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"[Science fiction] is the only kind of writing that allows you to look at the world we live in and change one piece at a time."
- Frederik Pohl
 |
| Selective Electric Eye | ||
| A facial recognition device. |
| Then she turned to the entrance.
But the selective beam of the electric eye refused to swing open the portal. Already the orders of the master of the house had barred the door against her. The actuating mechanism that should have operated by the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell, remained dead. She stared uncomprehending for a moment, then a flush of anger suffused her cheeks. The little fists clenched. "Oh, despicable!" she exclaimed, "he's made me a prisoner, a prisoner in my own room!" Well she knew the futility of battering furiously against the barrier. None but those for whom the mechanism were set could pass through. |
| Technovelgy from Exiles of the Moon,
by Nat Schachner (w. AL Zagat). Published by Wonder Stories in 1931 Additional resources -
|
Joseph Gilbert and Fred Fischer use the same idea in Escape (1943):
Compare to face recognition sunglasses from The Water Knife (2015) by Paolo Bacigalupi and the cephalic pattern door from The Zap Gun (1965) by Philip K. Dick.
Jean Rogers stepped out of the magnetic lift, paused before the door of her apartment, and waited quietly while the relays connected to the multicellular photoelectric bank on the door hummed a little electric song — checking her with the pattern it was set for. It approved the result, and the door split in half, sliding silently back into the frame.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Exiles of the Moon
More Ideas
and Technology by Nat Schachner (w. AL Zagat)
Tech news articles related to Exiles of the Moon
Tech news articles related to works by Nat Schachner (w. AL Zagat)
Selective Electric Eye-related
news articles:
- UK School Face Recognition: Kiddie Orwell Tech
- Chinavision Face Recognition Door Lock
- Merchants Get Face-Recognition Via The Cloud
- US Customs Now Doing Facial Recognition At DC Airport
- Amazon's Rekognition System Sees Criminals In Congress
- Chinese Face Recognition Mistakes Bus Ad For Jaywalker
- Facebook Unexpectedly Turns Away From Sfnal Face Recognition
| Amazon One Is Frank Herbert's Palm Lock |
| Who Needs Dogs? Trained Bees Detect Explosives |
| Government In-Home Surveillance - Yes! Say Third Of Under-30 Adults |
| New Train Station Offers Minority Report-Style Signs |
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Now that's power walking that Hugo Gernsback would have approved.
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'...the huge vessel had spun, with a sickening lurch, through a complete half-circle, the instant the power was reversed.'
'...he realized that it was not quite a clear lens. Speckles of colored brightness swirled and gathered in it.'
