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

 

The Ultimate Wrist Watch Pip-Boy-style

Based on a Motorola Defy smartphone, this "ultimate wrist watch" has a custom-written app to light up with the right information whenever the wearer orients the watch in time-telling position.


(Ultimate wrist watch - Pip-Boy-style video)

The really cool feature of this app turning the screen on automatically when you look at the watch and turning it back off when your done. You should need to fumble around with the power button to check the time. This is accomplished my monitoring the acclerometer. When the phone is at the write angle it turns on (the angle and threshold is adjustable). Monitoring the acclerometer requires acquiring a partial wake lock. This of course will decrease your phone's battery life, but that's the price you pay for the ultimate watch. To help save the battery, the app will release the wake lock if it detects no movement for a long period (like an hour). Turning the screen on restarts the service.

Fans of the science fiction movie Predator will remember the alien wrist display; among its various functions - detonate nuclear blast.


(Predator wrist display and PDA)

Readers may also recall the wrist bracelet viewer from Roger Zelazny's excellent 1980 novel Changeling:

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... He controlled [the bird's] passage with the wristband and saw through its eyes upon the tiny screen in the bracelet's center. (Read more about Zelazny's wristband viewer)

And, of course, as the title of the article suggests, fans of the Fallout game series might be reminded of the RobCo Pip-Boy 3000.


(Pip-Boy from Fallout 3)

The Pip-Boy 3000 is a hand-held electronic device produced by RobCo Industries and is one of several Pip-Boy models that were issued as standard to Vault-Tec Vaults. The device has numerous functions, and its capable of displaying the character's stats, area maps, inventory, Geiger counter, and radio. It is also possible to illuminate the screen to a level that is sufficient to light the area immediately around the user, acting as a makeshift lantern in darkened areas.
(From Pip-Boy 3000)

From the Ultimate labs via Hack-a-day.

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 10/22/2012)

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 ( 0 )

Related News Stories - (" Display ")

Transparent 4K OLED Wireless TV From LG
You will note that HG Wells also figured out the aspect ratio of the future!

DOTPad Braille Device Offers Live Access
Amazing tactile display.

Transparent MicroLED Screen From Samsung
Has Samsung nailed the Look of Things To Come?

Augmented Reality Book Covers Reveal The Inner Book
'The E-paper holograms leaped from lurid covers...' - Greg Bear, 2003.

 

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

Tiny Flying Robot Weighs Just One Gram
'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.'

Some Ringworld Configurations Are Stable
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'

TRANSFORM Dynamic Furniture Concept Becomes What You Need
'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'

Harvard Metamaterials Change Structure Instantly
'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.'

SnapBot Robots - You Choose Their Legs And They Choose Their Gaits
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.

Dino From Magical Toys An AI Companion To Children
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'

Humanoid Robots Building Humanoid Robots
''Pardon me, Struthers,' he broke in suddenly... 'haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?''

Darpa 'Defiant' Unmanned Autonomous Ship
'There was no wheel, and no steersman!'

What's The Best Way To Ship And Unpack Humanoid Robots?
'I opened the oblong box, where lay the automatons side by side...'

DNA Printed Book By Isaac Asimov Now Available
'They tied the memory to the bloodline and that was their record!'

AI Computer Chip Designs Passeth Human Understanding
'It seems that at one time computers were designed directly by human beings.'

Space Traffic Management (STM) Needed Now
'...the spot was a lonely one in an uncharted region, far from the normal lanes of space traffic.'

Fine-Tune Your Infinite Book The Way You Want It
'I squatted down beside the roller and tried to make some sense out of the knobs. There were thirty-nine of them...'

SpiRobs Soft Spiral Robotic Arm
'Beware the long, flexible, glittering tentacles...'

Holland Factory 3D Printing 500 Tons Of Steak Per Month
'...I don’t understand technical things — tell me, does it ever feel anything?"

Stratospheric Solar Geoengineering From Harvard
'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.'

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.