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Science Fiction Dictionary: Ideas, Terms and Technology
(
3938 Inventions Available)
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
| Device Name | Book/Story | Author | Date |
| Vac Suit A space suit, designed for use in vacuum. |
Child of the Sun | Brackett | 1942 |
| Vacutubes A system of public transportation that used partially evacuated tubes and capsules big enough for passengers. |
Double Star | Heinlein | 1956 |
| Vacuum Armor An armor-plated space suit. |
Skylark Three | Smith | 1930 |
| Vacuum Cylinder Traveling first class, but like mail, in a tube system. |
Wandl, The Invader | Cummings | 1932 |
| Vacuum Suit An early description of a space suit, and the first use of this now archaic phrase. |
The Man from the Atom | Wertenbaker | 1926 |
| Vacuum Wall Compartments Shielding against heat by using walls with evacuated sections. |
The Achilles Heel | Gallun | 1940 |
| Vacuum-Cupped Sandals Used for walking in weightless environments. |
Voyage 13 | Cummings | 1938 |
| Vagus Nerve Bio-Chip Relief from nausea without drugs. |
Diplomatic Immunity | Bujold | 2002 |
| Vai-Chi Tai-Chi movements translated into the virtual world |
Rim | Besher | 1994 |
| Van Goom's Gambit A chessboard pattern that unhinges the mind of any player who sees it. |
Von Goom's Gambit | Contoski | 1966 |
| Vandelite Gun An artillery device that freezes the explosive material for firing so it doesn't explode in the gun when it fires. |
The World Masters | Griffith | 1903 |
| Vanwinkling Another name for time-traveling into the future. |
The Best-Laid Scheme | de Camp | 1941 |
| Vapor Charge A bullet that discharges gas. |
Logan's Run | Nolan (w/G.C. Johnson) | 1967 |
| Vaporator A device which extracted moisture from the air for use in farming. |
Star Wars | Lucas | 1976 |
| Variable Modifier Provides the capability of altering standard jokes to fit new circumstances. |
The Jester | Tenn | 1951 |
| Variable Sword A sword that could vary in length, and cut through anything. |
Ringworld | Niven | 1970 |
| Vastening It's hard to describe, but it's a robotic sense perception. |
The Proud Robot | Padgett | 1943 |
| Vat Grown Meat Meat tissue for consumption, grown apart from an animal. |
Neuromancer | Gibson | 1984 |
| Vat Meat (Albert) Meat grown in a vat. |
The End of the Line | Schmitz | 1951 |
| Vehicle Energy Reclamation Reclaiming the energy gained by climbing a hill on the way back down. |
A Journey In Other Worlds | Astor IV | 1894 |
| Vehicle Seeds A matrix of materials and instructions that allow vehicles to grow themselves when placed in an environment of plentiful materials. |
Killing Titan | Bear | 2015 |
| Vehicle Sleep Sensor Better stay awake, the machines know if you're sleeping. |
The Velvet Glove | Harrison | 1956 |
| VEIL A wearable device used to foil facial recognition systems. |
Fall; or, Dodge in Hell: A Novel | Stephenson | 2019 |
| Venus Cities Float In Atmosphere Cloud cities on Venus. |
Bread Overhead! | Leiber | 1958 |
| Venus Equilateral Relay Station A converted asteroid that served as the relay station for telecommunications throughout the solar system. |
QRM - Interplanetary | Smith | 1942 |
| Verhaeren Factor Provides autonomous robots with the capacity for independent creative action. |
Robinc | Boucher | 1943 |
| Veridicator A device that measured physiologic responses (biometric data) and translated it to a set of colors that unerringly reported whether or not the measured person was telling the truth. |
Little Fuzzy | Piper | 1962 |
| Verse Transcriber A device that would produce perfect poetry, given the necessary parameters. |
Studio 5, The Stars | Ballard | 1971 |
| Versificator A device that composes words to music. |
1984 (Nineteen Eighty-Four) | Orwell | 1948 |
| Vestan Parasite Semi-intelligent creatures that take control of the nervous system of other animals. |
The World With A Thousand Moons | Hamilton | 1942 |
| Vibration Machine A device that neutralized the gravitational force of the sun on the earth. |
The Comet Doom | Hamilton | 1929 |
| Vibration Screen Subtle rays prevent electronic surveillance. |
The Shining One | Schachner | 1937 |
| Vibration-Propelled Cruiser A spacecraft with a propulsion system relying on waves in spacetime itself. |
Crashing Suns | Hamilton | 1928 |
| Vibratium Wall Time Machine An element that is unstable in time makes time travel possible and enables the Grandfather Paradox. |
Ancestral Voices | Schachner | 1933 |
| Vibratory Mass Penetrator A device that allows a person to walk through earth and even solid rock. |
Rock Diver | Harrison | 1951 |
| Vibra-Transmitter (Teleportation) An early use of the notion of matter transmission. |
Into the Meteorite Orbit | Kelly | 1933 |
| Vibroblade A knife-like weapon. |
