 |
Dictionary of Computer Terms in Science Fiction
(Technovelgy items at top: skip
down to News)
Name |
Author (Publication Date) |
Accu-Terrain Floor A special floor for virtual reality environments that simulates any kind of surface. |
David Brin (1994) |
Aggressive-Response Service An answering service with an attitude. |
John Varley (1998) |
Airboarding Typing in thin air to input characters into a computer. |
Charles Stross (2007) |
Alien Trojan Malware from another world! |
David Webber (2010) |
Alternate Computer Personality A computer system that can take on complete, alternate personalities. |
Robert Heinlein (1966) |
AM - an Agressive Menace A supercomputer that hates. |
Harlan Ellison (1967) |
Answerboard - good name for it A forum or computer meeting location with experts on a particular topic. |
Vernor Vinge (2006) |
Artificial Brain A non-organic device structured like a human brain. |
Edmond Hamilton (1926) |
Automated Travel Bureau A computer program that allows individuals to book their travel arrangements themselves, with a credit card. |
Robert Heinlein (1982) |
Auto-Treadmills (Needle-Gym) A simulation-exercise room floor that allows the user to walk and run on a consistently realistic surface. |
David Brin (1994) |
Ballistic Calculator - trajectories between planets An on-board computer for a spaceship to calculate its course and perform other related tasks. |
Robert Heinlein (1939) |
Biologics - organic computing A computer that is made of organic (biological) components, rather than inorganic materials like silicon. |
Greg Bear (1984) |
Blacknet - antisocial networking An antisocial networking site. |
Charles Stross (2007) |
Brain Machine Powerful mechanical computer. |
Nat Schachner (Astounding) |
BrainPal A neural implant. |
John Scalzi (2005) |
Brains (Computer) An electronic brain that is able to do problem solving. This idea seems to be the impetus behind current artificial intelligence that seeks to solve problems, rather than to simulate human intelligenc |
Eando Binder (1953) |
Briefcase Computer - early reference A portable computer workstation. |
James P. Hogan (1977) |
Briefcase Console - the original notebook computer A notebook computer |
Jerry Pournelle (w/L. Niven) (1981) |
Brood Assembly - first self reproducing automata Artificially intelligent computers that can replicate themselves. |
James Blish (1957) |
Calculator Pad - grandfather of the pocket calculator Used to make psychohistoric calculations |
Isaac Asimov (1951) |
Carson Circuit - the secret of the Internet A means of distinguishing betweem millions of different information sources - the secret of the Internet. |
Murray Leinster (1946) |
Chemical Brain A purely chemical artificial intelligence. |
Francis Flagg (1929) |
CIC Virtual Earth - google earth A software application that presents detailed information about the Earth. |
Neal Stephenson (1992) |
Comeye - portable video camera A portable video camera, used by the mobile functionary to keep in touch with office. |
Frank Herbert (1984) |
Computational Textile Wearable computer sensors. |
Alastair Reynolds (2005) |
Computer Generated DigItal Music A computer composes music with a few simple inputs from the user. |
Donald Kingsbury (1979) |
Computer Play Time Allowing a computer to take time off from serious problems improves its performance. |
Isaac Asimov (1975) |
Computer Translator - computer translator and GPS A computer translator; software that provides automatic translation when jacked into a data port. |
William Gibson (1996) |
Computer Virus A software program that copies itself to other computers. |
Gregory Benford (1970) |
Computer Vision (Artificial Eye) A device which, attached to a suitable computer, will allow the device to see. |
Edmond Hamilton (1926) |
Computer-Created Dub Music created by an artificially intelligent computer for a specific audience. |
William Gibson (1984) |
Computers Can Dream A sufficiently complex AI computer can have activity similar to that of a human dreaming. |
Isaac Asimov (1982) |
Computers Improve Computers The idea that it will be possible for computers to design more advanced computers. |
Isaac Asimov (1958) |
Comsole (Home Communications Console) A home computer, connected to data services. |
Arthur C. Clarke (1976) |
CopSpace - MySpace for police, and then some A virtual location for police lifelogs, official communications, paperwork, informational databases and evidence of all kinds. |
Charles Stross (2007) |
Cortical Stack - USB/WiFi flashdrive for your brain Implanted hardware device that contains a backup copy of your mental self. |
Richard Morgan (2003) |
Cutoff Switch - a cable guillotine A means of instantaneously switching off an artificial intelligence. |
Arthur C. Clarke (1982) |
Cybernetic Brain An artificial brain to control the movements of an prosthetic leg using nerve impulses. |
