Science Fiction in the News Articles
related to the works of

Vernor Vinge

Vernor Vinge (b. 1944) is an American science fiction writer, computer scientist and mathematician. He has written two Hugo award-winning novels (A Fire Upon the Deep A Deepness in the Sky) among a number of other well-liked works. His essay on the technological Singularity is also well-known; in it, he argues that exponential growth in technology will lead to a future that we cannot imagine. Vinge retired from teaching in 2002 to write full-time.

Science fiction in the News articles describe real-world events that relate to the ideas and inventions in sf novels and movies. Select a news article:

Smart Contact Lenses Charges With 3D Printed Antenna
   'He realized that it was not quite a clear lens.' - Vernor Vinge, 2001.
ARPANET Turns 30
   The ARPANET (Advanced Research Project Agency NETwork) turns thirty this week. The original network was used to pioneer many of the techniques and protocols we take for granted on the Internet.
Cockroach-Controlled Mobile Robot
   Garnet Hertz has created a cockroach-controlled mobile robot. A hybrid biorobotic system, the robot consists of a mechanical system that amplifies and translates the bodily movements of a live giant hissing Madagascar cockroach.
Sony Patents Ultrasound Brain Beam Matrix
   Now entertainment giant Sony has patented a method of beaming an artificial world of experience - The Matrix - directly into your brain using ultrasound.
Singularity Summit At Stanford
   Must-attend summit at Stanford on the technological Singularity bearing down on all of us like a runaway train.
Multi-Hop RFID Tags Track Monkeys
   Maurading monkeys vandalizing mountain farms? Who can you call?
Vernor Vinge Smart Contact Lens On Wired
   Vernor Vinge got there first - but Wired drew it up real nice for us.
Terranaut - Fish Explore Land With Robotic Vehicle
   Ah, nothing like going for your first drive. Especially when you're a fish. On land.
Augmented Reality Shopping In Osaka
   Using this system, you could see how you looked in different items of apparel without that tedious dressing and undressing.
Everything Is Toy RFID-Enabled Fun
   Cool prototype lets you impose music on your environment that makes you part of things, rather than distancing you from your surroundings.
Building Shaker Quake Machine
   Engineers get out from behind their laptops and shake up a real 275-ton building.
Anti-Shredder Computer Versus Stasi Secret Police
   Oh man, does Vernor Vinge have an idea for these people - talk about an anti-shredder!
Japanese Researchers Jack Halfway Into The Matrix
   It appears that we are getting much closer to implementing that consensual hallucination known as the Matrix.
Augmented Reality Humanoid Robot U-Tsu-Shi-O-Mi
   I'm not sure why I think this is so disturbing, but I think that it's the sensitive featureless robot used as the substrate that gets me...
Mothbot: Moth Controls Robotic Vehicle
   Fascinating combination of insect and machine puts the prospect of cheap mobile biosensors within reach.
Circuit Smart Contact Lens, Presaged By Niven, Barnes and Vinge
   Vernor Vinge called this one in his 2001 novella 'Fast Times at Fairmont High.' Larry Niven and Steven Barnes didn't do too badly, either.
Will Scientists Learn How To Fine-Tune Autism?
   Far out speculation on the possibility of ways to get more focused for tests, then defocus in time for the weekend.
Roll-to-Roll Processing OLEDs And Video Wallpaper
   This is a very cool technology, one that could provide us with several different sfnal devices in the not-too-distant future.
Shinoda Plasma Video Wallpaper
   Nice prototype presages small-scale production of even larger version this fall.
Digital Daewoo Folding Screen DID-FS
   I think Vernor Vinge might have seen this coming; it's a fascinating combination of old and new.
Book-Scanning ScanRobot Neater Than Navicloud Custom Debinder
   Nicely implemented book-scanning robot tastefully leaves books intact after yanking their text into the digital age.
PlantBot: Humans Provide Gift Of Greater Mobility With 'Skrodes'
   Unusual work by an unusual group gives us a glimpse of what Vernor Vinge had in mind fifteen years ago. With interview and moving image.
Toshiba OLED Video Wallpaper Powered By SF
   With this many players in research and development, some kind of video wallpaper is bound to make it into production.
Optogenetics - Fiber Optic Brain Control
   Possibly a cure for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and epilepsy. Also, possibly a way to selectively control the behavior of any individual.
'Nearest Tube' Augmented Reality iPhone App
   Newest decal required on the iPhone: 'Please don't attempt to drive or walk based on the image you see on your iPhone, held right up against your eyes.'
Solar Nomad Plant A Robotic Urban Parasite
   Interesting mix of technologies in the work of Mexican artist Gilberto Esparza.
Library Removes All Books
   It's a radical move, getting rid of all of the books in your school library. Will they be missed?
Flexible Building Survives Test Quakes
   Flexible buildings that flex for earthquakes, concentrating the damage in replaceable steel 'fuses'.
Skiff Reader Solves Apple Tablet Problems
   You might like this one better if you're just interested in reading.
Scanner Could Let You 'Rip' Books
   If this device could be commercialized, you could 'rip' a book like you can rip a CD, digitizing its contents for easy storage on your computer.
Remote Control Of Brain Activity
   How can we ensure the alertness of Warfighters? Reduce stress, enhance cognition and reduce experienced pain?
Hamster Powers, Controls Strandbeest Walking Robot
   This project is good practice for humanity, who may someday be able to help aliens get around in strange environments (like Earth).
Philips Luminous Textile Panel Soft Cells
   Luminous textiles that work with sound waves.
DARPA Shredder Challenge Won!
   In which DARPA creates a 'Who can put Humpty Dumpty back together again' challenge for document mavens.
T-Shirt Computing And Vinge's Wearables
   The foundations are being laid for wearable textile computers.
Project Shellter 3D Prints Homes For Crabs
   Amazing story of humans helping homeless sea creatures.
Sansar Social Virtual Reality Platform In 2017?
   'And just as a daydreamer forgets his actual surroundings, and sees other realities...' - Vernor VInge, 1981.
Pepper The Parrot's Bird Buggy
   'Someone had put them on mobile platforms, the skrodes.'- Vernor Vinge, 1992.
Male Moths Cruise For Girls In Robotic Vehicle
   'Someone had put them on mobile platforms, the skrodes.'- Vernor Vinge, 1992.
Google's Project Tango VR Tablet Pictures Your 3D World
   'Surely most were virtual, but the blending was perfection.' - Vernor Vinge, 2006.
Mattel Bug Racer Driven By Live Cricket
   'With wheels they could move along... and manipulate with their fronds and tendrils.' - Vernor Vinge, 1992.
Samsung Patent For Smart Contact Lens Camera Granted
   'He realized that it was not quite a clear lens.' - Vernor Vinge, 2001.
Ultrasonic Wireless ‘Neural Dust’ Sensors For Medical Monitoring
   'These dustmotes already had sensors and independence built in.' - Vernor Vinge, 2005.
HEXA Robotic Help For Plants
   Then some unknown race had chanced upon the dreamers and decided to 'help them out.' - Vernor Vinge, 1992.
Fog Computing (AKA Edge Computing) Ad Hoc Networks
   'The tiny devices chirped their impulse codes at one another...' - Vernor Vinge, 1999.
The Mojo Smart Contact Lens Experience
   '... the lens displays would be useless without a wearable computer to do the graphics.' - Vernor Vinge, 2001.
Giving Snakes Their Legs Back
   Then some unknown race had chanced upon the dreamers and decided to 'help them out.' - Vernor Vinge, 1992.

 

 

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