If This Goes On... | Heinlein | 1940 |
| Vibrowriter A device that translated speech and typed it out for you. |
The Lost Language | Keller | 1934 |
| Video Communicator A device that carried both voice and image, letting the two parties see each other. |
The Machine Stops | Forster | 1909 |
| Video Unit Video units attached directly to the optic nerve, giving sight to the blind. |
Idoru | Gibson | 1996 |
| Video Wallpaper Very thin, large scale display. |
A Deepness in the Sky | Vinge | 1999 |
| Video-Glasses Special light-gathering elements allowed the end user to see omni-directionally. |
Islands in the Net | Sterling | 1988 |
| Video-Manicuring Program Manipulates live video images in real time. |
Schismatrix | Sterling | 1985 |
| Videophone A person-to-person communication device offering sight as well as sound. |
The Golden Girl of Munan | Vincent | 1928 |
| Videoshades Sunglasses that let you watch what you want. |
Islands in the Net | Sterling | 1988 |
| Viewing Tank A display monitor. |
The Man in the Maze | Silverberg | 1969 |
| Viewplate A flat panel viewing display. |
Armageddon: 2419 A.D. | Nowlan | 1928 |
| Viewscreen Pentagon A display with a central, pentagonal display surrounded by square displays attached to the sides. |
Sunward Flight | Zagat | 1943 |
| Violet Shrink Ray A miniaturization ray. |
The Pygmy Planet | Williamson | 1932 |
| Violet-Gun (Ion Gun) Ultra-violet fury! |
The Brain Stealers of Mars | Campbell | 1936 |
| Virtual Assembly Use of holograms to accomplish an assembly of people. |
If The Sun Died | Starzl | 1931 |
| Virtual Childrearing Learn childcare the virtual way; maybe long distance childcare, too. |
Natulife | Brin | 1994 |
| Virtual Immortality A method for storing the mind and memories of a person, and recalling and reconstituting them at will. |
The City and the Stars | Clarke | 1956 |
| Virtual Keyboard A keyboard that appears at the right moment in game play. |
The Age of The Pussyfoot | Pohl | 1966 |
| Virtual Kiss (Tactile Net) A phone-like device that will communicate a kiss in a tactile manner. |
The Age of The Pussyfoot | Pohl | 1966 |
| Virtual Meeting A meeting space that exists only in a computer; the descendant of today's web conferences. |
Idoru | Gibson | 1996 |
| Virtual Panopticon A method that gathers information from many sources to effectively surveil any citizen as effectively as if he was in a glass cell. |
The Traveler | Twelve Hawks | 2005 |
| Virtual Punishment It seems like decades in prison. |
Complete Sentence | Haldeman | 2011 |
| Virtual Reality (Virtual Matrix) An early use of a term very similar to the idea of cyberspace. |
The Judas Mandala | Broderick | 1982 |
| Virtual Reality Ceremony Don't just put your motion capture suit on - do it with style. |
Rim | Besher | 1994 |
| Virtual Reality Construct A means of projecting a virtual reality experience without special headsets. |
The Age of The Pussyfoot | Pohl | 1966 |
| Virtual Reality Video Game A description of a computer game simulation played in real time as entertainment. |
The Age of The Pussyfoot | Pohl | 1966 |
| Virtual World Kiss Kissing mediated by a computer system. |
True Names | Vinge | 1981 |
| Virtual world metaphor use of fanciful imagery to represent real-world data systems in a virtual world. |
True Names | Vinge | 1981 |
| Virtual World Theft A method of stealing or reassigning ownership to items of value in virtual worlds. |
Halting State | Stross | 2007 |
| Virtuality Helmet ('Virching' Helmet) A helmet with a communication system and a display; a pilot wearing this helmet could sit on the ground and control a distant aircraft. |
Heavy Weather | Sterling | 1994 |
| Visible Halo Providing a religious figure with a technological sign of grace. |
Sixth Column | MacDonald | 1941 |
| Visicastor A person who presents video broadcasts. |
Second Foundation | Asimov | 1953 |
| Visiglobe A display that provided a spherical, 3D visualization of a scene. |
Agent of Vega | Schmitz | 1949 |
| Visigraphic Crowd Emotional Record A graphic record of the emotions of a crowd. |
Gather, Darkness! | Leiber | 1943 |
| Vision Cube A solid-state memory device. |
The Man in the Maze | Silverberg | 1969 |
| Vision Implant Photoelectric cell implanted in the forehead grants some vision to the blind. |
The Dream Master (He Who Shapes) | Zelazny | 1966 |
| Vision Plate A flat panel monitor. |
First Contact | Leinster | 1945 |
| Vision Strip A circular vision strip for robots. |
Orphans of the Void | Shaara | 1952 |
| Vision Tubes Microminaturized vision for UAV's. |
The Scarab | Gallun | 1936 |
| Vision-Based Autonomous Cars A vehicle that uses a visual sensor to gather information sufficient to safely drive. |
Paradise and Iron | Breuer | 1930 |
| Visiphone Visual as well as audio communication. |
The Message From Space | Speaker | 1930 |
