 |
Lucent DVR Sleep Detector
Lucent scientists have filed a patent application for a digital video recorder (DVR) that will detect when the user has fallen asleep - and will then turn off the DVR. As it turns out, Robert Heinlein had thought about this forty-five years ago.
(Lucent knows when you are sleeping)
According to Lucent, "the sleep detector may comprise an electronic camera for forming images of the viewer, and pattern recognition means connected to the electronic camera to monitor the physical condition of the viewer. For example, the pattern recognition means determine whether the viewer’s eyes are open or shut."
Alternatively, the "sleep detector" may be a device wearable by the user to monitor their physical activity or physiological status. This wearable device could include one or more of the following: an accelerometer, a heat flux sensor, a galvanic skin response sensor, a skin temperature sensor and a near-body ambient temperature sensor.
In his 1961 novel Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein mentioned a similar device, used by people who read in bed. The pages of the book "spool" were projected on the ceiling - but what happened if the user fell asleep?
Jill decided that she would probably not oversleep, crawled into bed, slid the spool into the reading machine, lay back and scanned the words streaming across the ceiling. Presently the speed control slipped out of her relaxed fingers, the lights went out and she slept.
(Read more about Robert Heinlein's reading machine)
If you are interested in other science fictional sleep aids made real, take a look at the Yumemi Kobo Dream Factory and the Metronap sleep pod. Thanks to Zatz Not Funny for bringing this one to our attention.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 1/13/2006)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion (Back On) ( 5 )
Related News Stories - (" Culture ")
Personal Sniffer Robots
'...The ticking combinations of the olfactory system of the hound.'- Ray Bradbury, 1953.
A Big Collection Of Small Books
'Black, oblong, no larger than the end of Paul's thumb... It's a very old Orange Catholic Bible made for space travelers.'- Frank Herbert, 1965.
SimSensei Plus Kinnect Equals PKD's Voight-Kampff?
'We know this to be a primary autonomic response...'- Philip K. Dick, 1968.
Elon Musk's Debt To Science Fiction Books
A marvelous vision of a national fleet of electric phaetons that would truly revolutionize motor transport. And private space craft.
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.
Current News
MIT Robot Cheetah Video Shows Gait Transition
'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'
TrackingPoint Smart Rifle
Not your typical 'smart bullet' approach.
'Hello, Computer!' Google Now Highlighted at IO13
'Hello, computer!'
Sky City's 220 Stories Are Go
'It rested among green parklands and... stood in total isolation, a glittering block of whites and flashing windows dotted with colors.'
CARMAT Bioprosthetic Total Human Heart Replacement
'George Walt's corporate existence proved the workability of wholly mechanical organs...'
Personal Sniffer Robots
'...The ticking combinations of the olfactory system of the hound.'
Physical Exam? We've Got Apps
See the future of handheld, personal medical devices.
The Interplanetary Internet, Vint Cerf Speaking
'This was the center of Interplanetary Communications.'
Drosophila Robotica, The Mechanical Fly
'... the Scarab [flying robot] buzzed into the great workroom as any intruding insect might...'
Robo-Raven Flapping Wing Robot Bird
'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.'
Japan's Nursing Home Robot Plan
Let's make the Roujin Z-0001 Robotic Bed!
Samsung Smart TVs With Gesture Control
'He waved his hand and the circuit switched abruptly.'
Swiss HCPVT Giant Photovoltaic 'Flower'
'...leaning against one of the slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector.'
Mini-Livers Made By 3D Printer
Organleggers may experience an employment downturn.
Smartphone Sensor System Tracks Gunfire
'Sound trackers on the roof could zero in on weapons action...'
Bacteria Now Make Biofuel Like Oil
'They have ... germs that eat pretty near anything, and produce oil as a waste product.'
