 |
Dictionary of Surveillance Terms in Science Fiction
(Technovelgy items at top: skip
down to News)
Name |
Author (Publication Date) |
Aerostat Monitor - a small flying platform A small flying platform, capable of maneuvering in three dimensions; can hover in place and communicate with others like it. |
Neal Stephenson (1995) |
Agfom Potent-Shot - picture the future Special film allows user to take a picture of what happens in the next thirty minutes. |
Philip K. Dick (1964) |
Alcatraz of Space A planetoid prison. |
Clifford Simak (1938) |
Alibi Archive - personal recording A recording made of transmissions from a personal implant that perceived everything that happened to that individual. |
Robert J. Sawyer (2003) |
Anti-Spying Device Foolproof means of defending against spy beams. |
Isaac Asimov (1951) |
Artificial Eye Drone A remote flying device that transmits its view to the operator. |
Manly Wade Wellman (1938) |
Automatic Defensors Devices that follow along with you, providing extra viewpoints. |
A.E. van Vogt (1948) |
Auto-Scan Automated control of remote surveillance drones. |
Roger Zelazny (1966) |
Bee Cam Small, airborne, self-guided personal camcorder. |
Karen Traviss (2004) |
Bloodhound Machine Could positively identify a person using their scent alone. |
Ray Cummings (1935) |
Brain-Jacking Using insects for surveillance. |
Daniel Suarez (2012) |
Bug Chasers Anti-surveillance devices. |
Philip K. Dick (1964) |
Burner Modem A connection device that can be thrown away if necessary. |
M.T. Hill (2020) |
Car Dashboard Drone Controller A screen and controls for using a remote drone. |
Michael Crichton (1985) |
Cephalic Sniffer Device can locate an individual using brain patterns. |
Philip K. Dick (1964) |
Cephaloscope A device used to detect lying. |
Jack Vance (1954) |
Chest-Lens Part of an automatic photograph-and-send system. |
Philip K. Dick (1955) |
Conductive Film - spray on wire A spray-on conductor capable of carrying a signal. |
Jack Vance (1979) |
Control Helmet A device which causes an entire race of people to think and feel the same as the wearer. |
Edmond Hamilton (1938) |
Copseyes - a surveillance drone A small floating "eye-in-the-sky" surveillance drone used by police in an extensive park. |
Larry Niven (1972) |
Crimestop - no dangerous thoughts The faculty of stopping short, as though by instict, at the threshold of any dangerous thought. |
George Orwell (1948) |
Deadman's Device A device implanted beneath the skin of an operative who is to be sent on a hazardous mission. |
Patricia Jo Clayton (1990) |
Deep-Radar Device to image within large objects, even within mountains. |
Larry Niven (1980) |
DNA Swab Palate Adheres to the palate, and provides false material for DNA swabs. |
M.T. Hill (2020) |
Dog Suit - costumes for aliens that work A disguise worn by an alien detective, allowing him to look just like a domestic canine. |
Roger Zelazny (1976) |
Dornier - VTOL surveillance drone A small surveillance drone capable of hovering in midair. |
William Gibson (1988) |
Drone Floater Camera - fly and spy A one-foot square aerostat capable of hovering with a camera to transmit images back to a base station. |
Michael Crichton (1985) |
Eagle With Camera A live bald eagle equipped with a transmitting camera. |
Murray Leinster (1956) |
Eavesdropper - check if it's safe Device to detect the presence of recording devices. |
James Blish (1957) |
Eavesdropping Ray - hears through walls A device that allows others to hear from outside ordinary locked rooms. |
Ray Cummings (1930) |
EEG-Gram Projection Detection of unique characteristics at a distance. |
Philip K. Dick (1974) |
Electronic Locator A device that determines the location of a person. |
A.E. van Vogt (1945) |
Electronic Spy An autonomous device that kept itself hidden while keeping track of an individual's activity. |
Clifford Simak (1952) |
Emotional Register (ER) A small disk worn in the forehead that discloses the emotional state of the wearer. |
Brian Aldiss (1961) |
Eyes - semi-autonomous surveillance drones Flying remote-operated surveillance drones. |
Roger Zelazny (1966) |
Face Recognition Sunglasses Sunglasses that connect with a remote database to perform face recognition. |
Paolo Bacigalupi (2015) |
Ferretscope - who's listening? A counter-surveillance tool to detect the presence of listening devices. |
Robert Heinlein (1940) |
Flying Eye - I see you A remote-controlled device for surveillance overflight. |
Harry Harrison (1959) |
Flying Robot Drone Probe A remote-controlled flying drone used for remote investigation and surveillance. |
Robert Silverberg (1969) |
Freedom ID A chip inserted into the hand for identification (and surveillance) purposes. |
John Twelve Hawks (2014) |
Gait-Cam A surveillance camera system that analyzes the unique way in which people walk, to identify them. |
Cory Doctorow (2008) |
Genoprinter A device that does a 'live capture' of a biometric skin sample. |
John Varley (1977) |
Great Ear An electronic telepathic listening device that monitors thousands of people simultaneously. |
Philip K. Dick (1970) |
Holo (License) - 3D driver's license A three-dimensional driver license and identification card. |
Alexander Besher (1994) |
Housefly Monitor - flies with sensors A living fly that is outfitted with sensors for surveillance work. |
Philip K. Dick (1964) |
Hunter Program Searching for occupied dwellings by monitoring electric power usage. |
Spider Robinson (1982) |
Hypertracer A device that allows a pursuer to follow a spaceship through hyperspace. |
Isaac Asimov (1953) |
Hypnotelevisor A device that displays memories directly on a helmet screen. |
Philip Nowlan (w/D. Calkins) (1929) |
Ident Darts -track your brain Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that track individuals. |
Philip K. Dick (1969) |
Identification Ring An apparently ordinary ring, which minutely describes and identifies its wearer. |
