Check out Raymond Corrigan's cool do-it-yourself voice recognition door:
(Voice-controlled door video)
This idea is almost a hundred years old (at least), Here's an excerpt from A Journey to the Year 2025 by Clement Fezandie:
“Wait until I open the door,” she cried. And then, slowly and distinctly she pronounced the words.
“Open sesame!”
At the sound of her voice, a door in the roof noiselessly opened, and the arm-chairs on which they sat automatically continued their journey.
“Was it the sound of your voice that opened that door?” asked Silas, puzzled.
‘Why, certainly,” replied the young lady. “Almost all our locks are phonographic. We first make the record by speaking into the phonograph, and after that the lock will only open when the same voice repeats the same words, for unless the needle travels in the same groove, the electrical contact is not made, and the door will not open.”
(Read more about the phonographic lock)
Perching Ambush Drones
'On the chest of drawers something was perched.' - Philip K. Dick, 1956.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
Prairie Madness - And Space Sickness
'Space-sickness is one of the most unpleasant sensations that a human being can experience. Not all are subject to it...'
'Old People Began to Cross The Continent In Their Own Cars'
'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'
Starfall Manufacturing Drugs In Space
'The vast spinning sphere of Factory in the Sky loomed above and ahead of us, gleaming white against the unfathomable jet depths of surrounding space.'
The Solar Oberth Slingshot
'And if it doesn’t work,' inquired Lazarus, 'what does that make us? Sunspots?'
'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'