made the Briefs family so successful in the first place, with the family owning one of the wealthiest companies in the world within years: Capsule Corp. DynoCaps compress any item into a handheld pod, or "Capsule." The technology is capable of containing equipment, supplies, vehicles and even entire homes, regardless of size or weight. All that is required to restore items to their natural size is activating the Capsule.
A similar concept was introduced in an earlier story by then-future Dragon Ball creator, Akira Toriyama. Similar capsules were featured in a short story titled "The Adventures of Tongpoo." The largest difference was how the Capsules were activated -- in the short comic, the Capsules activated via boiling them in hot water. The Capsules in Dragon Ball are instead activated by the push of a button, which activates the technology and releases the item in a puff of smoke. It's somewhat similar to the size-changing Pym Particles from the Marvel Universe, only amplified by becoming publicly available. However, this has resulted in both positive and negative repercussions for the world.
The Capsules are ideal for exploring the world, as Bulma was when they were first introduced. Capsules can help make entire worlds hospitable by creating small bases, like when Bulma carried a home-based to Namek with the technology in Dragon Ball Z, and when Goku gave Broly and his friends a home to call their own in Dragon Ball Super. Capsule Corp technology is even easy enough to construct that regular citizens can afford the tech. But it's also been used for destructive reasons -- with criminals like Launch using Capsules to hide weapons during her crime-spree in Dragon Ball. The technology has even proved capable of completely transforming war-time conflicts, with forces like the Red Ribbon Army using their own variant of Capsule Technology to deploy weapons upon command.
Only two kinds of items seem incapable of being shrunk by the Capsule Tech: living organic matter like people or animals, and other capsules. The video game Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury even suggests that putting one capsule within another could have serious repercussions. Capsules are some of the most versatile technology within the Dragon Ball universe. It's a uniquely human invention too, with no other technologically advanced species in the galaxy having the same capabilities.
Even people used to futuristic technology like Vegeta are impressed by the capsules -- hinting at just how special human creation can be even within the massive Dragon Ball universe, and how their creativity can still seriously impact the entire universe.
