 |
Surveillance in Science Fiction
(Technovelgy items at top: skip
down to News)
Name |
Author (Publication Date) |
| Neal Stephenson (1995) | |
| Philip K. Dick (1964) | |
| Robert J. Sawyer (2003) | |
| Isaac Asimov (1951) | |
| Roger Zelazny (1966) | |
| Karen Traviss (2004) | |
| Philip K. Dick (1964) | |
| Jack Vance (1979) | |
| Edmond Hamilton (1938) | |
| Larry Niven (1972) | |
| George Orwell (1948) | |
| Patricia Jo Clayton (1990) | |
| Larry Niven (1980) | |
| Roger Zelazny (1976) | |
| William Gibson (1988) | |
| James Blish (1957) | |
| Ray Cummings (1931) | |
| Roger Zelazny (1966) | |
| Michael Crichton (1985) | |
| Harry Harrison (1959) | |
| Philip K. Dick (1970) | |
| Alexander Besher (1994) | |
| Philip K. Dick (1964) | |
| Philip K. Dick (1969) | |
| Charles Stross (2007) | |
| Greg Bear (2003) | |
| Ray Cummings (1931) | |
| John Jacob Astor IV (1894) | |
| Cory Doctorow (2008) | |
| Philip K. Dick (1955) | |
| Bruce Sterling (1998) | |
| Arthur K. Barnes (1938) | |
| Robert Heinlein (1982) | |
| Stephen Spielberg (2002) | |
| Jack Vance (1954) | |
| Jack Vance (1954) | |
| Ray Cummings (1928) | |
| Jack Vance (1979) | |
| Robert Silverberg (1969) | |
| Philip K. Dick (1960) | |
| Harry Harrison (1959) | |
| Raymond Z. Gallun (1936) | |
| J.G. Ballard (1962) | |
| Frank Herbert (1984) | |
| William Gibson (1988) | |
| Alfred Bester (1974) | |
| Neal Stephenson (1995) | |
| David Brin (1990) | |
| E.E. 'Doc' Smith (1934) | |
| Jack Vance (1964) | |
| Nat Schachner (1937) | |
| Philip K. Dick (1963) | |
| George Orwell (1948) | |
| Roger Zelazny (1980) | |
| Gosho Aoyama (1994) | |
| Patricia Jo Clayton (1990) | |
| Robert Heinlein (1941) | |
| David Brin (1990) | |
| Harry Harrison (1956) | |
| Nat Schachner (1937) | |
| William Gibson (1996) | |
| Gosho Aoyama (1994) | |
| Larry Niven (1996) | |
| Roger Zelazny (1980) |
Related Science Fiction in the News
ViconRevue Records Every Minute of Your Life The SenseCam will be produced commercially by a UK company (re: Roger Zelazny, 10/20/2009 ) |
Yes, Internet Eyes Is A 'Snooper's Paradise' New UK (where else?) website will let you, the anonymous snitcher, surveil your fellow citizens in the comfort of your own home. (re: Ray Bradbury, 10/11/2009 ) |
See Through Walls With Wireless Networks This technology for surveillance actually uses WiFi networks to figure out how many people are in a room and where they are. (re: Nat Schachner, 10/1/2009 ) |
Secret GPS Tracking Devices Legal Tracking an individual just got a little bit easier. (re: Various, 9/19/2009 ) |
Eye-bot Lands On Your Ceiling Yes, look up - what's that? A ceiling fan you didn't know you had? No, it's a surveillance drone with excellent autonomous capabilities. With video. Smile for the camera! (re: Jack Vance, 8/21/2009 ) |
iPhone UAV Drone Control App It won't be long now. I'll be reading some technothriller novel, and I'll read 'Sonya looked across to the neighboring building and eased her iPhone out of her purse. Selecting the proper app, she took control of the drone's final approach.' (re: Ray Cummings, 8/10/2009 ) |
Aeryon Scout UAV Gets Upgrades This little UAV has come a long way in just a year; it's a pretty close match to one of Jack Vance's ideas. (re: Jack Vance, 8/4/2009 ) |
In-Home Surveillance For 20K Brit Families Not content with constant monitoring by more CCTV cameras per person than any other nation, Britain wants to put them in the homes of problem families as well. (re: Pournelle and Niven, 8/3/2009 ) |
Surveillance By Flying Saucer UPDATED with new sf reference and video. Very well-behaved saucer-shaped surveillance drone certainly looks more cool than other hovering drones. (re: Michael Crichton, 7/29/2009 ) |
Cheaters May No Longer Prosper Interesting experiment shows a very specific difference between liars and truth-tellers. (re: H. Beam Piper, 7/17/2009 ) |