Eric Frank Russell (1939) |
Ident-Key Allows the retrieval of a person's entire history of reading material, allowing the prediction of his future thinking. |
Philip K. Dick (1964) |
Infiltrators Surveillance devices, small and insectile. |
Philip K. Dick (1960) |
IntruGrab A system designed to capture intruders. |
Christopher Anvil (1961) |
Invisible Watchmen Automated 'home security' sentry system that targets and eliminates intruders. |
Edmond Hamilton (1938) |
Isolation Barrage Device prevents eavesdropping. |
Ray Cummings (1932) |
Lifelog - life record A life record made constantly. |
Charles Stross (2007) |
Little Bird - surveillance drone (UAV) A remote-control "eye-in-the-sky" miniature drone plane (UAV). |
Greg Bear (2003) |
Low-scale Detectors Magnifies even the smallest sound. |
Ray Cummings (1930) |
Magnetic Eyes A device that permits remote monitoring of people or other objects. |
John Jacob Astor IV (1894) |
Membrane A listening device. |
Yevgeny Zamyatin (1922) |
Microtransmitter Dot A tiny transmitter placed on ID cards, used to track ID holders. |
Philip K. Dick (1974) |
Midge A very small flapping wing UAV that can be carried by a larger flying device. |
Greg Bear (2007) |
Mini-Sneaker A small, airborne surveillance device. |
Brian Herbert (1972) |
Mirror Grid Multiple-View Surveillance Panel Very modern presentation combining multiple camera viewpoints, selectable using one monitor screen. |
Ray Cummings (1932) |
Monitored In-Home Security Camera Security cameras mounted inside your home that are monitored by a person outside your house, and not a member of your family. |
Jerry Pournelle (w/L. Niven) (1981) |
Multi-View Surveillance Display Lots of different video sources combined into one display. |
Roger Zelazny (1966) |
National Network Surveillance A system for providing the government with a way to monitor computer network use. |
John Brunner (1975) |
Norm-All Program A set of algorithms that determine a reasonable location for every citizen. |
John Twelve Hawks (2014) |
OSMO (Osmic Mobile Observers) UAV with the ability to "smell" their human quarry. |
Greg Bear (2007) |
Pacification Drones Surveillance drones that emit calming notes. |
M.T. Hill (2020) |
Panic Alarm Alarm senses intruders and instills mindless panic. |
Philip K. Dick (1968) |
Panoramic Viewer Permits observation at a distance, as well as the projection of a holographic image. |
Arthur C. Clarke (1953) |
Personal Metallic Record Disc A stamped metal record that contains all of a person's data in a convenient form. |
A.G. Stangland (1929) |
Phonographic Locks Doors that open using voice recognition. |
Clement Fezandie (1921) |
Photonomous - stay anon on Flickr A program that strips out the digital noise signature from a picture file. |
Cory Doctorow (2008) |
Plastotek False skin disguise. |
Robert Randall (1958) |
Plexiskin A means of disguise. |
Gordon Randall Garrett (1961) |
Privacy Screen A device that shields occupants from all possible forms of electronic intrusion and surveillance. |
William Gibson (1984) |
Probe Screen Hood - block the penetration of the mind A device that blocks attempts to see into the contents of the brain mind. |
Philip K. Dick (1955) |
Profile Sniffers - sifting the web A software device that sifts Internet access records for patterns associate with particular personality types. |
Bruce Sterling (1998) |
Psychoprobe - head examined Get to the truth. |
Arthur K. Barnes (1938) |
Public Eye A floating, free-roaming surveillance camera. |
Robert Heinlein (1982) |
Public Iris Scanner - Mr. Anderton A device that uses iris-scanning for identification, and does not require subject awareness. |
Steven Spielberg (2002) |
Radiant - just like RFID A chip that is injected into the shoulder, providing positioning and information about the subject. |
Jack Vance (1954) |
Radiant Shield A device that would effectively prevent an implanted radiant from being detected or read. |
Jack Vance (1954) |
Raytron Apparatus - aerial surveillance A device for aerial surveillance; the image was transmitted back to the user. |
Ray Cummings (1928) |
Receptor Tape - very thin microphone A thin, flexible material that can pick up sounds. |
Jack Vance (1979) |
Recording Eye - interplanetary surveillance A surveillance device that can survive being dropped from space; transmits images in a wide view. |
Robert Silverberg (1969) |
Robobug A cyborg insect. |
John Twelve Hawks (2009) |
Robot Snake Spy A small robot in the shape of a snake, used for field work by spies. |
Greg Bear (2009) |
Robot Tracking Device - preferred surveillance tool of AIs Small UAV robot remotely operated by an artificially intelligent computer. |
Philip K. Dick (1960) |
Robotic Trash Can - watch it A sensor-equipped waste can capable of autonomous cleaning - and legal judgement. |
Harry Harrison (1959) |
Satellite Photography for Surveillance Use of pictures taken from near Earth orbit for reconnaissance in a military operation. |
Jack Williamson (1931) |
Scarab Robot Flying Insect - tiny robotic insect A tiny flying robotic machine, used for surveillance. |
Raymond Z. Gallun (1936) |
Search Beams Penetrating rays that disclose the contents of rooms, ships, etc. |
Nat Schachner (1932) |
Selective Electric Eye A facial recognition device. |
Nat Schachner (w. AL Zagat) (1931) |
Senso-Cells - read the quirks Sensors that recorded personal characteristics of the owners of a house, to better serve their needs. |
J.G. Ballard (1962) |
Shere - beat the brain scan Destroys cells so that memory cannot be deduced from the cells of the person even in death. |
Frank Herbert (1984) |
| William Gibson (1988) | |
Skull Bug - implanted RFID monitor A small electronic device implanted in the cranium at birth; used for monitoring and control. |
Alfred Bester (1974) |
Skyball Remote-controlled UAV. |
David Gerrold (1985) |
