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Feel Virtual Reality In Mid-Air!

Science fiction writer Frederik Pohl made a startling prediction in his 1965 novel The Age of the Pussyfoot. He described a special capability of his joymaker device, itself a bold prediction of our world of connected smartphones.

The device could make users feel a non-existent object in mid-air or on their own skin - like a kiss:

"Man Forrester, the personal callers are as follows:

...Adne Bensen: female, Universalist, Arcadian-Trimmer, twenty-three declared, five feet seven inches, experiencer-homeswoman, no business stated. Her kiss follows."

Forrester did not know what to expect but was pleasantly ready for anything.

What he got was indeed a kiss. It was disconcerting. No kissing lips were visible. There was a hint of perfumed breath, then a pressure on the lips - warm and soft, moist and sweet.

Startled, he touched his mouth. "How the devil did you do that?" he shouted.

"Sensory stimulation through the tactile net, Man Forrester..."
(Read more about Pohl's Virtual Kiss (Tactile Net) )

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Related News Stories - (" Virtual Person ")

Anna Indiana AI Singer-Songwriter
'She is a personality-construct, a congeries of software agents' - William Gibson, 1984

Metaverse Hardware - Run And Flail Like A Maniac, Or Lie Quietly?
'Holodeck 4 was waiting to be programmed...' - David Gerrold, 1987.

Virtual Co-Embodyment - Two People Control One Virtual Body
'...we were supposed to be forming five unit composites first.' - Robert Sheckley, 1995.

Sorry, Futurists! Tamagotchi Kids, Virtual Children Already Predicted By SF Writer in 2008
'Little Linda, a Headspace baby, was four years old now... ' - Stephen Baxter, 2008.

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