Face Recognition Now Sees Through Disguises Just when you thought your fake mustache and horn rim glasses were enough, clever software designers march on. (re: Philip K. Dick, 7/16/2009 ) |
Robo-Bat Has Shape Memory Alloy Joints Cutting edge materials used for bones, joints and muscles make this robotic bat as light as possible. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun, 7/8/2009 ) |
AMOLED E-Passport W/Rotating Mugshot This active matrix organic light emitting diode is no mere digital hokey-pokey; it's a three-dimensional driver's license photo, or (as Jack Vance might call it) a tri-type record. (re: Jack Vance, 6/20/2009 ) |
Flexible Polymer Fiber Camera This technology could be used to create a foldable telescope or a camera that is integrated into clothing. (re: Larry Niven, 6/19/2009 ) |
Human-Injectable Satellite Tracking Chip Unfortunately, someone has tried to patent a fifty year-old idea of Jack Vance's; we could all live without it, even as Vance's character would have preferred in the novel. (re: Jack Vance, 6/18/2009 ) |
Stealthy, Persistent Perch and Stare UAVs Yet another DARPA program that proves they've been reading great science fiction from the Thirties (and beyond). (re: Raymond Z. Gallun, 6/4/2009 ) |
Autonomous Rotorcraft Sniper System This device hovers over the urban battlefield, directed remotely (using a modified Xbox controller), with significant armament. (re: Larry Niven, 5/21/2009 ) |
Brain Scan Biometric Security Philip K. Dick proves once again that he had the future sussed; it appears that your brain scan can be used as a 'fingerprint'. (re: Philip K. Dick, 5/14/2009 ) |
GandhiCam For Blackberry Auto-Uploads Sousveillance Interesting application turns ordinary Blackberry into a civil resistance tool. (re: David Brin, 4/18/2009 ) |
Yahoo Japan's Minority Report Billboards Do you really want to walk past a screen, and then find out what a corporate face recognition algorithm thinks you are - young or old, rich or poor, male or female? (re: Stephen Spielberg, 4/13/2009 ) |
Smart Dew Sensor Monitoring Not quite dust-sized, but we're getting closer. (re: Stanislaw Lem, 3/31/2009 ) |
Perspiration As Biometric Identification Would it be faster to just get sniffed at an airline checkpoint, as opposed to showing ID? (re: Jim Thomas, 3/24/2009 ) |
UK School Face Recognition: Kiddie Orwell Tech Surveillance of schools now an enjoyable activity, claims UK school principals. (re: Greg Bear, 3/15/2009 ) |
Spatial Memories Seen In Hippocampus fMRI With this new technique, it was demonstrated that spatial memories can be seen by others using fMRI, bringing at least one Farscape technology closer to life. (re: Various, 3/13/2009 ) |
Micro Imagers For Sensing On Nano Air Vehicles Tiny eyes are needed for tiny surveillance drones - and DARPA's MSI program is designing them. (re: Neal Stephenson, 3/9/2009 ) |
Minority Report Ads Watching You Always Those Minority Report ads that looked stylish in 2002 are starting to look a bit more intrusive now. (re: Steven Spielberg, 1/30/2009 ) |
RFID-Enabled Poker Table This project brings to mind several new possibilities for poker players and poker tournament audiences. (re: Various, 12/21/2008 ) |
Micro Air Vehicle Video Shows SF Style This is a pretty cool concept video that lays out the ideas; Zelazny, Gallun, Dick, Vance and Noon all wrote about something similar. (re: Various, 12/15/2008 ) |
Eyeborg 'Little Brother' Would you feel unhappy about being filmed by someone with an eyeball camera? How do you feel when you are filmed in the mall or in a convenience store? Rob Spence wants to know. (re: D.G. Compton, 12/14/2008 ) |