Sky-Eye A football-sized flying surveillance device. |
Neal Stephenson (1995) |
Solar-Powered UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle that is entirely solar-powered. |
Roger Zelazny (1980) |
Sonomagnetic Fabric - listen with your shirt Cloth that gathers sound energy. |
David Brin (1990) |
Spy Beam A surveillance device that projects energy into a room, revealing conversation taking place. |
Isaac Asimov (1951) |
Spy Ray Goggles - see through walls A form of radiation that can penetrate walls to allow the user to 'see' what is happening on the other side. |
E.E. 'Doc' Smith (1934) |
Spy-Eyes Tiny robotic surveillance devices fly using propellers. |
H.B. Fyfe (1952) |
Static Field A defense against a spy beam. |
Isaac Asimov (1951) |
Stick-Tight A general term for surveillance devices that will follow a subject and record speech or video. |
Jack Vance (1964) |
Subphoton Search Ray - see through walls A special ray beam that penetrates into hidden bunkers; images are caught on special film cameras. |
Nat Schachner (1937) |
Tattletale - predicts the ankle monitor A device is attached to a criminal suspect, ensuring that his whereabouts are always known. |
Philip K. Dick (1963) |
Telephone Funnel A kind of two-way public loudspeaker. |
Victor Rousseau (1917) |
Tele-Photophonic Attachment A device that permits a telephone funnel to see as well as hear. |
Victor Rousseau (1917) |
Telescreen - Big Brother is watching Very early use of the idea of using technology to monitor human activity at a distance. |
George Orwell (1948) |
Thought Pattern Divination Attempting to construct the thoughts of a person by imitating their actions. |
Jack Vance (1954) |
Tracer-Bird - the birdie watches you A prototype surveillance drone; a mechanical bird. |
Roger Zelazny (1980) |
Tracing Glasses - find criminals now Locate criminals by using glasses to pick up signals from special transmitters. |
Gosho Aoyama (1994) |
Tracking Bracelet - a high security device A security device armed with explosives. |
Patricia Jo Clayton (1990) |
Traffic Control Camera - automatic identification An automated camera system that photographs license plates as cars move past on a road system. |
Robert Heinlein (1941) |
True-Vu Lenses (Goggles) - sneak a peek Lenses that are worn as goggles, allowing the user to both see and record what is being viewed. |
David Brin (1990) |
Ugly T-Shirt Uses disruptive patterning to make the wearer invisible to computerized surveillance techniques. |
William Gibson (2010) |
Ultraminiature Spy-Circuit Tiny bits of 'smart dust' used as surveillance devices. |
Christopher Anvil (1972) |
Undercover Detective Robot - who am I? Specialized robot masquerades as different robot types to spy on criminals. |
Harry Harrison (1956) |
VEIL A wearable device used to foil facial recognition systems. |
Neal Stephenson (2019) |
Vibration Screen - keep spy beams out! Subtle rays prevent electronic surveillance. |
Nat Schachner (1937) |
Video Unit - big bro Video units attached directly to the optic nerve, giving sight to the blind. |
William Gibson (1996) |
Virtual Panopticon A method that gathers information from many sources to effectively surveil any citizen as effectively as if he was in a glass cell. |
John Twelve Hawks (2005) |
Voice in the Ear Project a voice or sound to one individual's ears only. |
Arthur C. Clarke (1953) |
Voice-Changing Bowtie - hey, it's me Special device allows wearer to take on the voice of another person at will. |
Gosho Aoyama (1994) |
Webeye - Logitech endpoint Communications device with a camera, microphone, zoom lens, projector, etc.; can be sprayed on. |
Larry Niven (1996) |
Wristband Viewer A device for viewing aerial surveillance images that fits on your wrist. |
Roger Zelazny (1980) |
Zed-Ray A penetrating beam that would disclose the details inside of a closed object. |
Ray Cummings (1936) |
Related Science Fiction in the News
A System To Defeat AI Face Recognition '...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.' - Neal Stephenson, 2019. (re: Neal Stephenson, 11/1/2024 ) |
Smart TVs Are Listening! 'You had to live -- did live, from habit that became instinct -- in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard...' - George Orwell, 1948. (re: George Orwell, 10/9/2024 ) |
Police Drones In China Would Like To Have A Word With You ''OVERRIDE,' the City Fathers said suddenly, without being asked anything at all.' - James Blish, 1951. (re: James Blish, 10/7/2024 ) |
Detecting Drones In Ukraine With Candy (Sukork) '...a robot detector circuit closed, activating a bell." - Frank Quattrocchi, 1951. (re: Frank Quattrocchi, 9/9/2024 ) |
Goodness Gracious Me! Google Tries Face Recognition Security 'The actuating mechanism that should have operated by the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell...' - Schachner and Zagat, 1931. (re: Schachner and Zagat, 6/16/2024 ) |
Live Stream With Meta-Ban Multimodal Smart Glasses '...the bug-eyed, opaque gape of her True-Vu lenses.' - David Brin, 1990. (re: David Brin, 5/18/2024 ) |
Brin's 1990 Novel Earth Still Full Of Predictions '... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.' - David Brin, 1990. (re: David Brin, 4/20/2024 ) |
Amazon One Is Frank Herbert's Palm Lock 'A palm lock must be keyed to one individual's hand shape and palm lines.' - Frank Herbert, 1965. (re: Frank Herbert, 8/25/2023 ) |
Who Needs Dogs? Trained Bees Detect Explosives 'The directing neurological tissue that forms the basis of the swibble is alive...' - Philip K Dick, 1955. (re: Philip K. Dick, 6/19/2023 ) |
Government In-Home Surveillance - Yes! Say Third Of Under-30 Adults 'The TV screen flicked to show a kitchen.' - Pournelle and Niven, 1981. (re: Pournelle and Niven, 6/3/2023 ) |
New Train Station Offers Minority Report-Style Signs A whole new world awaits you, John Anderton! (re: Steven Spielberg, 9/23/2022 ) |
