All Tomorrow's Parties by William Gibson:
Science Fiction Inventions, Technology and Ideas

The main character of this book has a remarkable capacity; he is able to discern key events in the endless streams of data that are available. This story revolves around the difficulties that this character encounters when it becomes clear that knowledge of these key events, or nodal points, is of great value. This book has fascinating characters, including Rei Toi, the computer-generated personality. Select an invention:

Belt Sword - bendable weapon
A piece of very thin material sewn between the two leather sides of a belt.

Bohemias - a cultural incubator
A place where the ordinary rules of society don't apply; the "next big thing" often comes from these places.

Chain Gun - fires chains
Device fires lengths of steel chain.

GPS Sunglasses - you are here
Sunglasses that contain both global positioning system components and cell phone services.

Graffiti-Eating Finish - never wash those walls again
A wall covering that maintained itself, eating any graffiti placed on it.

Interactive Video Column - see the world -- from convenience stores?
A video display in a chain convenience store that shows random scenes from other stores in the chain around the world.

Lucky Dragon ATM - an ATM with an attitude
An automatic teller machine with attitude.

Motion Capture Suit - lifetime motion capture
A tight fitting garment that uses sensors at various positions to record movement in space; can be used as the basis for computer graphic creations.

Nanofax - fax 3D objects, not flat ones
Send a copy of a three-dimensional object to a distant place.

Palm Scan - the big print
A means of positive identification, in this case, for an ATM machine.

Smart Tag - sneaky graffiti
A piece of graffiti, or a small sticker tag, that could survive being placed on walls designed to be self-cleaning.

Snake Contact Lens - get that reptilian look
A pair of contact lenses designed to make you appear to have slit pupils, like a snake's.

 

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