Marauder's Map From RFID Plus Social Networking Thanks to the Open Attendee Meta-Data (OpenAMD) system and SocioPatterns.org, a version of the HP Marauder's Map will come to life. (re: Cory Doctorow, 12/8/2008 ) |
Precrime CCTV Cameras Now In Britain Portsmouth now sports a CCTV camera system that can detect crimes before they happen - sometimes. (re: Philip K. Dick, 11/28/2008 ) |
Boeing A160 Hummingbird Has Whisper Mode This autonomous surveillance drone helicopter has something in common with the fictional movie copter Blue Thunder. (re: Various, 11/24/2008 ) |
I-Ball Grenade Cam Just Lob And View Unique surveillance device can be tossed, lobbed or even grenade launched; it sends back 360 degree views. (re: Robert Silverberg, 11/19/2008 ) |
SOTHOC Submarine-Launched UAV Submerged submarines will have more information-gathering options with this sub-launched Submarine Over the Horizon Organic Capabilities device. (re: Various, 10/30/2008 ) |
You Can't Hide From DARPA DARPA wants to be able to fully visualize the interior of a ten-story building - right into the basement - without having to obtain the architect's drawings. (re: Various, 10/24/2008 ) |
'Hug And Kiss' Baby Ankle Monitor This handy pair of devices keep mothers and children together in crowded hospitals. (re: Philip K. Dick, 10/11/2008 ) |
DARPA Gandalf Project And Philip K. Dick The ability to target a single individual is one of Philip K. Dick's personal nightmares; he had a very special understanding of the military mind. (re: Philip K. Dick, 10/11/2008 ) |
Future Attribute Screening Technologies Precrime Detector You'd better be thinking nice thoughts the next time you go anywhere that DHS has a portable precrime detector handy - the FAST M2. (re: Philip K. Dick, 9/24/2008 ) |
Brando Spy Glassses Have Camera, Player Built-in Possibly first occurrence of a pair of glasses with both camera and player built into the frames. (re: David Brin, 9/22/2008 ) |
Minority Report Iris Scanners Ordered By US Army Mr. Anderton! A new future awaits you, thanks to the new iris scanning technology that will let the military take your iris scan anytime, without your knowledge. (re: Steven Spielberg, 9/22/2008 ) |
Spy Satellite Gait Analysis ID's You Amazing technical development may make routine identification possible from orbit. (re: Various, 9/5/2008 ) |
Draganflyer X6 Helicopter Has HD Camera Now, that's some stylish surveillance gear; the included video should push all your buttons. (re: Philip K. Dick, 8/28/2008 ) |
ContactPoint Database To End Anonymity In UK? This vast database has a checkered past before it is even implemented. (re: Buck Rogers, 8/26/2008 ) |
Zephyr Solar Plane Sails For Days This plane proves you can never be too thin or too ultralight; it may be a precursor to the Vulture program announced earlier in 2008. (re: Roger Zelazny, 8/25/2008 ) |
Robot Aircraft To Ride Thermal Air Currents New research will provide UAVs with a fuel-saving alternative that has helped flyers stay aloft for millions of years. (re: Roger Zelazny, 8/21/2008 ) |
Tumbleweed Spy Robot Camera This is a rough prototype device, but I like machines that are masters of more than one domain. (re: George Lucas, 8/18/2008 ) |
Beijing Taxis Now Police State-Compatible Be careful what you say at the Olympics, says US State Department. (re: Various, 8/12/2008 ) |
Cityware - Open Source Urban Surveillance With Bluetooth File this under interesting technology that is widely available and I'd never heard of; this project sits right on the line between modern urban planning and setting up a police state. (re: Various, 7/24/2008 ) |
DelFly Micro Smallest Camera Plane Look out - this tiny MAV ornithopter can be steered remotely using the video feed from its tiny camera. (re: Raymond Z. Gallune, 7/24/2008 ) |
