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"I'm a fairly visual thinker. In doing science, I think in terms of pictures of things happening, and then do the mathematics."
- Gregory Benford
 |
| Gesture-Controlled Device | ||
| An electronic device that is controlled by hand gestures. |
| A loud clatter of gunk music flooded through the Heart of Gold cabin as Zaphod searched the sub-etha radio wave bands for news of himself. The machine was rather difficult to operate. For years radios had been operated by means of pressing buttons and turning dials; then as the technology became more sophisticated the controls were made touch-sensitive--you merely had to brush the panels with your fingers; now all you had to do was wave your hand in the general direction of the components and hope. It saved a lot of muscular expenditure, of course, but meant that you had to sit infuriatingly still if you wanted to keep listening to the same program.
Zaphod waved a hand and the channel switched again. |
| Technovelgy from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,
by Douglas Adams. Published by Harmony Books in 1979 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the hand wave control from Philip K. Dick's 1955 novel Solar Lottery. See also the filing crystal from Samuel R. Delany's Babel-17 (1968).
Thanks to Erik Nodacker for contributing this item.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
More Ideas
and Technology by Douglas Adams
Tech news articles related to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Tech news articles related to works by Douglas Adams
Gesture-Controlled Device-related
news articles:
- Gesture-Controlled TV Update
- JVC Clapper Gesture Recognition TV
- Robot Accepts Gesture Commands
- Arm Swing Authentication For Mobile Phones
- Walky iPhone Finger Gesture Robot Controller
- Gesture Cube Touch-Free Input
- 3D Input Interfaces For Gesture-Controlled Phones
- PrimeSense WAVI Xtion Gesture Control Of TV
- Geremin Gesture-Controlled Dashboard
- Control Robot Planes With Hand Gestures!
- GestIC Gesture Recognition Controller Uses Electrical Fields
- AllSee Low Power Gesture Recognition
- VW Golf R Touch With Gesture Control
- WatchSense Perfect For Fat-Fingered Smartwatch Owners
| Climate Engineering In California Could Make Europe's Heat Waves Worse |
| Textiles That Harvest Energy And Store It |
| Coin-Sized Nuclear Battery Good For 100 Years |
| The FLUTE Project - A Huge Liquid Mirror In Space |
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'What would you do,' Eric asked the robot cabdriver, 'if your wife had turned to stone, your best friend were a toad, and you had lost your job?'
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'..the synthetic intellects at the Place of Knowledge had far outstripped the minds of men.'
'But after washing and drying clothes had to be smooth - free from fine lines and wrinkles ...'
