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"There's a tendency to think that maybe if we can just throw enough hardware at the AI problem, then evolution can take care of the rest. Certainly that's how God went about making us."
- Rudy Rucker
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| Exoskeleton | ||
| Fighting suit |
The exoskeleton fighting suit is, of course, a popular item of technovelgy. I think the first reference I can find is in Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein (see powered suit).
| The Lieutenant Colonel was extremely dead. He'd come down from the heavens in his full NAFTA military power-armor, a leaping, brick-busting, lightning-spewing exoskeleton, all acronyms and input jacks. It was powerful, elaborate gear, of an entirely different order than the gooey and fibrous street tech of the two urban intrusion freaks.
But the high-impact crash had not been kind to the armored suit. It had been crueler still to the bone, blood, and tendon housed inside. |
| Technovelgy from A Good Old-Fashioned Future,
by Bruce Sterling. Published by Random House in 1999 Additional resources -
|
Of course, an exoskeleton can only do so much. Exoskeleton just means that the skeleton, the bony support for the soft parts of the body, is on the outside, where it can do double duty as armor (as well as support).
See the longer discussion for polycarbon exo, from Mona Lisa Overdrive, by William Gibson.
Take a look at this very nicely done anime treatment of exoskeletons. Be warned - you'll want to go fire up your exo right after watching it.
Thanks to Chris Johnston for finding this video.
See also this Sarcos XOS exoskeleton video for a look at a real-life exoskeleton under development.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from A Good Old-Fashioned Future
More Ideas
and Technology by Bruce Sterling
Tech news articles related to A Good Old-Fashioned Future
Tech news articles related to works by Bruce Sterling
Exoskeleton-related
news articles:
- Muscle Suit Tokyo Exoskeleton Power Workout
| Liquid Body Armor For TALOS Exoskeleton |
| DIY Taser-Proof Clothing |
| Look Great In Your Garrison Bespoke Bulletproof Suit |
| Bionic Body Armor Makes You Dodge Bullets |
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'... an artificial intelligence equal to the human.'
'Rayno folded up the microterm and tucked it back inside his jumper.'
'Nemourlon armor of reasonable weight resists penetration by most fragments and any bullet that is not both reasonably heavy and fairly high-velocity.'
'Several thousand of them formed the positioning grid on the rubble pile.'
'Its slack walls tightened, bulged, were crossed by ripples and waves of movement.'
'Norman... had never ridden any motorized device that lacked onboard steering and balance systems.'
You will note that HG Wells also figured out the aspect ratio of the future!
'As though a switch had been turned off, the pain stopped...'
'At the ringside opposite them a table had been removed to make room for a large transparent plastic capsule on wheels.'
