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
"Poised between intransigent scepticism and uncritical credulity, it [science fiction] is par excellence the literature of the open mind."
- John Brunner
 |
| Psychophonic Nurse | ||
| A child-care robot - a nanny bot. |
| "I had her made by the Eastinghouse Electric Company. You see, she's just a machine nurse, but as she doesn't eat anything, is on duty twenty-four hours a day, and draws no salary, she's cheap at the price I paid."
"...let me show you how she works. She's made of a combination of springs, levers, acoustic intruments, and by means of tubes such as are used in the radio, she's very sensitive to sounds. She's connected to the house current by a long, flexible cord, which supplies her with the necessary energy. To simplify matters, I had the orders put into numbers instead of sentences. One means that the baby is to be fed; seven that she's to be changed..."
 (The Psychophonic Nurse) "...When I ordered this machine ... I bought a phonograph with clock attachment. It will run for twenty-four hours without attention. Then I had a baby doctor work out a twenty-four hour programme of infant activity for different ages. Our baby is about two months old. You put this phonograph with the two-month record on it in the nursery... At definite periods of the twenty-four hours the phonograph will call out a number and the nurse will do what is necessary... |
| Technovelgy from The Psychophonic Nurse,
by David H. Keller. Published by Amazing Stories in 1928 Additional resources -
|
Diaper changes happen irregularly, but that's not a problem; see the entry for electric diaper.
Take a look at this 1928 illustration of the Psychophonic Nurse by Frank R. Paul.
(Psychophonic Nurse illustration by Frank R Paul)
Compare to the manufactured wife from A Wife Manufactured to Order (1895) by Alice W. Fuller, the robotess from R.U.R. (1920) by Karel Capek, the teleoperated robot surrogate from The Robot and the Lady (1938) by Manly Wade Wellman, the childcare robot from Robbie (1940) by Isaac Asimov, the mechanical bride from The Mechanical Bride (1954) by Fritz Leiber, the maid-robot from The Midas Plague (1954) by Frederik Pohl and the Nanny from Nanny (1955) by Philip K. Dick.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Psychophonic Nurse
More Ideas
and Technology by David H. Keller
Tech news articles related to The Psychophonic Nurse
Tech news articles related to works by David H. Keller
Psychophonic Nurse-related
news articles:
- Robot Nurses Seem Unavoidable
- PowerBot Robot Nurse From Saskatoon
- Robot Nanny Makes Poor Role Model For Children
- Robot Baby Crib By Suima
- robuLAB10 Healthcare Roomba
- Why Not Nurse Grandma With A Robot?
| Robots Repair And Modify Themselves |
| Robot Janitors Get To Work |
| Robots Learn To Install Charged Batteries Into Themselves |
| Robot Rabbits Entice Pythons |
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
'Twoflower's Luggage, which was currently ambling along on its little legs...'
'He came to as the ship went into free flight, arching in a high parabola over the plains...'
'The peculiar quality of this light, which gave it its great preeminence over all other penetrating rays...'
'The overworked leg motor would have to cool down before he could work on it...'
‘Where to, sport?’ the starter at cab relay asked.
This is nothing new for science fiction fans!
