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

"I was involved in a cloning project. .. to send me into outer space along with a lot of other people. Not the whole me - just a hair from my head, while I still had some. I would thus pop up in another galaxy in the distant future."
- Arthur C. Clarke

Drone Floater Camera  
  A one-foot square aerostat capable of hovering with a camera to transmit images back to a base station.  

A runaway robot is running amuck inside a house; a baby is inside the house. Jack Ramsay of the Runaway squad sends a floater camera, a remote-controlled hovering video platform, into the house.


(Top view of floater camera)

"There is a baby alive inside the house. Police are preparing a floater camera which will enter the house and attempt to locate the runaway 912..."

Technovelgy from Runaway, by Michael Crichton.
Published by Tri-Star Pictures in 1985
Additional resources -

Police can view the surveillance video on this cool indash video screen. The idea of having a video screen built into the door of a car is also an interesting idea.


(Indash video control screen)

The movement of the floater camera appears to be entirely remote-controlled.

Compare to the raytron apparatus from Beyond the Stars (1928) by Ray Cummings, the scarab robot flying insect from The Scarab (1936) by Raymond Z. Gallun, the artificial eye drone from Glimpse (1938) by Manly Wade Wellman, eyes from This Moment of the Storm (1966) by Roger Zelazny, the Ultraminiature Spy-Circuit from The Unknown (1972) by Christopher Anvil, copseyes from Cloak of Anarchy (1972) by Larry Niven, the sky ball from A Day For Damnation (1985) by David Gerrold, the aerostat monitor from The Diamond Age (1995) by Neal Stephenson, the loiter drone from The Algebraist (2004) by Iain Banks and the bee cam from City of Pearl (2004) by Karen Traviss.

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

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Runaway
  More Ideas and Technology by Michael Crichton
  Tech news articles related to Runaway
  Tech news articles related to works by Michael Crichton

Drone Floater Camera-related news articles:
  - Micro Air Vehicle In Use In Iraq
  - Robotic Flying Saucer Drones
  - Honeywell Micro Air Vehicle Tested By Miami Police
  - Aeryon Scout UAV Like In Crichton's Runaway
  - Surveillance By Flying Saucer
  - Quadrotor UAV Makes First Arrest In UK
  - LaWS Laser Can Take Out Rogue Drones

Articles related to Surveillance
Simple Way To Defeat AI Face Recognition
A System To Defeat AI Face Recognition
Smart TVs Are Listening!
Police Drones In China Would Like To Have A Word With You

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

Miss Alabama Beauty Contest Offers Different Standards
'...they moved with the ease of dandelion puffs.'

Has Musk Given Up On Full Self Driving (FSD)?
'...some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre...'

Drones In Vast Airborne Grids
'These pods were programmed to hang in space in a hexagonal grid pattern...'

Starship Special Edition For Lunar Shuttle
Love those special edition spaceships.

Capturing Asteroids With Nets
'...the meteor caught and halted just as a small boy catches a swift ball in his cap.'

Project Hyperion - Generation Ship Designers Needed!
'We have decided that it shall be but one ship... it must contain everything needed to take us through the generations.'

AI Welfare Position At Anthropic Filled By Human
'You’re the robopsychologist of the plant, so you’re to study the robot itself...'

Marslink Proposed By SpaceX
'It was the heart of the Solar System's communication line...'

Simple Way To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'... designed to foil facial recognition systems.'

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.