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

 

Meet Your Miniature Android Duplicate

Get an android doll forty centimeters tall custom-made from your photograph by Little Island - just $2,215. It's equipped with a computer, 80 gig solid state disk and Ethernet; the software is stable Win XP.

And now the android duplicate video.


('Mini-Me' android robot video)

As you can see, this is not a walking, gesturing version of yourself, so fewer worries there. However, it can mimic your voice and even speak your words for you. The Little Island website is not clear, but it appears that you can sit your look-alike doll at a meeting and then speak through it remotely.

I'm now picturing a meeting of people who were all too important to attend in person; it looks like one of my daughter's tea parties.

Just remember the word "Shutdown" - that forces the off switch.

At some point, of course, they will add robotic movement and allow you to download yourself into one; then you'll have a ditto blank like the ones in David Brin's 2002 novel Kiln People.

Most of the ditto blanks that people buy are made elsewhere, but I did glimpse some specialty items as we swept by - rigid figures dimly visible inside translucent packing crates, some of them uncannily tall, or gangly, or shaped like animals out of some legend. Not everyone can handle being imprinted into a non-standard human shape, but I hear it's a growing fashion among trendsetters...
(Read more about Brin's ditto blanks)

Now that I'm thinking about it, I think that there is an earlier short story with a similar kind of theme. In his 1938 short story The Robot and the Young Lady, Manly Wade Wellman writes about a rather unprepossessing man who tries to impress his blind date by sending a tall, handsome teleoperated robot. The robot goes to the restaurant, and meets the beautiful Miss Winthrop, who is a perfect match for the handsome robot. As it turns out, though, Miss Winthrop has also sent a robot! (Bet you never saw that one coming.)

This story is actually a very early version of the idea of a teleoperated robot; read more about Wellman's excellent description of a teleoperated robot surrogate.

I can't remember other sf films or stories with similar themes offhand, but I'm sure there must be lots of them. Readers?

From Little Island [English].

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 2/5/2009)

Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.

| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |

Would you like to contribute a story tip? It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add it here.

Comment/Join discussion ( 2 )

Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")

Korean Exoskeleton Suit F1 Helps You Put It On
'Better late than never.'

Humanoid Robots Spotted In Homes Performing Household Chores
'... nothing was perfected until M. Pantalon announced the completion of his automatic valet.' Arthur Bird, 1899.

Bambot Open Source Cheap Delivery Robot
'Not since the time he rewired the delivery robot...'

Robot Collective Acts Like A Smart Material
'...it was all composed of tiny, identical cubes, carefully laid to form a tilelike surface.'

 

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 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

Current News

Korean Exoskeleton Suit F1 Helps You Put It On
'Better late than never.'

Have AI Researchers Given Up On 'Bio-Babies'?
'You couldn't have the capstone without the pyramid to hold it up.'

Bunker Busters and Bore-Pellets
'The first revelation of the new Soviet bore-pellets.'

'Spikeless' Brand Swizzle Stick Detects Spiked Drinks
'the unobtrusive inspections with tiny remote-cast snoopers...'

Heart Patches Grown In The Lab Repair Hearts
I'm hoping that this procedure becomes a normal part of medical practice!

Humanoid Robots Spotted In Homes Performing Household Chores
'... nothing was perfected until M. Pantalon announced the completion of his automatic valet.'

Musk Proposes Sites For Martian Cities
'...its streets were of remarkable width, with few or no buildings so high as mosques, churches, State-offices, or palaces in Tellurian cities.'

Bambot Open Source Cheap Delivery Robot
'Not since the time he rewired the delivery robot...'

Robot Collective Acts Like A Smart Material
'...it was all composed of tiny, identical cubes, carefully laid to form a tilelike surface.'

Vipera Electric Skis From Frigid Dynamics
'JOAN strapped on her power-skis...'

Pixel Watch 'Loss of Pulse Detection' And Philip K. Dick
'He carried on his person a triggering mechanism sensitive to his heartbeat.'

Nuclear Plant Restarted To Power AI To Feed Us Dreams
'...Anything was possible in my imaginary environment.'

SpaceX's Starman Tesla Roadster In Space
'Somewhere in space, a chrome and blue automobile raced the green light of Earth.'

Pivotal Blackfly Electric Aircraft Lifts And Hovers
'That explains how it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair...'

CORLEO Robotic Horse Concept Looks Ready To Ride
Imagine digging your heels in to a steam horse!

Who First Thought Of A Tin Foil Hat?
'We had discovered that metal was relatively impervious to the telepathic effect.'

More SF in the News Stories

More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories

Home | Glossary | Invention Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.