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"The world is really so surreal these days that it's necessary for us to blunt it somehow in order to stay sane. The artist functions to short-circuit the buffering mechanism, so that people can occasionally perceive the weirdness of things as they are."
- William Gibson
 |
| Adam Selene | ||
| A computer generates a human avatar for itself. |
In the novel, the computer called Mike takes the part of the leader in a lunar revolution - Adam Selene. As a computer, Mike can handle innumerable phone calls about the revolution without danger to the human participants. Eventually, it becomes necessary for Mike to show himself.
| "...what's to keep me from showing face, Man? I'm showing a voice this instant... I can show a face the same way."
Was so taken aback I didn't answer... I said, "No, Mike." "Why not, Man?" "Because you can't!. Voice you handle beautifully. Involves only a few thousand decisions a second, a slow crawl to you. But to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast." Mike said softly, "Want to bet, Man?" ...We waited in silence. Then screen showed neutral gray with a hint of scan lines. Went black again, then a faint light filled middle and congealed into cloudy areas light and dark, ellipsoid. Not a face, but suggestion of face that one sees in cloud patterns... It cleared a little and reminded me of pictures alleged to be ectoplasm. A ghost of a face. Suddenly firmed and we saw "Adam Selene." Was a still picture of a mature man. No background, just a face as if trimmed out of a print... Then he smiled, moving lips and jaw and touching tongue to lips, a quick gesture... |
| Technovelgy from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress,
by Robert Heinlein. Published by GP Putnam in 1966 Additional resources -
|
As far as I know, this is the first reference to the idea of a computer-generated person that presents a fully animated picture of a human being.
Compare to the personality simulator from True Names (1981) by Vernor Vinge, the Composite Expert System from Twenty Evocations (1984) by Bruce Sterling,
Idoru from Idoru (1996) by William Gibson, and
synthespian from Nestor Sextone for President (1988) by Jeff Kleiser.
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More Ideas
and Technology from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
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and Technology by Robert Heinlein
Tech news articles related to The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Tech news articles related to works by Robert Heinlein
Adam Selene-related
news articles:
- Facial Expression And Mannerism 'Cloning' By Computer
- Denise, Your Virtual Assistant
- Hacker Creates Augmented Reality Anime Girlfriend
- Actors Reject, Makers Embrace, Posthumous Movie Resurrection
- BabyX AI Real Enough For You
- Parents Use AI To See One Last Message From Their Deceased Son
- Microsoft VASA-1 Creates Personal Video From A Photo
| Anna Indiana AI Singer-Songwriter |
| Metaverse Hardware - Run And Flail Like A Maniac, Or Lie Quietly? |
| Virtual Co-Embodyment - Two People Control One Virtual Body |
| Sorry, Futurists! Tamagotchi Kids, Virtual Children Already Predicted By SF Writer in 2008 |
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'What would you do,' Eric asked the robot cabdriver, 'if your wife had turned to stone, your best friend were a toad, and you had lost your job?'
'those suits they wear -- call them 'stillsuits' -- that reclaim the body's own water...'
'Now, except for weight and heat, the same conditions prevail in this chamber as in space.'
'there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net...'
'Now, look, let's start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics...'
'..the synthetic intellects at the Place of Knowledge had far outstripped the minds of men.'
'But after washing and drying clothes had to be smooth - free from fine lines and wrinkles ...'
