Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"Tokyo homeless people reiterate the whole nature of living in Tokyo in cardboard boxes, they're only slightly smaller than Tokyo apartments, and they have almost as many consumer goods. It's a nightmare of boxes within boxes."
- William Gibson
 |
| Maas-Neotek Biochip | ||
| An integrated circuit chip (or equivalent) that provides hardware and firmware for creating a virtual entity. |
The idea that Gibson is trying to get across is the idea of a piece of special hardware/firmware that is designed for a specific purpose; creating a virtual person (in appearance as well as actions).
| The ghost woke to Komiko's touch as they began their descent into Heathrow. The 51st generation of Mass-Neotek biochips conjured up an indistinct figure on the seat beside her, a boy out of some faded hunting print, legs crossed casually in tan breeches and riding boots. "Hullo," the ghost said. Komiko blinked, opened her hand. The boy flickered and was gone. She looked down at the smooth little unit in her palm and slowly closed her fingers... |
| From Mona Lisa Overdrive,
by William Gibson. Published by Bantam in 1988 Additional resources -
|
Today, the word "biochip" is used specifically to denote a testing apparatus, a collection of very small test sites arranged on a solid substrate. A modern biochip's surface area is about one square centimeter. A biochip can perform thousands of biological reactions, such as decoding genes, in a few seconds.
The word "biochip" is also in common usage meaning a chip that is implanted in living flesh; a typical science fiction example is the implanted credit card, from The Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 1 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Mona Lisa Overdrive
More Ideas
and Technology by William Gibson
Tech news articles related to Mona Lisa Overdrive
Tech news articles related to works by William Gibson
| Harmonia Making Generative Audio Tools For Everyone |
| Artists Replaced By Robots? Everyone's a Patron Now |
| Mem, The All-Your-Memories, Super Note-Taking App |
| Copilot Software AI Training Sued By Involuntary Contributors |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'The pokkecon rang again. *The coffee’s for him?* Tsuyoshi said.'
The Jetsons imagined so much future.
'Rod placed the brain inside the panel... the horse raised its head, wiggled its ears, blinked twice, gave a tentative whinny.'
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'
'Chain of hotels that specialized in non-human service.'
'But then... not every bulldozer operator works on the Moon.'
'Griff found the white and pink map distracting and switched it off using his tongue mouse.'