'Ring Nation' Show Predicted By William Gibson In 1999 '... you had your trademark Lucky Dragon Global Interactive Video Column outside.' (re: William Gibson, 8/5/2022 ) |
The Wanderer: Eyebot From Fallout, Eye From Zelazny 'We send our eyes on their appointed rounds, and they can hover or soar or back up...' - Roger Zelazny, 1966. (re: Roger Zelazny, 7/27/2022 ) |
Small Town Wants 60 License Plate Readers 'the registration number which the traffic control automatically photographed as she left the controlway...' - Robert Heinlein, 1940. (re: Robert Heinlein, 7/1/2022 ) |
Pixy Flying Selfie Drone From Snap 'It hovered behind him like a large tame bee.' - Karen Traviss, 2004. (re: Karen Traviss, 6/13/2022 ) |
Answer To Teacher Spying And Student Surveillance? ParanoidLinux! 'ParanoidLinux is an operating system that assumes that its operator is under assault from the government...' - Cory Doctorow, 2008. (re: Cory Doctorow, 1/28/2022 ) |
Facebook Unexpectedly Turns Away From Sfnal Face Recognition '... the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell.' Schachner and Zagat, 1931. (re: Schachner and Zagat, 11/3/2021 ) |
Florida Man Felt Harassed By Drone, Shoots It Down '...a kid bounced a missile off a golden ball.' - Larry Niven, 1972. (re: Larry Niven, 7/9/2021 ) |
Guard Dog Robot Security Check 'We still use people at the main gates, but here it's an automated sentry.' - Greg Bear, 2003 (re: Greg Bear, 3/17/2021 ) |
Portsmouth, OH Residents Don't All Favor Drone Surveillance '...a kid bounced a missile off a golden ball.' - Larry Niven, 1972. (re: Larry Niven, 2/25/2021 ) |
Airport Security Now Using Predator-Style Heat Vision Helmets 'Want some candy?' (re: Various, 11/23/2020 ) |
'Alexa For Residential' A Landlord's Dream (Tenant's Nightmare?) '...unseen mechanical entities... that are in our very midst. One of them following each of us.' - Philip K. Dick, 1960. (re: Philip K. Dick, 9/1/2020 ) |
Foiling Facial Recognition, Fighting Coaster Viruses, Harlan Ellison-Style I have no mouth and I must scream. (re: Harlan Ellison, 7/21/2020 ) |
Adversarial Pattern Shirts Confound Object Detection Systems Ah, to be a vague blur! (re: Philip K. Dick, 3/29/2020 ) |
A Passing Drone Has Covid-19 Advice 'Gold dots against blue, basketball-sized, twelve feet up.' Larry Niven, 1972. (re: Larry Niven, 3/25/2020 ) |
Drones Used To Smuggle Contraband Into Prison 'And some mega chip inside so it never runs into anything and no cop ever sees it.' - Bruce Sterling, 1994. (re: Bruce Sterling, 2/29/2020 ) |
DARPA's Subterranean Challenge Let the machines explore the underground city! (re: Ridley Scott, 2/17/2020 ) |
Airbnb Has Surveillance Device Suggestions 'Ma'am, this is Central Security... I think you'd better have a look.' - Pournelle and Niven, 1981. (re: Pournelle and Niven, 2/13/2020 ) |
Students Surveilled By School Phone Apps Cheer up, students. '...cracking my SchoolBook had been easy.' - Cory Doctorow, 2008. (re: Cory Doctorow, 12/27/2019 ) |
DoD Requests AI Drone Swarm 'She saw into two glassy mechanical lenses, something with a tubelike body...' - Philip K. Dick, 1960. (re: Philip K. DIck, 12/19/2019 ) |
Chinese Steal American Seeds From Our Fields 'The Iszic maintain a jealously guarded monopoly...' (re: Jack Vance, 12/5/2019 ) |
Zephyr Solar-Electric Stratospheric Drone 'The planes flew continuously, twenty-four hours a day...' - EB White, 1950. (re: E.B. White, 9/9/2019 ) |
Robot Hummingbird Hovers Biomimetically 'With a buzz... it started out on its journey.' - Raymond Z. Gallun, 1936. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun, 9/7/2019 ) |
Capitalist Big Brother Co-Opts Regular Big Brother 'It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time.' - George Orwell, 1948. (re: George Orwell, 9/3/2019 ) |
Juggalo Face Paint Disrupts Facial Recognition '... designed to foil facial recognition systems.' - Neal Stephenson, 2019 (re: Neal Stephenson, 7/3/2019 ) |
'Agression Detectors' Don't Work When Spying On Students 'The professional agitators had also learned how to modulate their voices below the danger level...' - Anne McCaffrey, 1973. (re: Anne McCaffrey, 6/17/2019 ) |
Adversarial Patches Trick Computer Vision 'The surveillance cameras can all see it, but then they forget they’ve seen it.' - William Gibson, 2010. (re: William Gibson, 4/11/2019 ) |
FLIR Black Hornet 3 Palm-sized Drone These drones can provide situational awareness beyond visual line-of-sight capability. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun, 3/11/2019 ) |
Ionocraft Drone Powered By Electrohydrodynamic Thrust 'He saw one hiss by him as he rounded the corner, trailing a short whip antenna...' - Neal Stephenson, 1995. (re: Neal Stephenson, 2/5/2019 ) |
UK Police AI To Stop Criminals Before They Strike '... the computing mechanisms that studied and restructured the incoming material.' - Philip K. Dick, 1956. (re: Philip K. Dick, 11/29/2018 ) |
Chinese Face Recognition Mistakes Bus Ad For Jaywalker '... the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell.' - Schachner and Zagat, 1931. (re: Schachner and Zagat, 11/24/2018 ) |
China's Social Credit System - A Facebook-1984 Mashup 'Prestige, face, mana, repute, glory: the Sirenese word is strakh.' - Jack Vance, 1976. (re: Jack Vance, 11/21/2018 ) |
Chinese Watrix Gait Recognition Watching You Always '... those pesky gait-recognition cameras.' - Cory Doctorow, 2008. (re: Cory Doctorow, 11/7/2018 ) |
Birds Aren't Real - Wake Up, California! (With Bird Watching Guide) 'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.' - Philip E. High, 1968. (re: Philip E. High, 10/8/2018 ) |
LA Subway Scanner, As Seen In 'Total Recall' 'I'm afraid to tell you this Mr. Quaid, but you have suffered a schizoed embolism...' (re: Philip K. Dick, 8/17/2018 ) |
Amazon's Rekognition System Sees Criminals In Congress '... the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell.' - Schachner and Zagat, 1931. (re: Schachner and Zagat, 7/23/2018 ) |
