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
"But the problem with reincarnation is that it's hard to imagine what the storage medium for past lives would be. Not to mention the input-output device. I hesitate to rule it out completely, but I'd need pretty definite proof."
- Arthur C. Clarke
 |
| Psychotropic House | ||
| Buildings designed to sense, and mirror, the psychological state of their owners. |
Shopping for just the right home in Vermillion Sands is complicated by the fact that houses are psychotropic; there is always something left of the previous owners.
| ...it consisted of six huge aluminum-shelled spheres suspended like the elements of a mobile from an enormous concrete davit. The largest sphere contained the lounge, the others successively smaller and spiraling upward into the air, the bedrooms and kitchen...
Stamers, the agent, left us sitting in the car... and switched the place on (all the houses in Vermillion Sands, it goes without saying, were psychotropic). There was a dim whirring, and the spheres tipped and began to rotate, brushing against the undergrowth. ...I got out and walked over to the entrance, the main sphere slowing as I approached, uncertainly steering a course toward me, the smaller ones following. ...As I stepped forward, it jerked away, almost in alarm, the entrance retracting and sending a low shudder through the rest of the spheres. It's always interesting to watch a psychotropic house try to adjust itself to strangers, particularly those at all guarded or suspicious. The responses vary, a blend of past reactions to negative emotions, the hostility of the previous tenants... ...Stamers was fiddling desperately with the control console recessed into the wall behind the door, damping the volume down as low as possible... He smiled thinly at me. "Circuits are a little worn. Nothing serious..." |
| From The Thousand Dreams of Stellavista,
by J.G. Ballard. Published by Amazing Fact and Science Fiction in 1962 Additional resources -
|
Some psychotropic houses also had full control of their internal shape, due to the use of plastex, sort of a combination of plaster and latex.
('The Thousand Dreams of Stellavista' by JG Ballard)
As houses become more complex in our modern era, with programming to control heating, lights, security, media shown on screens and music played in rooms, it seems possible that, when you walk into a previously owned home, it will indeed reflect some of the personality of the previous owner.
If you are fascinated with the idea of a house that responds to its owner, check out the float home from Frank Herbert's 1969 novel Whipping Star.
Compare to the adjustable house from Gather, Darkness! (1943) by Fritz Leiber.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Thousand Dreams of Stellavista
More Ideas
and Technology by J.G. Ballard
Tech news articles related to The Thousand Dreams of Stellavista
Tech news articles related to works by J.G. Ballard
Psychotropic House-related
news articles:
- FLARE Creates 'Skin' For Buildings
- 555 KUBIK - If A House Was Dreaming
- Kinetic Buildings And Psychotropic Houses
| Solar House Concept Unfolds Solar Panels Like A Flower |
| San Fran's Tiny Homeless |
| Rotating House in Bosnia |
| Voyager Luxury Space Hotel Launches In 2023 |
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
With each successive print, our model needed to incorporate more structural ingredients to minimize print failures.
'... Wendis stared thoughtfully at the brilliant lines on the spectroscope screen.'
'A special spot-wavex scrambler also caused his televised image, in the area immediately about his lips, to mouth the vowels and consonants beautifully.'
'... it was as if the upper part had been removed, like a cut deck of cards.'
Sumomo will get those office workers into good shape!
'... who let their handbag computers carry all the conversation.'
'Thus it came about that the search for a planetiferous sun near a white dwarf star was not unduly prolonged...'
'He led me down the Hall of Portraits to the ego-likeness of the Duke Leto Atreides.'