'Brain Breathalyzer' For Astronauts Tiny brain scanner uses special technology to sense despondency, depression and mental fatigue in astronauts. (re: Philip K. Dick, 7/5/2008 ) |
Anti-Paparazzi Sunglasses DIY Counter Surveillance Nifty how-to video shows how to frustrate those cameras that are constantly trying to get a picture of your face. (re: Various, 6/25/2008 ) |
Let's Hear It For The Vague Blur! Would you feel better if you were a mere blur to the security forces that monitor our nation's security cameras? (re: Philip K. Dick, 6/16/2008 ) |
Cellphone Tracking Can Track Your Habits Study shows how a pattern of our movements can be created; our habits make predicting our movements child's play. (re: Ray Bradbury, 6/9/2008 ) |
UK Plans Massive Phone, E-Mail Database It's so tedious to pick and choose when surveilling citizens; why not just keep track of everything? (re: Philip K. Dick, 5/20/2008 ) |
BAE Spider Robot Wrist Watch Monitor The idea of a wrist band monitor or bracelet-monitor is a good idea now - and a good idea when I first read about it almost thirty years ago. (re: Roger Zelazny, 5/5/2008 ) |
Swarming Micro Air Vehicle Networks (SMAVNET) The US Army is setting up to learn about this idea; I found several good resources that I hope they're using. (re: Roger Zelazny, 4/20/2008 ) |
Aeryon Scout UAV Like In Crichton's Runaway Didn't I see this same device in the 1985 Michael Crichton movie Runaway? (re: Michael Crichton, 4/18/2008 ) |
WiiMote Control Packbot The Packbot is the latest in Wiimote-controlled devices. (re: Various, 4/4/2008 ) |
Small Robot Surveillance Balloons Like Niven's Copseye I think that Niven's idea is close enough to be cited as prior art for this patent. I can just see troops carrying a bunch of what looks like party balloons... (re: Larry Niven, 3/25/2008 ) |
'Tunnel Of Truth' Total Recall-Style Interesting concept seems to reveal that the Transportation Security Laboratory Director is a sf movie fan. (re: Paul Verhoeven, 3/14/2008 ) |
WCCTV 3G Covert Backpack - A Surveillance Vest This little item could be used for surveillance, yes, but also sousveillance. And it has a built-in panic button. (re: David Brin, 3/1/2008 ) |
LENA: Baby's Verbal LifeLog Do we really want our children tagged, recorded and analyzed like dolphins and bears? Apparently, yes. (re: Various, 2/24/2008 ) |
Honeywell Micro Air Vehicle Tested By Miami Police Tested extensively in Iraq, the Honeywell MAV is on its way to your neighborhood as part of police surveillance. (re: Michael Crichton, 2/22/2008 ) |
FBI Demands SkyNet, Uh, Server in the Sky Not content with National ID cards, the FBI wants to make sure that it has biometric data for the rest of the world as well. (re: George Orwell, 1/15/2008 ) |
DIY Gibson Video Column Convenience Store Video I've always liked William Gibson's idea of having a device that lets you see other convenience stores around the world whenever you walk into a Lucky Dragon store. (re: William Gibson, 1/14/2008 ) |
Microchips To Be Implanted In UK Convicts The UK Home Office seems to be getting under the skin of some UK residents. (re: Various, 1/14/2008 ) |
Video Vigilantes Upload Crime Videos Vigilantes now carry video cameras, uploading the evidence to the Internet. (re: David Brin, 12/28/2007 ) |
LEXID Sees Through Walls To Next Apartment The LEXID looks suspiciously close to being a consumer product; so much for privacy for apartment-dwellers. (re: John W. Campbell, 12/21/2007 ) |
Tiny Spyplanes May Recharge On Power Lines The next time you stare at all those birds lined up on the power line, look for the odd-shaped one with the surveillance sensors. (re: Roger Zelazny, 12/18/2007 ) |
Glasses Camera With Digital Video Recorder These glasses are an almost perfect match for David Brin's True-vu lenses from his 1990 novel Earth. (re: David Brin, 11/11/2007 ) |