IJOP Integrated Joint Operations Platform China's Minority Report? 'All day long the idiots babbled, imprisoned in their special high-backed chairs...' (re: Philip K. Dick, 3/4/2018 ) |
Kuri Robot Roams Your Home, Taking Pictures 'Small devices with cameras and sound equipment which could move freely...' (re: Niven and Pournelle, 2/16/2018 ) |
Nuclear Drones Could Fly For Years 'I sent my eyes on their rounds and tended my gallery of one hundred-thirty changing pictures...' - Roger Zelazny, 1966. (re: Roger Zelazny, 12/3/2017 ) |
China's Drone Fleet Flies In Formation 'Programmed to hang... in a hexagonal grid pattern.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995. (re: Neal Stephenson, 8/13/2017 ) |
RFID Chipped Employees Of Three Square Market 'About a third of the people in Manhattan have replaced their Freedom Card with a radio-frequency chip...' - John Twelve Hawks, 2015. (re: John Twelve Hawks, 7/21/2017 ) |
SkEye Amazing Israeli Gigapixel Drone 'An eye that could not only see, but fly...' - Manly Wade Wellman, 1938. (re: Manly Wade Wellman, 6/1/2017 ) |
Cyborg DragonflEye At Your Command 'The dragonfly responded like a toy airplane, taking off and heading east...' (re: John Twelve Hawks, 5/18/2017 ) |
Bat Bot Robotic Flapping-Wing Drone 'The dark birdforms dotted the mountaintops like statues of prehistoric beasts, wings outspread...' - Roger Zelazny, 1980. (re: Roger Zelazny, 5/1/2017 ) |
Sky Fence - A Drone-Proof Shield Created Over Prison 'There’s still a protective field over the whole thing. It volatilizes anything that tries to get through.' - Robert Silverberg, 1969. (re: Robert Silverberg, 4/28/2017 ) |
Project KOVR Fashion Protection From Infosphere '... the entire shroudlike membrane took on whatever physical characteristics were projected at any nanosecond.' - Philip K. Dick, 1977. (re: Philip K. Dick, 4/5/2017 ) |
Is Genetic Testing At Businesses A Bad Idea? It's not a topic that fares well in science fiction movies- (re: Andrew Niccol, 3/5/2017 ) |
Sweden Outlaws Drones 'An eye that could not only see, but fly, roam, travel at speeds and in directions to suit its operator...' (re: Manly Wade Wellman, 2/20/2017 ) |
Use Your Brainwaves As A Password 'The doors of Mr. Lars, Incorporated, shut, tuned as they were to his own cephalic pattern.'- Philip K. Dick, 1965. (re: Philip K. Dick, 1/22/2017 ) |
Largest Micro-Drone Swarm Release Successful '... Programmed to hang in space in a hexagonal grid pattern.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995. (re: Neal Stephenson, 1/5/2017 ) |
HyperFace Aims To Foil Facial Recognition '...A million and a half physiognomic fraction-representations of various people.' - Philip K. Dick, 1977. (re: Philip K. Dick, 12/30/2016 ) |
Woolim DPRK Surveillance Tablet And Doctorow's 'Schoolbook' '...cracking my SchoolBook had been easy.' Take heed, North Koreans! (re: Cory Doctorow, 12/28/2016 ) |
Your 'Odortype' Is Unique! 'But we had his olfactory classification...' - Ray Cummings, 1935. (re: Ray Cummings, 12/10/2016 ) |
Drowning? Lifeguard Drones Overhead! 'The death-reversal equipment is on its way...'- Frederk Pohl, 1965. (re: Frederik Pohl, 10/27/2016 ) |
Dubai Considers Robocop 'This was a nice-looking hunk of machinery. - Harry Harrison, 1958. (re: Harry Harrison, 10/19/2016 ) |
Airnest Drone Flight Logging Tool 'He reached to unsnap the cartograph from his belt.'- Jack Williamson, 1931. (re: Jack Williamson, 10/16/2016 ) |
Snap Specs - Snapchat Spectacles - Are Video Glasses 'The old woman laid her wire-knitting aside and fixed them with the bug-eyed, opaque gape...' David Brin, 1990. (re: David Brin, 9/10/2016 ) |
Bradbury's Method Used In Search For Bombing Suspect 'He imagined thousands on thousands of faces peering into yards, into alleys...' - Ray Bradbury, 1953. (re: Ray Bradbury, 9/3/2016 ) |
Drone 100, Coordinated Drone Performance Team 'The real border was... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995. (re: Neal Stephenson, 7/21/2016 ) |
Satellite Surveillance Reveals Guerrilla Drug Trade 'A photograph, taken from space, of part of the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. And see!' - Jack Williamson, 1931. (re: Jack Williamson, 7/18/2016 ) |
iBubble Scuba Drone Follower 'Hovered behind him like a large tame bee...' - Karen Traviss, 2004. (re: Karen Traviss, 4/19/2016 ) |
'Eye In The Sky' Movie Borrows 35, 80 Year-Old SF SF writers don't have a problem seeing decades into the future. (re: Roger Zelazny, 3/19/2016 ) |
Voice-Recognition Door DIY 'Almost all our locks are phonographic.' - Clement Fezandie, 1921. (re: Clement Fezandi, 2/15/2016 ) |
The Eye Is Watching! Samsung Gear 360 Camera 'It scooped up the eye that had been witnessing its activities.' - Robert Silverberg, 1969. (re: Robert Silverberg, 2/6/2016 ) |
Tired Of Speeders On Your Block? DIY Speed Tracker! 'There is no danger of a vehicle's speed exceeding that allowed in the section in which it happens to be...'- John Jacob Astor IV, 1894. (re: John Jacob Astor IV, 1/30/2016 ) |
Centriphone Whirling Selfie Camera ''Tight mid-shot and pull out on but behind me,' he told it...' - Karen Traviss, 2004. (re: Karen Traviss, 1/29/2016 ) |
Eagles Vs. Drones 'Moon bird's view was... partly blocked by the pyramid, so that he did not see the bird-things dark against the brilliant sky...' - Roger Zelazny, 1080. (re: , 1/28/2016 ) |
VIDIUS Smallest First Person View (FPV) Drone '...the Scarab... transmitting to its manipulator, far away now, all that ... it saw with its minute vision tubes.' - Raymond Z. Gallun, 1936. (re: Raymond Z Gallun, 1/10/2016 ) |
ShotSpotter Gunshot Location Tech Expands Coverage 'Sound trackers on the roof could zero in on weapons action...' - Greg Bear, 2007. (re: Greg Bear, 1/6/2016 ) |
