Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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
"Fuzzy logic tries to get machines to think like people do, with inexact fuzzy terms."
- Bart Kosko
 |
| Smart Contact Lenses | ||
| Contact lenses that have a built-in computer display. |
In the tomorrow explored in this novella, wearable computers display data right before your eyes.
| "What really makes it possible?"
Juan squinted at him. "My contact lenses? Smart clothes?" Certainly the lens displays would be useless without a wearable computer to do the graphics. "That's just the final output device." |
| Technovelgy from Fast Times At Fairmont High,
by Vernor Vinge. Published by Not known in 2001 Additional resources -
|
Vinge expands on the idea in his 2006 novel Rainbows End, set in the same milieu:
Miri... leaned her head forward, and stuck a finger close to her right eye. "You already know about contacts, right? Wanna see one?" Her hand came away from her eye. A tiny disk sat on the tip of her middle finger. It was the size and shape of the contact lenses he had known. He hadn't expected more, but... he bent closed and looked. After a moment, he realized that it was not quite a clear lens. Speckles of colored brightness swirled and gathered in it. "I'm driving it at safety max, or you wouldn't see the lights." The tiny lens became hazy, then frosty white. "Uk. It powered down. But you get the idea.."
If you think that this form of display is a bit intrusive, you're right. As one character remarks in Rainbows End:
You'd need to go back a ways to find the earliest use of this kind of idea. Try the retinal vid-screen from Philip K. Dick's 1954 story Sales Pitch.
Compare to DreamTime Scleral Contact Lenses from The California Voodoo Game (1992) by Larry Niven (w/S. Barnes).
"...Robert, you should be wearing. You look silly walking around with that view-page clutched in your hand..."
"Without some control it's like old-time television, but much more intrusive. We wouldn't want you to be hijacked..."
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Fast Times At Fairmont High
More Ideas
and Technology by Vernor Vinge
Tech news articles related to Fast Times At Fairmont High
Tech news articles related to works by Vernor Vinge
Smart Contact Lenses-related
news articles:
- Smart Contact Lenses Charges With 3D Printed Antenna
- Vernor Vinge Smart Contact Lens On Wired
- Augmented Reality Humanoid Robot U-Tsu-Shi-O-Mi
- Circuit Smart Contact Lens, Presaged By Niven, Barnes and Vinge
- Samsung Patent For Smart Contact Lens Camera Granted
- The Mojo Smart Contact Lens Experience
- Harvest Power From Tears And Blinking With Smart Contact Lens
| DOTPad Braille Device Offers Live Access |
| Transparent MicroLED Screen From Samsung |
| Augmented Reality Book Covers Reveal The Inner Book |
| TCL CSOT 17-Inch Printed OLED Scrolling Display |
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 Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'... the expressionless face before me was therefore that of the golem-wrestler, Rolem, a creature that could be set for five times the strength of a human being.'
'Waldo put his arms into the primary pair before him; all three pairs, including the secondary pair mounted before the machine, came to life.'
'... the glittering little rocket bolted to the black iron behind him.'
'The slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector...'
'The operation that had transformed half his body... had located the control switchboard in his teeth.'
