Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"To go out on January day and run around on the beach under a golden sun makes a very great change in your outlook on the universe."
- Robert Silverberg
 |
| Tagalong | ||
| A backpack with legs; a robot that will carry things for you and match your movements. |
The story takes place on Venus; in order to have free movement on the planet, it is necessary to carry your own air with you.
| I was going out where there were no air stations on every corner, and so I decided I could use a tagalong.
Maybe you've never seen one. They're modern science's answer to the backpack. Or maybe to the mule train, though in operation you're sure to be reminded of the safari bearers in old movies, trudging stolidly along behind the White Hunter with bales of supplies on their heads. The thing is a pair of metal legs exactly as long as your legs, with equipment on the top and an umbilical cord attaching the contraption to your lower spine. What it does is provide you with the capability of living on the surface for four weeks instead of the five days you get from your Venus-lung The medico who sold me mine had me laying right there on his table with my back laid open so he could install the tubes that carry air from the tanks in the tagalong into my Venus-lung. |
| From In the Bowl,
by John Varley. Published by Not known in 1976 Additional resources -
|
The fact that the tagalong is actually connected to you with an umbilical cord makes it a bit creepy; here's another quote with a description of how it looked in action.
This machine makes me think of the many people I see who need supplimental oxygen; many of these people use a small wheeled tank that uses a plastic tube to convey the oxygen.
Thanks to an anonymous reader for suggesting this item.
Fifty meters doesn't sound like much. And it's not, on level ground. Try it sometime on a seventy-five degree slope. Luckily for us, Ember had seen this possibility and come prepared with alpine equipment. She sank pitons here and there and kept us together with ropes and pulleys. I followed her lead, staying slightly behind her tagalong. It was uncanny how that thing followed her up, placing its feet in precisely the spot she had stepped. Behind me, my tagalong was doing the same thing.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 2 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from In the Bowl
More Ideas
and Technology by John Varley
Tech news articles related to In the Bowl
Tech news articles related to works by John Varley
| Tesla Will Have Metal Gear Snake Autocoupler, Musk Confirms |
| I Love Ceiling-Mounted Robots |
| Salto Jumping Robot Now Sticks Landing! |
| It's Time For Robots With Soft, Sensitive Skin |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
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.
|
'Its motion was so swift, complex, and perfect that at first I did not see it as a machine, in spite of its metallic glitter.'
Propulsion-assisted orbital decay, brought to you by SpaceX.
'He applied the tip of the instrument to the interior of the wound...'
'...what's to keep me from showing face, Man?'
'The Worldcraft bubble glittered, catching the light...'
'This is Elmer Schmitz, presenting to you the finalists in our Aviation Quiz Program...'
'Immediately an enormous apparatus fell on to her out of the ceiling...'
Maybe not, but we're seeing definite progress.
'These people are pieces of software called avatars.'