| Visiplate A flat screen for viewing remote images. |
Skylark Three | Smith | 1930 |
| Visi-Screen A display device. |
Satellite Five | Barnes | 1938 |
| Visi-Sonor An entertainment device which appeared to create both sound and light by acting directly on brain cells. It also stimulated emotions directly. |
Foundation and Empire | Asimov | 1952 |
| Visiwave Even faster than ultrawave! a means of instantaneous communication over lightyear distances. |
One Against The Legion | Williamson | 1939 |
| Visor A snap-down video screen for your eyes only. |
Freezone | Shirley | 1985 |
| Vistascreen Large screen entertainment. |
Assignment to Aldebaran | Crossen | 1953 |
| Visual Ad An advertisement that forces its way directly into the brain of the viewer. |
Sales Pitch | Dick | 1954 |
| Visual Pattern Recognition A robot's ability to respond to programmed visual stimulus |
Rust | Kelleam | 1939 |
| Visual Report Screen A device that allows a robot nanny to let the owners view what the robot sees from a remote location. |
Nanny | Dick | 1955 |
| Vita-Light A special form of bulb or light source that could keep people who were never exposed to the sun perfectly healthy. |
If The Sun Died | Starzl | 1931 |
| Vitalium A rare radioactive metal which enables solar power cells. |
The Prince of Space | Williamson | 1931 |
| Vitalizer Tired? Try Henderson's Vitalizer! |
The Soma Racks | St. Clair | 1947 |
| Vitrisheen A translucent glass-like fashion choice. |
Moon Crystals | Haggard | 1936 |
| Vivatape Perfectly seals cuts also helps through-skin implants heal. |
Babel-17 | Delany | 1966 |
| Vivification A process by which the body can be preserved for centuries at body temperature and then revived. |
In the Deep of Time | Lathrop | 1897 |
| Vivisector A program that takes another computer program apart, while it's running, to see what it does. |
Earth | Brin | 1990 |
| Vivo-Gel Semi-living material. |
Agent of Vega | Schmitz | 1949 |
| Vizzyprint A printer attached to a video phone. |
Wetware | Rucker | 1988 |
| Vocal Typewriter A device that accepts spoken dictation and produces printed copy. |
Dr. Hackensaw's Secrets Some Minor Inventions | Fezandie | 1926 |
| Vocalex Kitchen Voice command automatic kitchen. |
The Jester | Tenn | 1951 |
| Voder Device that produces speech by purely mechanical means. |
Exit From Asteroid 60 | James | 1940 |
| Voice Combines exceptional insight into personalty with voice modulation to achieve control over individuals. |
Dune | Herbert | 1965 |
| Voice Dialing Speak the name of the person and call them on the phone. |
The Age of The Pussyfoot | Pohl | 1966 |
| Voice Encyclopedia Access to information via robotic voice recognition over the phone. |
Galactic Pot-Healer | Dick | 1969 |
| Voice in the Ear Project a voice or sound to one individual's ears only. |
Childhood's End | Clarke | 1953 |
| Voice-Activated Door A door that opens upon verbal command. |
Assignment to Aldebaran | Crossen | 1953 |
| Voice-Changing Bowtie Special device allows wearer to take on the voice of another person at will. |
Case Closed (Detective Conan) | Aoyama | 1994 |
| Voice-Clock A clock that could state the time out loud. |
The Martian Chronicles | Bradbury | 1950 |
| Voicecorder A device that records verbal output and determines truth or falsehood. |
Whipping Star | Herbert | 1969 |
| Voice-Enabled Smartphone A smartphone capable of complete voice-enabled operation. |
The Age of The Pussyfoot | Pohl | 1966 |
| Voicewriter Screen (Computer Monitor) A screen that displays characters. |
Granny Won't Knit | Sturgeon | 1954 |
| Voight-Kampff Empathy Test A test consisting of a set of images and questions, asked while the subject's biometric data are gathered; intended to separate humans from non-humans. |
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? | Dick | 1968 |
| Voight-Kampff Test A test intended to distinguish human beings from replicants. |
Blade Runner | Scott | 1982 |
| Volplane A small vehicle used in transporting people around the moon's surface. |
Blood of the Moon | Cummings | 1936 |
| Vortal Tube An energy passage providing instantaneous transportation between points across the galaxy |
Whipping Star | Herbert | 1969 |
| Vortex Gun A device that projects whirling fields of atomic instability. |
One Against The Legion | Williamson | 1939 |
| Voxbox An intelligent home agent. |
Tekwar | Shatner | 1989 |
| Voxcoder Device for secure communication. |
Storm Thief | Wooding | 2006 |
| VR Dyslexia Severe disorientation brought about by excessive use of virtual reality equipment. |
Rim | Besher | 1994 |
| Vulcan 3 Artificially intelligent self-modifying supercomputer. |
Vulcan's Hammer | Dick | 1960 |
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
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