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"[Science fiction] is the only kind of writing that allows you to look at the world we live in and change one piece at a time."
- Frederik Pohl
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| Vision Implant | ||
| Photoelectric cell implanted in the forehead grants some vision to the blind. |
This is an early view of aid to the blind that is surprisingly practical.
 (Vision Implant from 'He Who Shapes' by Roger Zelazny) Dr. Shallot was a woman, somewhere in the vicinity of her early thirties. Her low bronze bangs did not fully conceal the spot of silver she wore on her forehead like a caste mark. Render inhaled, and her head jerked slightly as the tip of his cigarette flared. She appeared to be staring straight up into his eyes. It was an uncomfortable feeling, even knowing that all she could distinguish of him was that which her minute photoelectric cell transmitted to her visual cortex over the hair-fine wire implants attached to that oscillator-converter: in short, the glow of his cigarette. |
| Technovelgy from The Dream Master (He Who Shapes),
by Roger Zelazny. Published by Ace Books in 1966 Additional resources -
|
In the last few years, there have been a variety of attempts to give sight to the blind. Most involve using sensors mounted in glasses and special processing units carried at the side (Robert J. Sawyer uses the clever name eyepod for these). Zelazny uses the idea of the bindu, the red dot worn by devout Hindus just above the eyebrows and centered on the forehead.
Zelazny was probably already researching or writing his Hugo award-winning novel Lord of Light at the time that this book was published; Hindu philosophy was probably on his mind.
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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 ...'
