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" I think that computers today allow us one last opportunity to provide something like a level playingfield in America."
- William Gibson

Vision Strip  
  A circular vision strip for robots.  

A strangely modern presentiment of machine vision.

Tiny and black, a mass of hanging arms and legs, the thing went gliding down the slope of a hill. Steffens saw it clearly for a full second, saw the dull ball of its head tilt upward as the ship came over, and then the hill was past.

A band of clear, plastic like stuff ran round the head—it would be the eye, a band of eye that saw all ways. On the top of the head was a single round spot of the plastic, and the rest was black metal, joined, he realized, with fantastic perfection. The angle of sight was now almost perpendicular. He could see very little of the branching arms of the trunk, but what had been on the screen was enough. They were the most perfect robots he had ever seen.

Technovelgy from Orphans of the Void, by Orville Shaara.
Published by Galaxy in 1952
Additional resources -

Compare to this very early reference to Computer Vision (Artificial Eye) from The Metal Giants (1925) by Edmond Hamilton.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Orphans of the Void
  More Ideas and Technology by Orville Shaara
  Tech news articles related to Orphans of the Void
  Tech news articles related to works by Orville Shaara

Vision Strip-related news articles:
  - Prosthetic Vision Device ala Star Trek

Articles related to Robotics
Mika The Robot-Boss
Sensitive, Soft Robot Skin
Finger Sensors For Robot Hands
A Vacuum With An Arm - Engineers Create Heinlein's Hired Girl Robot

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