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"Cyberspace is a metaphor that allows us to grasp this place where since about the time of the second world war we've increasingly done so many of the things that we think of as civilization."
- William Gibson
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| Mattress Sleep Sensor | ||
| Sleep problems? Make sure you get your body out of bed each day. |
Do you keep hitting the snooze alarm? Here's a fool-proof way to make sure you get out of the sack. Even if you have found the perfect bed.
| Ten minutes earlier he had been snoring in his apartment at the Cowles Modular Community, with the alarm buzzing in his ears. The third time it went off, it would refuse to shut up until his 190 pounds were lifted from the sensor in the mattress. |
| Technovelgy from Dream Park,
by Larry Niven (w/S. Barnes). Published by Ace Books in 1981 Additional resources -
|
Like many of Niven's fictional ideas, this one seems doable. A mechanical linkage like this has a variety of benefits. You can't throw it across the room, or cause it to snooze; you can only obey it.
It also has other applications in hospitals; I recently heard a news item about a hospital bed that could sense if a patient had gotten out of bed (an alarm would sound for the nurse). It could also be used to get data on sleep disorders (frequent rising in the night).
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Dream Park
More Ideas
and Technology by Larry Niven (w/S. Barnes)
Tech news articles related to Dream Park
Tech news articles related to works by Larry Niven (w/S. Barnes)
Mattress Sleep Sensor-related
news articles:
- Mattress Alarm Perfect For Sleepy Students
| Sleep Pods At Daxing International Airport |
| Amazon Blimp Parent Drone Concept |
| Tortoise Mobile Smart Stores |
| Sony Pocket Air Conditioner Is Phil Dick's Idea! |
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'A broken circle with arrows pointing to a right-hand flow appeared in the chalf.'
'The object seemed melted together like wax — nothing was distinguishable.'
'Midges have many capabilities. To the untrained eye, they look like sparrows.'
'I made disks of my own voice to the number of five hundred very carefully chosen words.'
'His sensors out and working, and the whirring of the tape that sucked up sight and sound and shape and smell and form...'
'It sounds to me as though you had invented a kind of metal earthworm.'