Charles Recour (1949) |
Cyberspace - the original consensual hallucination A computer technology that allowed people to see a computer network as an internal experience. |
William Gibson (1982) |
Cyborg Pilot - man plus machine A combination of a human being (at least the thinking part) and a machine. |
Robert Heinlein (1966) |
Data Space Computer storage and processor time rented by the user. |
Vernor Vinge (1981) |
Datacase - a status-thin briefcase for electronics A portable suitcase, containing useful electronics for the mobile business-person. |
Frank Herbert (1984) |
Data-Net An early mention of the idea of a nationwide data network. |
John Brunner (1975) |
Data-Retrieval Programs - ferrets, hounds, foxes and badgers Programs that searched the Net for specific information. |
David Brin (1990) |
Dataset A portable computer with multiple screens and capabilities. |
Vernor Vinge (1992) |
Datasphere The entirety of computers and their information linked together, typically on a planet, in concept. |
Dan Simmons (1989) |
Datumplane The workspace of console cowboys - the matrix. |
Dan Simmons (1989) |
Desk (Personal Computer) A computer for students. |
Orson Scott Card (1985) |
Desktop-TV Video available worldwide, prepared by everyone. |
Robert J. Sawyer (1998) |
Dustmote A tiny sensor device that could also form networks with other motes. |
Vernor Vinge (1999) |
Edgar Computer that falls in love with a human woman. |
Rusty Lemorande (1984) |
Edge Controls A pocket-sized device using controls on the edge of the device, leaving the face for display purposes only. |
Isaac Asimov (1958) |
Electromagnetic Shotgun - take out an AI A device to shut down an artificial intelligence if it becomes dangerous. |
William Gibson (1984) |
Electronic Analogue of Living Brain Imposing the abilities of a human brain into a computer |
Frederik Pohl (1955) |
Electronic Government Using computer terminals to register votes from citizens on specific propositions. |
John Brunner (1975) |
EmilyPost - checks for flames An autonomous worm that searches the Net for lack of courtesy. |
David Brin (1990) |
EYE Program A massive government database on civilians. |
John Twelve Hawks (2014) |
EyePod - you'll need one for your implant A generic term for the external computing processing unit needed for eye implants. |
Robert J. Sawyer (2009) |
Flexy (or Flexies) A flexible, quasi-living computer. |
Alastair Reynolds (2005) |
Folding Computer Terminal A foldable pocket computer. |
John Barnes (2002) |
Folding Terminal A computer that unfolds itself for use. |
Ray Naylor (2022) |
Full-Shift Set Variable - early mention in gaming Infinite possibilities built into a game machine. |
Philip K. Dick (1967) |
Games Machine A vast computer system. |
A.E. van Vogt (1945) |
Geometric Modeling - eighteenth century NURBS The first recorded use of geometric figures to directly represent, or model, living beings. |
Jonathan Swift (1726) |
Ghostwheel A sentient computer partially built with magic. |
Roger Zelazny (1986) |
Gigagnostotron Enormously powerful computing device. |
Stanislaw Lem (1965) |
Gnostotron Computing device capable of producing an informational model of absolutely everything in existence. |
Stanislaw Lem (1965) |
Governing Keyboard A remote-controlled robot responds to keyboard commands. |
David H. Keller (1929) |
Government Data Transparency The idea that all of the information available to the government should be posted online and be easily accessible to everyone. |
John Brunner (1975) |
Government Machine The automata that constitute the entire government, all in one building. |
Miles J. Breuer (1932) |
Grantline Comptometer - long before Mathematica Key-driven computer/calculator that easily solves even calculus problems. |
Ray Cummings (1928) |
Hand Computer A small pocket-sized computing device. |
Isaac Asimov (1956) |
Handbag Computer Device capable of carrying on your conversation for you. |
Stanislaw Lem (1974) |
Holo-Printing Errors introduced in data storage media when recording under improper conditions. |
Philip K. Dick (1977) |
House Records -10K years of information management The vast archival information management system of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood, covering millennia. |
Frank Herbert (1984) |
Human Habit Pattern Machines Imposing human habits onto machines. |
Frederik Pohl (1955) |
ICE (intrusion countermeasures electronics) - anti-hacker Electronic protection for computer databases. |
William Gibson (1984) |
Icon Thumbsized Image - first reference? A very early reference to a screen icon. |
Arthur C. Clarke (1968) |
Implanted Microprocessor Monitor Chips that are implanted in people to ensure compliance with company rules. |
William Gibson (1984) |
Integral Calculator A device that accepts complex equations and solves them. |
Nat Schachner (w. AL Zagat) (1931) |
