Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Latest By
Category:


Armor
Artificial Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work

"The immediate problem with our meat brains is that they have no back-up. We can lose the most precious information we have from one bump on the head or stroke. You want a mind system with back-up that can access other databases."
- Bart Kosko

Emotion Meter  
  A device for empirically determining human emotion.  

You have probably all heard of the lie-detector which is now in use in some police departments in connection with crime. I have greatly improved upon it. My invention takes into consideration many more physical changes in the human body. It measures heartbeat, breathing, body temperature and increase or decrease of gland secretion. All of these are affected by emotion...

Professor Miller helped Sayles adjust the apparatus. One plate clamped on his wrist, one over his heart and then a small object was placed under his tongue. The professor explained that the latter measured both the slight change in temperature and the glandular action, making use of the salivary glands as they were the easiest to reach and also reacted the best to emotion.

Technovelgy from The Emotion Meter, by W. Varick Nevins, III.
Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1935
Additional resources -

Compare to HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) by Arthur C. Clarke. In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Data has an emotion chip. Also, see Emotional Register from The Primal Urge (1961) by Brian Aldiss.

Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from The Emotion Meter
  More Ideas and Technology by W. Varick Nevins, III
  Tech news articles related to The Emotion Meter
  Tech news articles related to works by W. Varick Nevins, III

Articles related to Culture
Switzerland May Cap Population At Ten Million
California Governor Candidate Calls For Voting By Phone
Chinese Hospital Tries Vonnegut's 'Harrison Bergeron' Cosplay
A Remarkable Coincidence

Want to Contribute an Item? It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add it here.

<Previous
Next>

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

 

 

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 Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Science Fiction in the News

AI Operates An Excavator
'So far as I could see, the thing was without a directing Martian at all.'

US Army IBEX Exoskeleton Walks Troops Out Of Danger
'The suit stands up and starts walking, gripping me round the calves and waist, taking the bulk of my weight off my throbbing feet.'

Boy Makes Biomimetic Turtle Robot
't came out into plain view. Darkington glimpsed a slim body and six short legs of articulated dull metal.'

Elon Musk Wants Data Centers In Space
'Internally it’s made up of millions of components, but the most important ones are the thinking and memory parts of the Mind proper.'

Origin F1 Humanoid Robot's Facial Skin
'I could look down at that face of carefully molded synthetic rubber, tinted the exact shade of the doctor's living flesh.'

Grok And The City Fathers From 'Cities In Flight' By James Blish
'Chris, the City Fathers are not interested in your welfare; I suppose you know that. They're interested in only one thing: the survival of the city.'

Why Not Move A Warehouse District?
'Did you never see a moving house before?'

Will An AI Found A New Religion?
'You must decide how you will worship Me.'

Terraformer Industries Make Methane
'Drake was the young spatial engineer he employed to terraform the little rock...'

I Need An Outdoor Spherical Display
'Usually a spherical display hovered in the centre...'

More SF in the News

More Beyond Technovelgy

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

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.