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"I feel like I've been very fortunate in that I've stuck like a burr to the dog-leg of the next generation of nerdism. I've been carried into the XXIth century on Bill Gates' pants-cuff."
- William Gibson
 |
| Automatic Massager | ||
| An autonomous massage machine with robotic arms and hands. |
After being asleep for decades while traveling between the stars, some manipulations of the body are helpful.
| Slowly, I pushed my hand toward the edge of the bed. Click! My fingers pressed the button that was there. There was a faint hum. The automatic massager began to fumble gently over my naked form.
 (Massage robot from Far Centaurus) First, it rubbed my arms; then it moved to my legs and so on over my body. As it progressed, I could feel the fine slick of oil that oozed from it working into my dry skin. A dozen times I could have screamed from the pain of life returning. But in an hour I was able to sit up and turn on the lights. |
| Technovelgy from Far Centaurus,
by A.E. van Vogt. Published by Astounding Science-Fiction in 1944 Additional resources -
|
In another part of the story, they are described as having "gentle, padded hands."
The gentle, padded hands had been working on me for about fifteen minutes when my door opened...
In his earlier novel (1941) Methuselah's Children, Robert Heinlein wrote about care needed by somnolents in cold sleep.
Cautiously, I turned on the massager.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Far Centaurus
More Ideas
and Technology by A.E. van Vogt
Tech news articles related to Far Centaurus
Tech news articles related to works by A.E. van Vogt
Automatic Massager-related
news articles:
- Massage Robot Has Soft Hands, Er, Pads
- RehaBot Physical Therapy Robot Proposed
- Motorika Robot Therapy Helps Stroke Patients
- Prototype Robotic Masseur Has The Touch
| Drug To Regenerate Teeth In Humans |
| Illustrating Classic Heinlein With AI |
| Brainoware Reservoir Computation Of Biological Neural Networks |
| Forward CarePod The AI Doctor's Office |
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'The pitiless M rays pierced Earth and steel and densest concrete as if they were so much transparent glass...'
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'
'Nanny is different,' Tom Fields murmured... 'she's not like a machine. She's like a person.'
'We made a crude , small cell and were delighted - and, I admit, somewhat surprised - to find it worked.'
'...we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.'
'The clothes and jewelery drew their tiny power requirements from her movements.'
'At the end of each appendage's eight fingers there are tinier appendages...'
'We want to do something to help those who are suffering from tooth loss or absence,' said lead researcher Katsu Takahashi.
