Okay, start with this RC car dust mop, a cool drivable dust mop - a radio-controlled car that has an attached dust mop. Got the idea? Take a look at the video.
Here's how to make it even better. First, add basic Wi-Fi capability to the RC car dust mop controller, as well as a means of determining the precise position of the car within a home.
Then, create a basic set of coordinates of the floor surfaces to be dry mopped in your home and then upload it to a game server. The game server then takes an existing road race game scenario and then maps your home coordinates onto the game scenario.
The resulting game is then made available to users.
The result? As Apple fanboys and -girls are wasting time on their iPhones playing Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D using the embedded accelerometers, you are getting your floors cleaned.
(Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D Floor Cleaning)
I expect royalties from anyone who uses this idea, which brings Ender's Game down to Earth. I also want my floors cleaned.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 7/31/2008)
Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness?
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.' - Isaac Asimov, 1975.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
Prairie Madness - And Space Sickness
'Space-sickness is one of the most unpleasant sensations that a human being can experience. Not all are subject to it...'
'Old People Began to Cross The Continent In Their Own Cars'
'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'
Starfall Manufacturing Drugs In Space
'The vast spinning sphere of Factory in the Sky loomed above and ahead of us, gleaming white against the unfathomable jet depths of surrounding space.'
The Solar Oberth Slingshot
'And if it doesn’t work,' inquired Lazarus, 'what does that make us? Sunspots?'
'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'