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

"Bureaucracies hide their mistakes, because people's careers are tied to those mistakes. Therefore, bureaucracies are a perfect mechanism for perpetuating mistakes."
- Frank Herbert

Wristband Viewer  
  A device for viewing aerial surveillance images that fits on your wrist.  

Mark Marakson wants to keep an eye (in the sky) on things. He can control aerial surveillance devices (called tracer birds), and see what they can see, using his wristband viewer.

The giant mechanical bird deposited Mark Marakson on the hilltop. Mark brushed back the soft green sleeve of his upper garment and pressed several buttons on the wide bracelet he wore upon his left wrist. The bird took flight again, climbing steadily. He controlled its passage with the wristband and saw through its eyes upon the tiny screen in the bracelet's center.


(Wristband viewer from Changeling)

Technovelgy from Changeling, by Roger Zelazny.
Published by Ace in 1980
Additional resources -

Aerial surveillance has been around for at least a century and a half; in science fiction, you can go back to at least the 1928 Ray Cummings novel Beyond the Stars; see the Raytron Apparatus.

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, Implant-Watch from Cloak of Anarchy (1972) by Larry Niven, 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 ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Changeling
  More Ideas and Technology by Roger Zelazny
  Tech news articles related to Changeling
  Tech news articles related to works by Roger Zelazny

Wristband Viewer-related news articles:
  - BAE Spider Robot Wrist Watch Monitor
  - Flexible OLED Wrist Display Like Pip-Boy
  - Army Wrist Display Uses 4.3 Inch OLED
  - The Ultimate Wrist Watch Pip-Boy-style
  - USAF 'BATMAN' Wrist Display
  - Neptune Duo Smartwatch Wearable Wristband
  - FlexEnable OLED Bracelet SmartPhone Concept

Articles related to Surveillance
Perching Ambush Drones
India Ponders Always-On Smartphone Location Tracking
LingYuan Vehicle Roof Drones Now Available, ala Blade Runner 2049
Chameleon Personalized Privacy Protection Mask

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

Japan's AI Buddharoid Automonks
'...each of them is a neural mapping of the mind of a Tibetan monk who actually lived.'

The New Habitable Zones Include Asimov's Ribbon Worlds
'...there's a narrow belt where the climate is moderate.'

MIT Computerized Bionic Leg Is Part Of The User
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain, through the mediation of the electronic brain in the leg.'

California Governor Candidate Calls For Voting By Phone
'... every veephone on the continent would display, over and over, two propositions.'

Robots For Hire En Masse
'...small investors profited, too.'

China's Handheld Electromagnetic Gun
'Completely silent, accurate up to about twenty meters. No recoil...'

3D Printing A 12-Meter Boat Hull
'It makes drawings in the air...'

China Still Working On Rescue Robot That Eats People
Firefighter Rescue Robot Eats Humans - again!

Lawyer AIs Create Chaos In Our Legal System
'I want my lawyer program.'

Chinese Hospital Tries Vonnegut's 'Harrison Bergeron' Cosplay
'He wore spectacles with thick wavy lenses. The spectacles were intended to make him not only half blind, but to give him whanging headaches besides.'

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.