Science Fiction
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Spice Girls Live Digital Enhancement
The Spice Girls are going back on tour (yes, sorry). But they have a clever plan to sound just as good as they ever did (yes, I know).
(Spice Girls Unenhanced)
They are planning on using their own voices - except when it is necessary to make use of their own previously recorded and digitally perfected voices. As they sing on stage, offstage computers compare their live performance to prerecorded performances in real time. Any mistakes are instantly corrected using stock material.
"As they sing, the computer program corrects the mistakes so that the sound comes out as the desired sound - so they appear to be able to sing really well live," an industry source told the Daily Mail.
Science fiction writers have imagined various forms of real-time enhancement to images, if not sound. In his 1985 novel Schismatrix, Bruce Sterling wrote about video-manicuring programs that could bring a person's image up to snuff:
Lindsay had a brief glimpse of the man's true appearance - white hair in spiky disarray, red-rimmed eyes - before a video-manicuring program came on line.
(Read more about video-manicuring)
Somewhat earlier, Ray Bradbury had a way for TV parlor characters to actually say your name and move their lips accordingly:
A special spot-wavex scrambler also caused his televised image, in the area immediately about his lips, to mouth the vowels and consonants beautifully. He was a friend, no doubt of it, a good friend...
(Read more about Bradbury's spot-wavex scrambler)
Don't miss these unusual sound-related stories:
- Terminator Tongues - USAF Seeks Voice Transformation Tech
- EtchASound - Picture Your Voice
- Detect Aggressive Voices With Sigard By Sound Intelligence
Via Contact Music.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 6/29/2007)
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Related News Stories - (" Culture ")
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'Tell me your torments,' the Padre said, in an elderly voice marked with compassion. - Philip K. Dick, 1969.
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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 Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
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Current News
Athena Smart Security Guard Robot With Face Recognition
'You are who we say you are, Dr. Dakin,' Turner said.'
The FLUTE Project - A Huge Liquid Mirror In Space
'It's area, and its consequent light-gathering capacity, was many times greater than any rigid mirror...'
Robot Preachers Found To Undermine Religious Commitment
'Tell me your torments,' the Padre said, in an elderly voice marked with compassion.
CyberCab - Tesla Renames The Robotaxi
'A cybercab dogged their heels...'
SpaceHopper Microgravity Robot Lands On Its Feet
'...a slender-legged tripod surmounted by a spherical body no larger than a football.'
Brin's 1990 Novel Earth Still Full Of Predictions
'... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.'
'Whisper Mode' ala Blue Thunder Researched At Bristol
'Forest Lawn.'
Gaia - Why Stop With Just The Earth?
'But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?'
Microsoft VASA-1 Creates Personal Video From A Photo
'...to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast.'
Splendid View Of Eclipse From Orbit Visualized And Repurposed By Arthur C. Clarke
'The area affected was five hundred kilometres across, and perfectly circular.'
Bespoke Environment Music From AIs
'Call 'em Winter Mute," said the other, making it two words.'
Goldene - A Two-Dimensional Sheet Of Gold One Atom Thick
'Hasan always pitched a Gauzy - a one-molecule-layer tent, opaque, feather-light, and very tough.'
SpaceX Wants A Moonbase Alpha
'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'
Vast Apartment Living Will Get Even More Vast
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
NASA Wants Self-Driving Or Remote-Controlled Vehicles For Lunar Astronauts
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'
Elon Musk Says Robotaxis Will Be Ready This August, 2024
'The car had no steering wheel, and no one drove!'