Morphing Micro Air-Land Vehicle: It Flies, It Crawls There is something definitely creepy about a small flying vehicle that also crawls along to be able to spy better. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun, 10/17/2007 ) |
GM OnStar Will Soon Let Police Stop Your Car Is this new feature a good idea, or a security nightmare? What if the OnStar operator shut down the wrong car - like yours - by mistake? (re: Keith Laumer, 10/10/2007 ) |
Big Brother Wants To Sell You Something I guess it's less sinister when malls surveil you to see how rich you are, but it's still kind of 1984-ish. (re: George Orwell, 10/3/2007 ) |
ELASTIC Shotgun Cam Network This would seem to be the ultimate in ease of 'extending infrastructure' to a new location. (re: Various, 10/1/2007 ) |
Rapid Deployment Integrated Surveillance System (RDISS) Quickly deployed surveillance is a must in Iraq. (re: Robert Silverberg, 7/28/2007 ) |
Automated Border Control With NeoFace Face Recognition This system is good, but Jabba the Hutt's version was better. (re: George Lucas, 7/21/2007 ) |
Micro Air Vehicle In Use In Iraq This waste-basket-sized vehicle lets you see what's happening just ahead - maybe even on Hoth. (re: George Lucas, 7/8/2007 ) |
RFID Mates With Surveillance Cameras RFID chips plus surveillance cameras - how have we avoided this up to now? (re: Various, 6/24/2007 ) |
UK 'Bag Brother' Trashcams They're at it again - no crime is too small to be surveilled. (re: Various, 6/17/2007 ) |
CitizenObserver.com On The Watch This website gives you the chance to report suspicious activities of all kinds, 24x7. (re: Ray Bradbury, 6/3/2007 ) |
Big Brother To Read Lips Like HAL The British are at it again, taking a technology designed to deal with criminals, and applying it to everyone. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 5/2/2007 ) |
Big Brother Now Watching George Orwell's House Here's an added incentive to visit the house in which George Orwell wrote 1984 - something not mentioned in the guidebooks. (re: George Orwell, 4/14/2007 ) |
UK's Orwellian 'Baby' Brother Cams The British are really going overboard with their surveillance society. (re: George Orwell, 4/10/2007 ) |
IR Chemical Communication Graffiti Tags Wanted By DARPA ChemComm is a new proposed graffiti tagging technology under development by DARPA. (re: William Gibson, 3/29/2007 ) |
Onboard Threat Detection System For Big Brother Airlines This system seems a bit too intrusive, and probably would not make me feel more secure while flying. (re: George Orwell, 2/18/2007 ) |
RFID 'Powder' - World's Smallest RFID Tag New tag from Hitachi is incredibly small - truly RFID in powder form. (re: Bruce Sterling, 2/14/2007 ) |
Automatic License Plate Recognition Goes Mobile The police can now check up to 3,000 license plates per hour as they cruise down the road. (re: Robert Heinlein, 2/13/2007 ) |
Covert Iris Scanner Close To Minority Report Future Don't take your privacy for granted, Mr. Anderton. They've got public iris scanning now. (re: Stephen Spielberg, 2/6/2007 ) |
Canadian Coins Are Bugged Money DoD reports say that contractors have received cash with listening devices - now, where have I read that before? (re: Bruce Sterling, 1/11/2007 ) |
Trackable Clothing Now Solar Powered These jackets could come in handy just for regular people traveling in their cars, based on recent events. (re: Various, 12/25/2006 ) |
Polar Rose Photo Privacy And Surveillance Concerns Polar Rose finally addresses some of the privacy and surveillance concerns of its critics. (re: Various, 12/20/2006 ) |
UK Officers Wear Brin's True-Vu Lenses I think David Brin called this one about sixteen years ago; Britain really has a thing about surveillance... (re: David Brin, 11/23/2006 ) |
