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
"By the time I can take people out to where Hubble is looking, they won't be human anymore, by a long way."
- Larry Niven
 |
| Phonographic Locks | ||
| Doors that open using voice recognition. |
This is a very early description of voice recognition, the first I know of for opening doors.
| “Wait until I open the door,” she cried. And then, slowly and distinctly she pronounced the words. “Open sesame!” At the sound of her voice, a door in the roof noiselessly opened, and the arm-chairs on which they sat automatically continued their journey. “Was it the sound of your voice that opened that door?” asked Silas, puzzled. ‘Why, certainly,” replied the young lady. “Almost all our locks are phonographic. We first make the record by speaking into the phonograph, and after that the lock will only open when the same voice repeats the same words, for unless the needle travels in the same groove, the electrical contact is not made, and the door will not open.” “But how do you manage when several persons are to use the same lock?” “Each person makes his own phonogram, and the lock will then open to any one of a dozen different voices, each repeating its own special words. When strangers are expected we use a broader needle in making the records. Then the lock will open for anyone who pronounces the given words. Or else we speak through a special horn that changes the voice, so that the lock is not set for an individual voice.” “But doesn’t your own voice change somewhat at times?” “Yes indeed. Once I came home so hoarse that my voice wouldn’t work the lock. In another case I had an attack of malaria and was shivering so hard I couldn’t articulate the words. In both cases I had to hire a room downstairs until my family returned. |
| Technovelgy from A Journey to the Year 2025,
by Clement Fezandie. Published by Science and Invention in 1921 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the robot door from Colony by Philip K Dick (1953), the self-satisfied door from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams (1980) and the Mark IV Door Keeping Robot from The Man Who Could Not Stop by A. Bertram Chandler (1959).
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from A Journey to the Year 2025
More Ideas
and Technology by Clement Fezandie
Tech news articles related to A Journey to the Year 2025
Tech news articles related to works by Clement Fezandie
Phonographic Locks-related
news articles:
- Voice-Recognition Door DIY
| Goodness Gracious Me! Google Tries Face Recognition Security |
| Live Stream With Meta-Ban Multimodal Smart Glasses |
| Brin's 1990 Novel Earth Still Full Of Predictions |
| Amazon One Is Frank Herbert's Palm Lock |
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
'If the biological robots were not living creatures, they were certainly very good imitations.'
"Everybody and his dog, it seemed, wanted to live out in the country; transportation and communication were no longer isolating factors."
'... the new typewriter that could be talked to, and which transposed the spoken sound into typed words.'
'... underneath they consisted of networks of cooling tubes against the skin.'
'My cars talk to one another. I have no doubt about it...'
'... the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell.'
