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

"[Science fiction] is the one literary medium left in which we have a free hand. We can do any damn thing we please."
- Alfred Bester

Heartshirt  
  A shirt that was able to detect heart sounds and display associated colors.  

This would be a great shirt to own. I'm imagining every person in a marathon wearing one of these shirts.

Recently, Philips Electronics came out with a network of sensors woven into ordinary clothing, like underwear. The sensors are linked to a battery and transceiver, so that if certain conditions are met based on biometric data gathered (like irregular heart rhythm), an alarm could be sent via Bluetooth, RFID or other wireless protocol. This product was developed as part of the Ambient Intelligence initiative in Europe, which explores ubiquitous computing and machines with context awareness. But this is how Rucker imagined it.

Della's first present was an imipolex sweatshirt called a heartshirt…The heartshirt was an even dark blue, except for a few staticky red spots drifting about.

"It can feel your heartbeat … look." Sure enough there was a big red spot on the plastic shirt just over her heart, a spot that spread out into an expanding ring that moved on over her shoulders and down to her sleeves. Her heart beat again, and a new spot started - each beat of her heart started a new red splash in the blue heartshirt.

Technovelgy from Wetware, by Rudy Rucker.
Published by Avon Books in 1988
Additional resources -

One way it might work is to hear the main sounds from the chest cavity, and then radiate them from the center using some sort of algorithm. It would be more cool if it actually had the sensitivity to monitor the rush of blood to the extremities.

Comment/Join this discussion ( 2 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Wetware
  More Ideas and Technology by Rudy Rucker
  Tech news articles related to Wetware
  Tech news articles related to works by Rudy Rucker

Heartshirt-related news articles:
  - Underwear Detects Heart Problems
  - Scentsory Chameleon Bodysuit: Biometric Fashion
  - MEMSwear Fall Fashion - Bluetooth-enabled Motion Detection Shirt
  - Electronic Underwear Monitors Your Heart
  - Geo-View ECG-Shirt - So Close To A Heartshirt
  - Bio-Shirts From Korea Monitor Athletes
  - T-Qualiser Club Shirt Has Electro- Gobbledi- Googescence
  - Smart Bra Does Breast Cancer Screening
  - Vital Jacket Heart (Monitoring) Shirt Via Rudy Rucker
  - Smart Fabrics For Biomonitoring
  - 'Warning Signs' T-Shirt Is CO2 Detector
  - Somnus Sleep Shirt - Sweet Dreams
  - LOBIN Intelligent T-Shirts
  - Biosensing Clothing Listens To Your Heart
  - OMsignal Heart Shirt With Woven Electronics
  - Ralph Lauren Polo Tech Shirt
  - Microsupercapacitors Make Wearable Electronics Disappear
  - Jabil Integrated Textile Heart Monitoring
  - Inkjet-Printed Wearable Solar Cells

Articles related to Medical
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

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

WiFi and AI Team Up To See Through Walls
'The pitiless M rays pierced Earth and steel and densest concrete as if they were so much transparent glass...'

Climate Engineering In California Could Make Europe's Heat Waves Worse
'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.'

Optimus Robot Will Be A Good Nanny, Says Musk
'Nanny is different,' Tom Fields murmured... 'she's not like a machine. She's like a person.'

ESA To Build Moon Bases Brick By Printed LEGO Brick
'We made a crude , small cell and were delighted - and, I admit, somewhat surprised - to find it worked.'

Does The Shortage Of Human Inputs Limit AI Development?
'...we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.'

Textiles That Harvest Energy And Store It
'The clothes and jewelery drew their tiny power requirements from her movements.'

LORIS Passive-Gripper Climbing Robot
'At the end of each appendage's eight fingers there are tinier appendages...'

Drug To Regenerate Teeth In Humans
'We want to do something to help those who are suffering from tooth loss or absence,' said lead researcher Katsu Takahashi.

Coin-Sized Nuclear Battery Good For 100 Years
'...power pack the size of a pea.'

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.