Drone Catches Drone! In Japan 'The real border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995 (re: Neal Stephenson, 12/5/2015 ) |
Aerial Assault Drone Looking For Padme's Apartment "I can sense everything that is happening in that room.' (re: , 11/29/2015 ) |
Naviator Drone Flies - And Swims Every sub commander wants a Flying Sub! (re: Irwin Allen, 11/24/2015 ) |
Graphene Thermopile May Grant Predator Heat Vision To Humans 'What the hell are you?' Predator vision systems at work. (re: Various, 11/3/2015 ) |
RF-Capture Lets MIT Boffins See Through Walls 'A television set that would see through walls...' - Nat Schachner, 1936. (re: Nat Schachner, 10/23/2015 ) |
MIT's Microwave Camera Sees Through Walls 'Through the lenses of those goggles Costigan's keen and highly-trained eyes studied every concealed detail...' - EE 'Doc' Smith, 1934. (re: EE 'Doc' Smith, 10/9/2015 ) |
Ultralight Origami Crane UAV Flexes Its Wings 'They began to flex their wings.' - (re: Roger Zelazny, 10/2/2015 ) |
Armed Drone Opens Fire 'Each a television eye and a sonic stunner...' - Larry Niven, 1972. (re: Larry Niven, 7/13/2015 ) |
Kuwait Creates Mandatory DNA Database For Citizens And who has the largest DNA database on its citizens? USA. (re: Andrew Niccol, 7/3/2015 ) |
Brainwaves As Biometric Identification 'The doors of Mr. Lars, Incorporated, shut, tuned as they were to his own cephalic pattern.'- Philip K. Dick, 1965. (re: Philip K. Dick, 6/23/2015 ) |
Bee Narcs To Perform Drug 'Stings' 'Time for a replacement of both Behren and his dipterous insect...'- Philip K. Dick, 1964. (re: Philip K. Dick, 6/16/2015 ) |
Cool Foldable Mini-Quadcopter 'Eddie pocketed the bee cam...'- Karen Traviss. 2004. (re: Karen Traviss, 5/17/2015 ) |
Cicada UAV Dropped In Swarms 'We... dropped roughly a thousand eyes on Beta Hydri IV.'- Robert Silverberg, 1969. (re: Robert Silverberg, 5/15/2015 ) |
Lily Camera Video Sport Selfie Drone 'He set his camera to follow him, and it hovered behind him like a large tame bee.'- Karen Traviss, 2004. (re: Karen Traviss, 5/12/2015 ) |
Mr. Anderton, Beware This Long-Range Iris Scanner Try keeping your eyes shut, Mr. Anderton. (re: Steven Spielberg, 4/14/2015 ) |
'Forever' Camera Powered By Its Own Images 'What I have in this camera is not a record of what you did just now but what will go on here in the next half hour...'- Philip K. Dick, 1964. (re: Philip K. Dick, 4/12/2015 ) |
Pepper Spray Drones Do Crowd Control For Indian Police 'Basketball-sized, twelve feet up... they were there to enforce the law...'- Larry Niven, 1972. (re: Larry Niven, 4/1/2015 ) |
US Customs Now Doing Facial Recognition At DC Airport Are you who you say you are? (re: Schachner and Zagat, 3/12/2015 ) |
Seattle Police Body Cams, Ala Stross, Ala Dick 'Let's hear it for the vague blur!'- Philip K. Dick, 1977. (re: Charles Stross, 3/1/2015 ) |
Brainflight Brain-Controlled Drone 'Mr Gant, you must think in Russian. Can you do that?'- 1982 film 'Firefox' (re: Various, 2/26/2015 ) |
The Martians Are On Their Way! 'Dense clouds of smoke or dust, visible through a powerful telescope on earth...'- HG Wells, 1898. (re: HG Wells, 2/16/2015 ) |
Meet Samsung's SmartTV Telescreen 'The City Fathers overheard everything one said...' - James Blish, 1957. (re: James Blish, 2/9/2015 ) |
RFID Chip Implants Required In Epicenter Office Block In Sweden Replace those ID cards... with ID chips! (re: John Twelve Hawks, 1/29/2015 ) |
DJI Phantom Drone Now With GPS Blocking 'Workarounds were illegal and the fines were expensive...'- Greg Bear 2007. (re: Greg Bear, 1/27/2015 ) |
Range R Lets Police See Into Your House There are lots of ways to see through walls! (re: Nat Schachner, 1/11/2015 ) |
DARPA Video Highlights Fast Lightweight Autonomy Drones We've got the idea, DARPA. Or we're getting it. (re: Ray Cummings, 1/1/2015 ) |
Fast Lightweight Autonomy Indoor Drones For DARPA 'the Scarab buzzed into the great workroom... and sought the security of a shadowed corner.'- Raymond Z. Gallun, 1936. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun, 12/11/2014 ) |
First Person Video Flying Parrot Bebop Drone Video 'Over a radius of several miles Sonya's raytron apparatus could direct its flight...'- Ray Cummings, 1928. (re: Ray Cummings , 11/23/2014 ) |
Parrot Bebop Drone Pairs With Your Smartphone 'Over a radius of several miles Sonya's raytron apparatus could direct its flight [using] an image of all that the lens eye saw.'- Ray Cummings, 1928. (re: Ray Cummings, 11/19/2014 ) |
Nixie Wrist-Ready Flying Selfie-Cam Drone 'He set his camera to follow him...' (re: Karen Traviss, 11/9/2014 ) |
Bullied UK Student Uses Sunglass Video For Case 'Watching, all the time watching... goggle-eye geeks...'- David Brin, 1990. (re: David Brin, 10/6/2014 ) |
AirDog Auto-Follow Drone Captures Your Awesomeness 'Tight mid-shot and pull out on but behind me...' -Karen Traviss, 2004. (re: Karen Traviss, 9/9/2014 ) |
Google's Project Wing Will Find You 'Mechanical entities that flit at the edges of our vision, that can go anywhere, that are in our very midst...' - Philip K. Dick, 1960. (re: Philip K. Dick, 9/1/2014 ) |
CV Dazzle Anti-Surveillance Make-Up 'Let's hear it for the vague blur!'- Philip K. Dick, 1977. (re: Philip K Dick, 7/23/2014 ) |
Cities Detect Gunfire Acoustics With ShotSpotter 'Sound trackers on the roof...'- Greg Bear, 2007. (re: Greg Bear, 7/16/2014 ) |
PredPol Predicting Crime As It Happens 'All day long the idiots babbled...'- Philip K. Dick, 1956. (re: Philip K. Dick, 4/5/2014 ) |
CUPID Intercept Drone Like Niven's Copseye 'Copseyes floated overhead... each a sonic stunner... they were there to enforce the law...'- Larry Niven, 1972 (re: Larry Niven, 3/9/2014 ) |
Is Privacy Too Expensive? 'It was not a large office, but it was quite spy-proof and quite undetectably so.'- Isaac Asimov, 1951 (re: Isaac Asimov, 3/5/2014 ) |
MeCam Selfie Nano Drone Like Karen Traviss' Bee Cam 'He set his camera to follow him, and it hovered behind him like a large tame bee.'- Karen Traviss, 2004. (re: Karen Traviss, 2/3/2014 ) |
