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"The science fiction method is dissection and reconstruction. You look at the world around you, and take it apart into its components. Then you take some of those components, throw them away, and plug in different ones, start it up and see what happens."
- Frederik Pohl
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| Wearables (Wearable Computers) | ||
| Computers and peripherals that use textiles for electronic circuitry. |
Very slick implementation of an idea that has been around for a while (see the references below for more).
| Wearable computers, what a concept. IBM PC meets Epiphany-brand high-fashion. In fact, Robert might have mistaken his new wardrobe for ordinary clothes. True, the shirts and pants were not a style he favored. There were embroidered patterns both inside and out. But the embroidery was more noticeable to the touch than the eye; Juan Orozco had to show him special views to reveal the net of microprocessors and lasers. |
| Technovelgy from Rainbows End,
by Vernor Vinge. Published by Tor in 2006 Additional resources -
|
The general idea of wearable computers has been around (in computer science) since the early 1960's. The notion of being able to make use of fabric-based components is relatively new; science fiction authors pioneered these ideas. See the sleeve communicator from Murray Leinster's 1945 story First Contact and (even better) the sleeve watch from Larry Niven and Steve Barnes' 1981 novel Dream Park.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Rainbows End
More Ideas
and Technology by Vernor Vinge
Tech news articles related to Rainbows End
Tech news articles related to works by Vernor Vinge
Wearables (Wearable Computers)-related
news articles:
- T-Shirt Computing And Vinge's Wearables
- Google's Project Tango VR Tablet Pictures Your 3D World
| Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness? |
| Jetson Orin Nano Super 70 Just $249 |
| Automatic Bot Traffic Is 38 Percent Of HTTP Requests |
| Neuroplatform Human Brain Organoid Bioprocessor Uses Less Electricity |
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'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
'So the parent drone carries a spotter that it launches...'
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