Intellectual Cell - cellular computing A smart lymphocyte; a cell with enhanced capacity for memory, understanding and communication. |
Greg Bear (1984) |
Interests Profile - an intelligent agent An intelligent agent; a software program with your personal tastes on file. |
Frederik Pohl (1966) |
Internet Addiction A state in which human beings experience addiction to computer access and data streams. |
Dan Simmons (1989) |
Jackleg - dodge the data cops Moving data around to avoid detection or capture. |
Bruce Sterling (1988) |
Joymaker - the ultimate PDA A networked personal digital assistant - that really is an assistant. |
Frederik Pohl (1966) |
Junkbot - spamachine An automated email program that specializes in sending junk mail (spam) |
Bruce Sterling (1998) |
Keyboard With Changing Keys A computer keyboard with keys faced with little displays, so the label could change based on the application or language. |
Arthur C. Clarke (1976) |
Knowledge Engine - machine-made expertise The first reference to a machine that could create sentences or write books. |
Jonathan Swift (1726) |
Kuang Grade Mark Eleven Penetration Program Chinese virus software for breaking the ICE. |
William Gibson (1984) |
Laminated Mouse Brain Computer - extra fast computer A computing device that makes use of neurons from a mouse. |
Cordwainer Smith (1962) |
Localizer - tiny network mote Devices that work together to form ad-hoc networks. |
Vernor Vinge (1999) |
Logical Pathogen Malware concealed in DNA. |
Alastair Reynolds (w/S. Baxter) (2016) |
Logics - early home computer Machines that let you request information, and then display it for you on a screen. |
Murray Leinster (1946) |
Machine Psychologist - computer psychiatrist A computer that understands and uses its knowledge of human psychology to benefit human users. |
James Blish (1957) |
Machine Test Scoring A device that scans a specially prepared grade sheet and determines a student's score. |
Isaac Asimov (1951) |
Matrix - shared virtual reality A shared virtual reality space; users project their consciousness into a representation of networked data. |
William Gibson (1982) |
Mechanical Jokester A vast computer system learns about humor. |
Isaac Asimov (1956) |
Mechanical Teacher - one for all A computer device able to teach children. |
Isaac Asimov (1951) |
Medically Applicable Biochip - a microarray A computer formed of organic components that is used for a medical purpose. |
Greg Bear (1984) |
Metal Calculator Planet - the Burroughs planet A planet covered entirely with machinery to a height of twenty miles and covered with a metal roof. |
Clifford Simak (1949) |
Metavirus (Digital Metavirus) Binary code that can infect computers or even hackers, through the binary nerve. |
Neal Stephenson (1992) |
Microterm A very small computer system. |
Bruce Bethke (1983) |
Mnemiphot A device used to search for information, which is then presented on a convenient screen. |
Jack Vance (1952) |
Model the Universe A computer capacious enough to contain a representation of the entire universe. |
Stanislaw Lem (1965) |
Mook Computer-based proxy that deals with communication. |
Bruce Sterling (1997) |
Morality Rating-Computer - spotting the deviant A computer system able to determine moral deviancy. |
Kendall Foster Crossen (1953) |
Multiple-Brain Computer Person augmented with multiple implanted brains. |
Michael Swanwick (2001) |
Multivac A computer with millions of facts. |
Isaac Asimov (1955) |
Muscle Sensor Interface Interface senses muscle movements to control display. |
Iain M Banks (2004) |
Net Shutdown Worm - computer tapeworm project A tapeworm designed to shut down a nationwide network in the event of national emergency. |
John Brunner (1975) |
Network Monitoring Detection - why the slowdown? Detection of someone monitoring your computer workstation |
Frank Herbert (1977) |
Neuristor A solid-state computer component that mimics the human neuron. |
Robert Heinlein (1966) |
Neuristor Brain A computer device made up of neuristors. |
Roger Zelazny (1976) |
No Human Programmers The idea that computers are too complicated and too important to be programmed by human beings. |
John Varley (1983) |
Odorophonics - scent player A system capable of reproducing selected scents capable of fooling the human nervous system. |
Ray Bradbury (1951) |
Opton - electronic book Very early description of an electronic book, with storage media. |
Stanislaw Lem (1961) |
Panther Modern Cyberterrorists for hire. |
William Gibson (1984) |
ParanoidLinux A computer operating system that deliberately obscures the activities of the user. |
Cory Doctorow (2008) |
Personal Cache - a digital safety deposit box An online data repository used to store personal data. |
David Brin (1990) |
