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"Science fiction and science have always danced around each other. Science fiction is the subconscious of science."
- Greg Bear
 |
| Weapon Sound Tracker | ||
| Locate an enemy by the sound of gunfire. |
U.S. soldiers still in Iraq a decade into the future have more advanced weapons systems.
| Sound trackers on the roof could zero in on weapons action and coordinate return fire through UAVs and their only other air support, the Superhawk. |
| Technovelgy from Quantico,
by Greg Bear. Published by Vanguard in 2007 Additional resources -
|
In an interview with Technovelgy.com, Greg Bear had this to say about the weapon sound tracker:
Greg Bear:"Yes, something that could filter through all the echoes and ... work its way back to where the sound originates."
T: So this is an idea, or you've seen it?
GB:" I haven't seen it, but I'm sure they're working on it."
T: You might be interested to know that there is a technology called WeaponWatch which actually looks for infrared signatures of fired weapons.
GB: "Yes, that make sense."
T: I actually saw it demonstrated at NextFest 2006 in New York. Supposedly, this is better than listening for sound, because obviously light travels faster than sound and the company claims that it would be possible in some cases to return fire in some cases before the rounds actually got to you.
GB: "Interesting... but they would have to have direct line-of-sight for the weapon?"
T: That's mostly correct, but apparently they can look at reflected light...
GB: "Very cool..."
T: ...So to some extent, in an urban environment, you could 'see around corners'...
(Read the rest of Greg Bear's interview on Quantico.)
One real-world technology that is similar to a Weapon Sound Tracker is ShotSpotter, a gunshot location system used both by police departments and the military. However, ShotSpotter requires a network of sensors (as opposed to a single unit) to identify, triangulate and then give a visual image of the location of a gunshot event, typically in seconds.
Also, WeaponWatch already uses an automated weapon system as a peripheral device, to coordinate return fire, sometimes before the enemy round has even reached its target.
Technovelgy: You also wrote about a Weapon Sound Tracker.
Take a look at how WeaponWatch Detects, Locates Enemy Fire Infrared Signature.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 2 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Quantico
More Ideas
and Technology by Greg Bear
Tech news articles related to Quantico
Tech news articles related to works by Greg Bear
Weapon Sound Tracker-related
news articles:
- Helmet-Based Sniper Location System
- Smartphone Sensor System Tracks Gunfire
- Cities Detect Gunfire Acoustics With ShotSpotter
- ShotSpotter Gunshot Location Tech Expands Coverage
| Can A Swarm Of Deadly Drones Take Out An Aircraft Carrier? |
| Has Turkey Been Stealing Rain From Iran? |
| We Need To Build Anti-Drone Systems For Civilian Spaces |
| Bullet Steers Itself! The Advanced Low-Cost Munitions Ordnance ALaMO |
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'Nemourlon armor of reasonable weight resists penetration by most fragments and any bullet that is not both reasonably heavy and fairly high-velocity.'
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'Its slack walls tightened, bulged, were crossed by ripples and waves of movement.'
'Norman... had never ridden any motorized device that lacked onboard steering and balance systems.'
You will note that HG Wells also figured out the aspect ratio of the future!
'As though a switch had been turned off, the pain stopped...'
'At the ringside opposite them a table had been removed to make room for a large transparent plastic capsule on wheels.'
'... he realized that the moving thing inside was - of course - a robot.'
