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"But the problem with reincarnation is that it's hard to imagine what the storage medium for past lives would be. Not to mention the input-output device. I hesitate to rule it out completely, but I'd need pretty definite proof."
- Arthur C. Clarke
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| Automated Surface Measurement | ||
| A mechanical method of accurately measuring a surface. |
At this point in the story, Graham is being measured for a suit. A device is used to provide an automated measurement of key points on his body.
| ...the tailor pulled out a number of slotted arms terminating in little discs, pulling them out until the discs were flat against the body of Graham, one at each shoulder blade, one at the elbows, one at the neck and so forth, so that at last there were, perhaps, two score of them upon his body and limbs. At the same time, some other person entered the room by the lift, behind Graham. The tailor set moving a mechanism that initiated a faint-sounding rhythmic movement of parts in the machine, and in another moment he was knocking up the levers and Graham was released. |
| Technovelgy from When the Sleeper Wakes,
by H.G. Wells. Published by The Graphic in 1899 Additional resources -
|
This item is a remarkable prediction of modern devices that are used to digitize surfaces for part manufacturing; a part is sculpted and then its surface is digitized for entry into a computer-aided design (CAD) system.
Compare to the feeler-planes from Jack Vance's 1954 novel The Houses of Iszm.
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Tech news articles related to When the Sleeper Wakes
Tech news articles related to works by H.G. Wells
Automated Surface Measurement-related
news articles:
- Body Scanner May Improve Online Shopping
- LikeAGlove Smart Garment Knows Your Size
| Skip Movewear Arc'teryx AI Pants |
| Kolors Virtual-Try-On Predicted, And TRIED, By Harry Harrison |
| Qore IcePlates Are Personal Cooling Suits |
| Fabrican Dress Sprayed Directly Onto Model On Coperni Runway |
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'...small electric motors at the principal joints worked the prosthetic framework by means of steel cables...'
'Living protoplasm incorporated into the Ampek F-a2 recording system...'
'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.
