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
"I don't know why I write science fiction. The voices in my head told me to!"
- Charles Stross
 |
| Wrist Command | ||
| A wearable communications device; the logical endpoint of mobile computing. |
The wrist seems like a very traditional place to have a device used for entering commands; watch computers have been around since the early 1970's. However, it is a very functional place for people (or beings) with two appendages. For one thing, you can actually see it. If, as is the case with the Star Trek Generations emblems (on the upper chest) you can't get any visual feedback from them.
| Lieutenant Cermo was waiting for him at the amidships gridpoint. The way Cermo's mouth turned down in utter dismayed surprise brought forth a thin smile from Killeen. But by that time Cermo had hurriedly turned away and tapped a quick signal into his wrist command, and so missed his Cap'n's amusement entirely. |
| Technovelgy from Tides of Light,
by Gregory Benford. Published by Bantam in 1989 Additional resources -
|
Today, it is possible to see a variety of wrist-mounted networked mobile computers in use in industrial or service businesses. Although a calculator is only one of the functions that a Wrist Command device might have, it is one of the first non-time related functions first put in a watch. See The Pulsar Watch Calculator, the first such watch. I actually owned one of these; alas, it was stolen many years ago - it was a beauty! The stainless steel version cost $625 in 1976.
Compare to the Wrist Search Display from A Matter of Size (1934) by Harry Bates,
Wireless Wrist Intercom from The Shape of Things To Come (1936) by H.G. Wells,
Reserve Bracelet from Plague (1944) by Murray Leinster,
Tattletale from The Game Players of Titan (1963) by Philip K. Dick,
Wristband Viewer from Changeling (1980) by Roger Zelazny,
Implant-Watch from Cloak of Anarchy (1972) by Larry Niven,
Predator Wrist Display from Predator (1987) by John McTierna,
Tracking Bracelet from Shadowspeer (1990) by Patricia Jo Clayton,
Inertial Bracelet from Psychohistorical Crisis (2001) by Donald Kingsbury,
Command Bracelet from Sagramanda (2006) by Alan Dean Foster and the
Wristpad from New York 2140 (2017) by Kim Stanley Robinson.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 1 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Tides of Light
More Ideas
and Technology by Gregory Benford
Tech news articles related to Tides of Light
Tech news articles related to works by Gregory Benford
| Holobox? Who Doesn't Want A Home Hologram? |
| EBS-260 Handjet Free Hand Dot Matrix Printer |
| CD, DVD Bit Rot And PKD's Civic Notification Distorter |
| Zoom Education Idea Is 100 Years Old |
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
'... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.'
'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?'
'...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.'
'The area affected was five hundred kilometres across, and perfectly circular.'
'Hasan always pitched a Gauzy - a one-molecule-layer tent, opaque, feather-light, and very tough.'
'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'