Lapel Cameras For LAPD Officers 'Every move they made, were being transmitted to their home unit...'- David Brin, 1990. (re: David Brin, 1/14/2014 ) |
Stasi Colonel Says Obama Surveillance Is 'Dream Come True' 'There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment.'- George Orwell, 1948. (re: George Orwell, 12/24/2013 ) |
Army's New Bird-Like Surveillance UAV 'The prototype blue-bellied, gray-backed tracer-bird with the wide-angle eye…'- Roger Zelazny, 1980. (re: Roger Zelazny, 12/2/2013 ) |
Google's Skin Tattoo Lie Detector 'Three and a half centimetres in diameter, permanently fixed in the centre of his forehead.'- Brian Aldiss, 1961. (re: Brian Aldiss, 11/19/2013 ) |
Starchase Pursuit Management ala Star Wars Yes, but does it follow evil doers through hyperspace? (re: George Lucas, 10/24/2013 ) |
RealFace Glamoflage T-Shirt Like PKD's Scramble Suit '...a million and a half physiognomic fraction-representations of various people...'- Philip K. Dick, 1977 (re: Philip K. Dick, 10/3/2013 ) |
Mock Drone Attack On German Chancellor Try reading 'Kill Decision' to get another viewpoint on drone technology. (re: Daniel Suarez, 9/24/2013 ) |
Smartphone Monitoring Trashcans Binned 'The can intoned. "Galveston appreciates good citizenship.'- Bruce Sterling, 1988. (re: Bruce Sterling, 8/7/2013 ) |
NSA Data Mining And 'Cybernetic Water Witches' 'He was an intuitive fisher of patterns of information...'- William Gibson, 1996. (re: William Gibson, 6/25/2013 ) |
Is Noam Chomsky As Paranoid As Philip K. Dick? 'I'm Bill Behren... Operator of fly 33408...'- Philip K. Dick, 1964. (re: Philip K. Dick, 6/19/2013 ) |
'Marauder's Map' Created By Carnegie Melllon 'Is that Dumbledore in his study?' (re: J.K. Rowling, 6/17/2013 ) |
Orwell's '1984' Hits Bestseller Lists Thanks To PRISM 'There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment.'- George Orwell, 1948. (re: George Orwell, 6/12/2013 ) |
Court OK's DNA Collection Like 'Gattaca' DNA sampling is not the same as fingerprinting. Do you agree with this? (re: Andrew Niccol, 6/9/2013 ) |
Smartphone Sensor System Tracks Gunfire 'Sound trackers on the roof could zero in on weapons action...'-Greg Bear, 2007. (re: Greg Bear, 4/27/2013 ) |
SHEPHERD-MIL, A Birdlike Soaring UAV 'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.'- Philip E. High, 1968. (re: Philip E. High, 4/13/2013 ) |
AXON Flex And Stross' Cop Specs 'Arriving on SOC... Start evidence log." [E]verything you see on duty goes into the black box.'- Charles Stross, 2007. (re: Charles Stross, 4/6/2013 ) |
India Opts For Nationwide Iris Scanning 'The road you're on, John Anderton, is the one less traveled...'- Steven Spielberg, 2002. (re: Steven Spielberg, 2/24/2013 ) |
Black Hornet Nano UAV Used By British Troops 'The Scarab paused on its perch for a moment...'- Raymond Z. Gallun, 1936. (re: Raymond Z Gallun, 2/3/2013 ) |
Anti-Drone Hoodies And Burqas Counter Surveillance No, this isn't the citizen you're looking for. (re: Various, 1/22/2013 ) |
Can't Wait For My Robot Dragonfly! 'It studied its surroundings, transmitting to its manipulator... all that it heard through its ear microphones and saw with its minute vision tubes.' - Raymond Z. Gallun, 1936. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun, 1/5/2013 ) |
Merchants Get Face-Recognition Via The Cloud 'The road you're on, John Anderton, is the one less traveled...'- Steven Spielberg, 2002. (re: Schachner and Zagat, 11/12/2012 ) |
Computerized Surveillance Devices Open Their Eyes 'How often... the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork.'- George Orwell, 1948. (re: George Orwell, 11/2/2012 ) |
CCTV Camera Watches, Attached LCD Tells You How To Behave 'It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time.' (re: George Orwell, 4/30/2012 ) |
sFly UAVs Swarm Together For SAR Fascinating project from the European Union shows an autonomous 500g UAV. (re: Philip K. Dick, 4/24/2012 ) |
Cell Phones To See Through Walls 'They'd been trying to make a television set that would see through walls...' (re: Nat Schachner, 4/18/2012 ) |
Camouflage To Confound Face Recognition 'The wearer of a scramble suit was Everyman and in every combination.' (re: Philip K. Dick, 4/9/2012 ) |
School Kids In Brazil Now Wear 'Chipped' T-shirts 'Education does not transform the world.' Surveillance does, though. (re: Murray Leinster, 3/29/2012 ) |
Seatlle Police Drones Overhead Now Soon, you'll be seeing this tech flying over every town in America. Or maybe you won't see it; they're pretty small. (re: Roger Zelazny, 3/9/2012 ) |
FBI To Monitor Social Media Have you been sharing everything on social networks? Guess who wants to be a lurker? (re: Various, 1/26/2012 ) |
Van-Mounted Body Scanners Mock Your Idea Of Privacy Scanning now for weapons, who knows what future scans will reveal about you? (re: Various, 1/18/2012 ) |
Total Recall Security Tunnels Proposed 'No wonder you're having nightmares, you're always watching the news.' (re: Philip K. Dick, 12/20/2011 ) |
Surveillance Robots Learn To Hide This robot listens for the sound of footfalls, and then hides. (re: Philip K. Dick, 11/27/2011 ) |
DARPA's 'Biometrics-At-A-Distance' Knows You By Heart Your heart is calling out to DARPA, just like E.T.'s heart called out to the mothership. (re: Philip K. Dick, 11/22/2011 ) |
Drones Stick Tight, Remember Your Face This technology makes drones smarter. (re: Jack Vance, 9/28/2011 ) |
Emotion Detector Like PKD's Voight-Kampff Empathy Test This device was predicted by Philip K. Dick forty years ago. (re: Philip K. Dick, 9/13/2011 ) |
Surveillance Drone Bird Crashes If it really is a surveillance drone, whose is it? (re: Roger Zelazny, 9/1/2011 ) |
Lockheed Samurai MAV Drone That's no maple seed; that's a micro-air vehicle. (re: Various, 8/12/2011 ) |
