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"I myself feel that our country, for whose Constitution I fought in a just war, might as well have been invaded by Martians and body snatchers."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
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| Identificator | ||
| A hologram projector used to flash door signs. |
After you have finished this short quote, you might want to take a look at the Heliodisplay, a real-world technology that would allow a message or sign to float in the air.
| The floor was resilient black and gray tesserae; the walls and ceiling were plastered white, devoid of decoration or relief except for the doors and identificators - these in various muted tones of maroon, mauve, dark green, indigo.
Three doors doors along the corridor Gersen came upon a free-floating identificator of luminous blue letters, which read: GYLE WARWEAVE, and below: PROVOST.... He stepped forward; the door slipped aside, quick as a camera shutter; the identificator broke into individual letters which scattered like frightened fish, to regroup after he had passed. |
| Technovelgy from The Star King,
by Jack Vance. Published by Berkeley in 1964 Additional resources -
|
I saw the Heliodisplay at NextFest 2005 in Chicago; if you put your fingers in the flow, you can make the picture or words "scatter like fish," very much the way Vance describes the Identificator. Different technology, similar effect.
Thanks to an anonymous reader for suggesting this item (and providing a quote!).
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'You couldn't have the capstone without the pyramid to hold it up.'
'the unobtrusive inspections with tiny remote-cast snoopers...'
I'm hoping that this procedure becomes a normal part of medical practice!
'... nothing was perfected until M. Pantalon announced the completion of his automatic valet.'
'...its streets were of remarkable width, with few or no buildings so high as mosques, churches, State-offices, or palaces in Tellurian cities.'
'...it was all composed of tiny, identical cubes, carefully laid to form a tilelike surface.'
