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
"…we store information differently, reading a science fiction story, to make it make sense."
- Samuel R. Delany
 |
| Implant-Watch | ||
| Subcutaneous timepiece; uses patterns of colored lights to show the time. |
This is a slick idea; I also think that there are some cool artistic possibilities here. The lights could be arranged in different patterns and colors; the wrist is not the only place you could have one. If you were really into historical realism, you could tattoo a watch on your wrist, with the implanted lights showing through.
| ...years ago, when Ron was flush with money from the sale of the engraved beer bottles, he'd bought an implant-watch. He told time by one red mark and two red lines glowing beneath the skin of his wrist. |
| Technovelgy from Cloak of Anarchy,
by Larry Niven. Published by Analog in 1972 Additional resources -
|
Personally, I have a strong attachment to the finger watch, which appeared in The Puppet Masters, by Robert Heinlein. But Niven's watch has the added advantage that you can't leave it someplace.
Compare to the Wrist Search Display from A Matter of Size (1934) by Harry Bates,
Wireless Wrist Intercom from The Shape of Things To Come (1936) by H.G. Wells,
Reserve Bracelet from Plague (1944) by Murray Leinster,
Tattletale from The Game Players of Titan (1963) by Philip K. Dick,
Wristband Viewer from Changeling (1980) by Roger Zelazny,
Predator Wrist Display from Predator (1987) by John McTierna,
Wrist Command from Tides of Light (1989) by Gregory Benford,
Tracking Bracelet from Shadowspeer (1990) by Patricia Jo Clayton,
Inertial Bracelet from Psychohistorical Crisis (2001) by Donald Kingsbury,
Command Bracelet from Sagramanda (2006) by Alan Dean Foster and the
Wristpad from New York 2140 (2017) by Kim Stanley Robinson.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 1 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Cloak of Anarchy
More Ideas
and Technology by Larry Niven
Tech news articles related to Cloak of Anarchy
Tech news articles related to works by Larry Niven
| 3D Printed Organs From Space |
| Health Kiosk Has No Human Doctor |
| NEO Brain Computer Interface (BCI) |
| MIT Computerized Bionic Leg Is Part Of The User |
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> |
|
|
|
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
'Once in the very first weeks of the war, before everyone had been evacuated from the surface...'
'For a while your colonists will have to come up to the [orbital] Hospital...'
'...it raised its front end off the ground and waved its antennae at them, then raised one armoured claw as if to snip them out of the sky.'
'Henry... assumed the curious absent look of a robot talking on the TBR circuits.'
'The king, an old hand in the running of tyrannies, instantly grasped the directions...'
'...a hemispherical force field enclosing his head.'
