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"the [science fiction] writer should be able to convince the reader (and himself) that the wonders he is describing really can come true...and that gets tricky when you take a good, hard look at the world around you."
- Frederik Pohl
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| Automatic Door | ||
| A wall strip that rolls up automatically to let you through. |
As far as I know, this is the first description of an automatic sliding door.
| The two men addressed turned obediently, after one reluctant glance at Graham, and instead of going through the archway as he expected, walked straight to the dead wall of the apartment opposite the archway. And then came a strange thing; a long strip of this apparently solid wall rolled up with a snap, hung over the two retreating men and fell again, and immediately Graham was alone with the new comer and the purple-robed man with the flaxen beard. |
| Technovelgy from When the Sleeper Wakes,
by H.G. Wells. Published by The Graphic in 1899 Additional resources -
|
The first automatic sliding doors for use by people were invented in 1954 by Lew Hewitt and Dee Horton; the first one was installed in 1960. It made use of a mat actuator. The idea came to them in the mid-1950's, when they saw that existing swing doors had difficulty operating in the high winds of Corpus Christi, Texas.
Upward sliding garage doors date from the 1920's; the first electric door openers (not automatic) were sold in 1926. The rolltop desk, which has a similar form, was around in the mid-eighteenth century.
(Note: this item was formerly (incorrectly) attributed to Jules Verne. Sorry about that.)
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from When the Sleeper Wakes
More Ideas
and Technology by H.G. Wells
Tech news articles related to When the Sleeper Wakes
Tech news articles related to works by H.G. Wells
Automatic Door-related
news articles:
- Tanaka Auto Door
| The FLUTE Project - A Huge Liquid Mirror In Space |
| 'Whisper Mode' ala Blue Thunder Researched At Bristol |
| Moonwalkers AI-Controlled Electric Shoes |
| Electric Catamaran 'Explorer Eco 40m' Has 'Solar Skin' |
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'Provision had been made to meet the terrific cold which we knew would be encountered the moment we had passed beyond the atmosphere.'
'You are who we say you are, Dr. Dakin,' Turner said.'
'It's area, and its consequent light-gathering capacity, was many times greater than any rigid mirror...'
'Tell me your torments,' the Padre said, in an elderly voice marked with compassion.
'...a slender-legged tripod surmounted by a spherical body no larger than a football.'
'... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.'
'But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?'
'...to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast.'
