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"[Science fiction is ] That branch of literature which is concerned with the impact of scientific advance upon human beings."
- Isaac Asimov
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| Auto-Treadmills (Needle-Gym) | ||
| A simulation-exercise room floor that allows the user to walk and run on a consistently realistic surface. |
Using your feet is a great way to pick a direction - even in a virtual reality simulation space. But how can you keep walking - while staying in a limited area?
| The young, and breeding females, we let flash by without harm. But then,
trailing and already foaming with fatigue, came the old buck, its leap leaden,
unsteady, and I knew the program really was taking it easy on me today.
Long Stick howled. I sprinted from cover, swiftly taking the lead. The auto-treadmill's bumps and gullies matched whatever terrain the goggles showed me, so my feet knew how to land and thrust off again. The body suit brushed my skin with synthetic wind. Flared nostrils inhaled sweat, exhilaration, and for a time I forgot I was in a tiny room on the eightieth floor of a suburban Chitown con-apt, surrounded by fifty million neighbors. |
| From Natulife,
by David Brin. Published by Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1994 Additional resources -
|
Here's a description of what the floor actually consists of:
Cursing I tore off the helmet, gashing my cheek on the strap. The body suit
still formed a matrix of other-world sensations -- hot savannah wind and gritty
moccasins. But abruptly my eyes saw a tiny, off-white chamber, its coarse floor
of needles mimicking a steep hillside. Sense-conflict made me sway in confusion
as I dove for the door.
Take a look at the VirtuSphere Immersive Virtual Reality "hamster-ball" for one way to have your infinite directions in a limited spae. You might also take a look at the CirculaFloor (Smart Tile Holodeck?), which I saw demonstrated at Wired's NextFest 2005. If you maintained a slow, strolling pace, the little circula-floor tiles would rush along to give you a place to step; it was a trip.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Natulife
More Ideas
and Technology by David Brin
Tech news articles related to Natulife
Tech news articles related to works by David Brin
Auto-Treadmills (Needle-Gym)-related
news articles:
- inFORM Dynamic Shape Output Device
- VirtualGreen Putting Simulator Like Brin's Needle-Gym
- Automated Treadmill Adjusts To Your Pace
- Augmented and-or Virtual Reality Shoes From Google
| AVATECT Prevents Spoofing Of Avatars |
| I Really Want A Folding Computer |
| Galaxy Z Fold 3 Perfect For William Gibson's 'Control-Face' |
| Poor Humans. Miami Herald Bot Writes Great Real Estate Articles. |
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Science Fiction
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'... the two pairs of waldoes in the screen followed in exact, simultaneous parallelism.'
'THE SPACE VESSEL was traveling swiftly… For over five thousand years they had Voyaged on and on.’
'They circled the vast audiences, dancing, twittering, chirping...'
'The sun-quilt was a patchwork of colors and materials on the inward side, but silvered on the outward side...'
'Jim, I saw them reduce four of my doctors and nurses into those little cubes!'
'Fats Jordan was hanging in the center of the Big Glass Balloon, hugging his guitar to his massive black belly above his purple shorts..'
'When confronted by hills, or rough terrain, it did not stop, but simply slowed until the task demanded equaled its steady power output.'
'... the brain is no longer subjected to the accustomed pull, and it expands slightly in all directions.'
