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"Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today -- but the core of science fiction, its essence has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all."
- Isaac Asimov

Camera Tunnel  
  A device that captures images of shredded documents from all sides for reassembly.  

In the novel, a university library is being digitized in a horrifying way - a Navicloud Custom Debinder is used to tear books into thousands of piece, and then the shreds are photographed and recombined.

The fabric tunnel that stretched out behind it was a "camera tunnel..." The shredded fragments of books and magazines flew down the tunnel like leaves in a tornado, twisting and tumbling. The inside of the fabric was stiched with thousands of tiny cameras. The shreds were being photographed again and again, from every angle and orientation, till finally the torn leaves dropped into a bin just in front of Robert.
Technovelgy from Rainbows End, by Vernor Vinge.
Published by Tor in 2006
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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Rainbows End
  More Ideas and Technology by Vernor Vinge
  Tech news articles related to Rainbows End
  Tech news articles related to works by Vernor Vinge

Camera Tunnel-related news articles:
  - DARPA Shredder Challenge Won!

Articles related to Artificial Intelligence
AI Operates An Excavator
Grok And The City Fathers From 'Cities In Flight' By James Blish
Will An AI Found A New Religion?
Orwell's Nightmare Of AI-Written Novels Comes To Pass

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