The Thousand Dreams of Stellavista by J.G. Ballard:
Science Fiction Inventions, Technology and Ideas

"Today's house-hunter has only minor problems: the schools, the taxes, the neighbors, the mortgage. But in a world of psychotropic houses— where the very walls respond to the emotions of those who live (and lived) in them— buying the right house can be a matter of life and death."


('The Thousand Dreams of Stellavista' by JG Ballard)

Another excellent story in the Vermillion Sands collection. A man and his wife hope to be happy in a new home, but its previous owner entangles them in her traumatic life due to the psychotropic features of the house. Select an invention:

Plastex - self-healing material
A combination of plaster and latex, it allows houses to change shape for you.

Psychotropic House
Buildings designed to sense, and mirror, the psychological state of their owners.

Self-Healing Building - building materials
A building that responds to stresses or cracks in walls by healing the damaged portion.

Senso-Cells - read the quirks
Sensors that recorded personal characteristics of the owners of a house, to better serve their needs.

Static House - frozen personality
A house that was once fully psychotropic and malleable, but which had been frozen in one configuration.

 

Technovelgy.com is devoted to the creative inventions of science fiction authors and movie makers. Look for the Science Fiction Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary of Science Fiction Inventions, the Timeline of Science Fiction Inventions, or see what's New.
Find
new authors and technologies - Shop for yourself, your library and your lab.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction
in the News

Robotic Barber Programmed With a Number of Styles
re: Don Wilcox
(5/17/2025)

Humanoid Boxing Robot KO's Opponent - It's A Knockout!
re: Aldo Giunta
(5/15/2025)

Caterpillar Electric Mining Loader Not Yet Ready For Moon
re: Jack Williamson
(5/13/2025)

Centipede Robots Down On The Farm
re: Fritz Leiber
(5/11/2025)

Anthropic's Claude AI Creates Legal Citation From Whole Cloth
re: Punch
(5/11/2025)

Students Vie For Lunar Regolith Mining Robot Prize
re: Pournelle and Niven
(5/9/2025)

'They Erased My Memory' Says Ariana Grande
re: Edmond Hamilton
(5/7/2025)

Solitary Black Hole Wanders In Space
re: Frank K. Kelly
(5/5/2025)

Spaceplane From Virgin Atlantic
re: Max Plaisted
(5/3/2025)

DARPA Wants 'Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures'
re: Greg Bear
(5/1/2025)

Robot Hand Creeps Along, Separate From It's Owner
re: Philip K. Dick
(4/30/2025)

Taikonauts Exercise In China's Tiangong Space Station
re: Murray Leinster
(4/28/2025)

Korean Exoskeleton Suit F1 Helps You Put It On
re: Marvel
(4/26/2025)

Have AI Researchers Given Up On 'Bio-Babies'?
re: David Brin
(4/24/2025)

More SF in the News

Home | Glossary | Invention Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.