Firefly Cameras Shot From Grenade Launcher How about one launched from space? (re: Robert Silverberg, 8/8/2011 ) |
ZionEyez HD Camera Glasses In case you were wondering what those Flip video camera engineers have been up to lately. (re: David Brin, 6/7/2011 ) |
iPet Companion Provides Remote Kitteh Interaction Will your company require you to play with kittens on sanity breaks? (re: Philip K. Dick, 4/6/2011 ) |
'Police POV' Uses On-Officer Cameras Check out this new police reality television show; it uses technology introduced decades ago by sf writers and movie makers. (re: David Brin, 4/2/2011 ) |
Robotic Hummingbird Spy This tiny prototype weighs just 19 grams and has its own onboard video camera. (re: Roger Zelazny, 2/19/2011 ) |
Cougar20-H Robot Hears Your Breathing Just hold your breath to avoid detection. (re: Frank Herbert, 2/8/2011 ) |
Mall Robotic Ad Won't Leave You Alone Does this sound familiar, Belgian shoppers? 'Morris pushed wearily past the salesrobot, up the sidewalk toward the residential-block that contained his living-unit.' (re: Philip K. Dick, 1/25/2011 ) |
Wasp Micro-UAV Used By Texas SWAT Tiny surveillance drones are starting to appear over US cities. (re: Philip K. Dick, 1/24/2011 ) |
Miami-Dade Police First To Use UAV Drones? What US city will be the first to deploy surveillance drones developed by the military? (re: Larry Niven, 1/10/2011 ) |
Polaroid GL20 Video Sunglasses Lady Gaga demonstrates this product, which she designed with Polaroid. (re: David Brin, 1/9/2011 ) |
US Mil Gorgon Stare Lacks Multiheaded Basilisk Capability This device is able to look down and photograph a four square kilometer section of a city. But that's all. For now. (re: Charles Stross, 1/5/2011 ) |
ETH Quadcopters Perform Jingle Bells On Real Piano They can do more than just watch you; they can entertain you over the holidays. (re: Herbert Goldstone, 12/29/2010 ) |
UAVs Schooled In Thermals By Peregrine Falcons The more efficiently a UAV can maneuver, the longer it can stay on station. Birds have millions of years of experience; let them teach us. (re: Roger Zelazny, 12/7/2010 ) |
Outlandish Disguise Fools Airline Security I'm not sure if disguises are getting better or people are becoming more desperate. (re: Paul Verhoven, 11/5/2010 ) |
CamBall Smallest Personal Camcorder Yes, but can you drop them from orbit? (re: Robert Silverberg, 10/22/2010 ) |
Making Drone Aircraft Smarter If you want smarter planes, why not just give them the brains of a pilot? (re: Peter Watts, 7/24/2010 ) |
Canon Wonder Camera Concept Why do big companies insist on intruding on the domain of sf writers? Philip K. Dick has this concept beat, hands down. (re: Philip K. Dick, 7/7/2010 ) |
Scarab Robotic Chase Vehicle Concept An all-electric chase vehicle for use by police. Sounds like a science-fictional concept to me. (re: Daniel Suarez, 6/8/2010 ) |
SmartIris IDs People In Crowds Surveillance of public spaces just got easier, thanks to this DARPA program. (re: Stephen Spielberg, 5/31/2010 ) |
Perching Project Drones Wait For You A surveillance officer's dream, flocks of these little drones may be perching in cities near you one day. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun, 5/1/2010 ) |
Quadrotor UAV Makes First Arrest In UK Looks like a UAV has assisted in its first arrest in the UK. (re: Michael Crichton, 3/1/2010 ) |
School Surveillance Via Student Laptop Webcams Cory Doctorow alerted us to this possibility - and provides the solution. (re: Cory Doctorow, 2/17/2010 ) |
Police iDrone UAVs With Tasers The idea of a small flying surveillance vehicle that does more than just watch has been around for quite a while. (re: Larry Niven, 2/11/2010 ) |
Panopticlick Browser Ident-Key You Didn't Know You Had If your device fingerprint is unique, every web page you access can be tracked. Which sf author saw this problem coming almost fifty years ago? (re: Philip K. Dick, 1/28/2010 ) |
Herti Drones To Surveil UK Civilians Autonomous drones designed for military operations in Afganistan come home to keep close tabs on you and me. (re: Greg Bear, 1/25/2010 ) |
HAMLeT Hazardous Material Localization And Person Tracking This system can actually track the movement of a person carrying a banned material; can you name the movie that used a similar system? (re: Jim Thomas, 1/14/2010 ) |
DEXI Scanner Looks Inside Air Travelers How far will we go in searching air travelers? (re: Frank Herbert, 1/9/2010 ) |
Parrott AR.Drone Quadricopter Video Gamers and surveillance dweebs alike will exclaim 'There's an app for that!' (re: Ray Cummings, 1/6/2010 ) |
Samurai CCTV System Targets Suspicious People And you used to be concerned about human beings watching you on CCTVs, looking for suspicious behavior. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 12/26/2009 ) |
Head-Mounted Cameras For San Jose Police These cameras record what the police officer sees; they can download it at the end of their shift. (re: Various, 12/24/2009 ) |
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: Schachner and Zagat, 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 ) |
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 ) |
'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 ) |
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: Cory Doctorow, 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 ) |
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 ) |
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 ) |
'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: Steven Spielberg, 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 ) |
DNA Fingerprint Database For Workers Gattaca-Style Proposed NYC mayor Bloomberg proposes a compulsory national DNA database for workers - just like in Gattaca. (re: Andrew Niccol, 5/28/2006 ) |
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 ) |
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