Halting State by Charles Stross:
Science Fiction Inventions, Technology and Ideas

Excellent book goes deep into near-future Scotland in layers; the city and its people, the augmented realities anchored thereon, and the virtual worlds hosted in its infrastructure. The story starts with a theft of virtual goods from a very secure virtual bank and proceeds from there.

This novel does the best job of combining virtual worlds and real life of any sf novel I've ever read; for those of you who got tired of this device in the 1980's, rejoice, because Stross got it totally right. Highly recommended book. Select an invention:

Airboarding
Typing in thin air to input characters into a computer.

Blacknet - antisocial networking
An antisocial networking site.

CopSpace - MySpace for police, and then some
A virtual location for police lifelogs, official communications, paperwork, informational databases and evidence of all kinds.

Driverless Drones - AIs assist
One remote supervisor can drive a half-dozen drones, with some computer assistance.

Lifelog - life record
A life record made constantly.

Overlay Specs
Glasses that provide an additional feature; an overlay that lets you see information and graphics along with the real-world view.

SPOOKS - go on a LARP for a lark
A live-action role playing (LARP) game that lets ordinary people play at being secret agents.

Virtual World Theft - faux thievery
A method of stealing or reassigning ownership to items of value in virtual worlds.

 

Technovelgy.com is devoted to the creative inventions of science fiction authors and movie makers. Look for the Science Fiction Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary of Science Fiction Inventions, the Timeline of Science Fiction Inventions, or see what's New.
Find
new authors and technologies - Shop for yourself, your library and your lab.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction
in the News

Russians Create Robot Tank Platoons
re: Philip Nowlan w/D. Calkins
(8/15/2025)

3D-Printed Exoskeleton Learns From Your Hand
re: Fritz Leiber
(8/13/2025)

Smartwatch Powered By Slime Mold
re: Philip K. Dick
(7/11/2025)

Unmanned Boats Attack At Sea
re: Ray Naylor
(7/9/2025)

Carpentopod Walking Table
re: Terry Pratchett
(7/7/2025)

Iron Drone Raider Counter-UAV Operations
re: Robert Sheckley
(7/5/2025)

SpaceX Rocket Shuttle Point-To-Point On Earth
re: Robert Heinlein
(7/3/2025)

Quaise Uses Beams Of Energy To Dig Geothermal Wells
re: Frank Stockton
(7/1/2025)

Robots Repair And Modify Themselves
re: Harry Harrison
(6/29/2025)

Waymo And Tesla 'Autonomous Cabs' Are Piloted By Remote Drivers
re: Philip K Dick
(6/27/2025)

Robot Janitors Get To Work
re: Philip K. Dick
(6/25/2025)

Robots Learn To Install Charged Batteries Into Themselves
re: Not known.
(6/23/2025)

Robot Rabbits Entice Pythons
re: JW Groves
(6/21/2025)

LLM 'Cognitive Core' Now Evolving
re: Philip K. Dick
(6/19/2025)

More SF in the News

Home | Glossary | Invention Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.