Autonomous UAV Surveillance Swarm Fascinating realization of work by Neal Stephenson and Roger Zelazny. (re: Neal Stephenson, 9/28/2006 ) |
Pileus Umbrella Flickr Photo Browser Cool art project that uses an umbrella to take, share and display photos. (re: David Brin, 9/22/2006 ) |
Trashcan Surveillance - Halt! Who Throws There? No science fiction writer ever thought of putting spy chips in garbage cans - it takes bureaucrats to do that. (re: , 8/30/2006 ) |
L.A. Surveillance Drones Grounded By FAA Los Angeles county sheriffs should have been reading Technovelgy - they could have avoided this problem. (re: Various, 6/22/2006 ) |
SkySeer UAV Drone Soars Over L.A. Police surveillance by means of unmanned aerial vehicles starts to spread across the country. Helpful tool or police state enabler? You be the judge. (re: Larry Niven, 6/15/2006 ) |
Gattaca-Style DNA Databank For 3 Million Americans More concerns surface as police gather DNA evidence from people who have only been arrested, not charged or even convicted. (re: Andrew Niccol, 6/3/2006 ) |
Big Brother TV Or Distributed Citizen Action? Big Brother or entertaining reality TV taken to a whole new level - you be the judge. (re: William Gibson, 6/2/2006 ) |
UAVs Invade Public Airspace Unmanned surveillance drones that are capable of autonomous flight are being used in Iraq. One day, you will look up - and probably not see it overhead in your neighborhood. (re: Greg Bear, 3/29/2006 ) |
FLAVIIR Flapless Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Flapless aircraft are stealthier and more amenable to reliable automated control. (re: Various, 3/22/2006 ) |
Spy Cameras Watch Spy Cameras In UK In Britain, home of 1984, surveillance cameras are under surveillance by - surveillance cameras. (re: George Orwell, 3/21/2006 ) |
Laser-Powered Aircraft Model Tested A nifty laser-powered model plane was tested in Osaka, Japan earlier this week. (re: Niven and Pournelle, 3/9/2006 ) |
Autonomous Soaring Project UAV Cloud Swift NASA experiments with tiny surveillance planes that can catch air currents autonomously. (re: Roger Zelazny, 10/6/2005 ) |
Blob Analysis Key To Next Generation Computerized Lie Detectors Blob analyzing computers can tell if you're lying - maybe. (re: H. Beam Piper, 9/12/2005 ) |
Wing-Morphing Micro Air Vehicles Bird-like MAVs use wings based on sea gulls to navigate urban canyons. (re: Jack Vance, 8/24/2005 ) |
Eye Ball R1 Remote Surveillance Camera The Eye Ball R1 is a compact wireless 360° mobile display system. It can be used in tactical operations by law enforcement personnel. If only they team up with the Rotundus robot guys... (re: Larry Niven, 4/29/2005 ) |
IP Cameras - Larry Niven's Webeye? IP cameras are providing a real short-cut for the surveillance-minded. Just position and click. (re: Larry Niven, 6/8/2004 ) |
EyeBall: Omni-Directional Smart Eye Sensor Update O.D.F. Optronics has created a small spherical sensor called the EyeBall that can transmit a 360 degree "omni-directional" image and can hear everything within a twenty-five meter area. (re: Robert Silverberg, 4/26/2004 ) |
Road Stud Traffic Camera Reads License Plates A traffic surveillance camera concealed in a road stud can read your license plate as you drive by; it can even see if your tires are bald at 150 miles per hour. (re: Robert Heinlein, 4/23/2004 ) |
Russian Flying Saucers Coming to USA Flying Saucers from Russia are coming to our skies - and the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command invited them. (re: Robert Heinlein, 4/8/2004 ) |
Categories:
Armor
Artificial Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Output Devices
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
Armor
Artificial Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Output Devices
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