Personality Simulator - game your office politics A device which, when fed enough data about a person, simulated their personality allowing the user to predict behavior in stated circumstances. |
Frank Herbert (1977) |
Phantomatic Generator (Virtual Reality) A computer-generated experience. |
Stanislaw Lem (1964) |
Planetary Computer Network A global data net. |
Stanislaw Lem (1957) |
Pocket Computer - a PDA A pocket-sized computer. |
Isaac Asimov (1958) |
Portable Ident-Plate - quick prints A small, thin device that will capture biometric data from a person's finger. |
David Brin (1990) |
Powered Print-Book Part computer, part book. |
Isaac Asimov (1988) |
Primer A special software program that teaches basic language skills. |
Neal Stephenson (1995) |
Replacement of Brain with Computer Removal of the brain of an ordinary man, and installation of a calculating machine. |
Edward Page Mitchell (1879) |
Retaliatory Tapeworm (Counter-Worm) - take that! Using computers to deliberately damage another person's reputation and well-being. |
John Brunner (1975) |
Sandbenders - a gem of a computer A highly customized computer system; the opposite of a box from Gateway or Dell. |
William Gibson (1996) |
SchoolBook A standard-issue laptop computer for school use. |
Cory Doctorow (2008) |
Screensaver (Inventor of) - the original idea Screen savers are used to prevent phosphor burnout in CRTs, and to provide restful entertainment on computer screens. |
Robert Heinlein (1961) |
Selector Card Pneumatic delivery of book films by using a mechanical form of data storage; selector cards - probably punch cards. |
Robert Heinlein (1951) |
Self-Maintaining Circuit Monitoring and Repair A computer that monitors itself for repair. |
Frank Quattrocchi (1952) |
Sensory Skinsuit A form-fitting garment with sensory connections. |
Larry Niven (w/S. Barnes) (1981) |
Separated At Birth Database Missing persons database uses similarity to famous people. |
William Gibson (1993) |
Simulogs (Simulated Playmates) Computer-generated playmates. |
John Brunner (1966) |
Skin Computer A computer that looks like a tattoo, on a stretchable base. |
Greg Bear (2009) |
Smart Dust - intelligent sand Very tiny computers. |
Stanislaw Lem (1965) |
Stellar Analog Computers Special systems used to calculate safe "jumps" for interstellar trips. |
Rose Sharon (1957) |
Talking Head - retro output device A mechanical head (with an analog voice) used as the output terminal for a computer. |
William Gibson (1984) |
Tapeworm (Computer Worm) - first use of the concept The first description of a set of computer codes that moves from one computer to another on a network as a coherent entity. |
John Brunner (1975) |
TechnoCore A group of artificial intelligences with vast resources and the entirety of human dataspheres to access. |
Dan Simmons (1989) |
Telebook - words on a screen A book made available in text on a television screen. |
Isaac Asimov (1951) |
The Machine - supplies every need A single vast contrivance that supplied all the needs of the world's millions of solitary inhabitants. |
E.M. Forster (1909) |
The Machines A few of these can run a planetary economy. |
Isaac Asimov (1950) |
Thorsen Memory Tube Computer component that allows a machine to learn through experience. |
Robert Heinlein (1956) |
Tongue Mouse A pointing device using input from the tongue. |
Greg Bear (2007) |
Touch Tablet Another name for a wireless Tablet PC. |
Greg Bear (2003) |
Trace Web A small, handheld device that contacts (and even instantiates) the larger network. |
Philip K. Dick (1954) |
Unicephalon 40-D - yes, mr. president A problem-solving supercomputer. |
Philip K. Dick (1963) |
Universal Checkbook - radioactive checking Fully electronic banking system, which allows easy withdrawal of funds from any bank. |
Robert Heinlein (1956) |
Universal Dictionary - grandfather of the electronic dictionary A machine that provided references to anything known. |
Robert Heinlein (1954) |
Universal Technical Consultative Service Interstellar travel plans calculated, reserved and confirmed. |
Jack Vance (1964) |
Veridicator - lie detector that works A device that measured physiologic responses (biometric data) and translated it to a set of colors that unerringly reported whether or not the measured person was telling the truth. |
H. Beam Piper (1962) |
Virtual Kiss (Tactile Net) - affection by wire A phone-like device that will communicate a kiss in a tactile manner. |
Frederik Pohl (1966) |
Virtual Reality (Virtual Matrix) - early usage An early use of a term very similar to the idea of cyberspace. |
Damien Broderick (1982) |
Virtual World Kiss Kissing mediated by a computer system. |
Vernor Vinge (1981) |
Virtual world metaphor - early use use of fanciful imagery to represent real-world data systems in a virtual world. |
Vernor Vinge (1981) |
Virtual World Theft - faux thievery A method of stealing or reassigning ownership to items of value in virtual worlds. |
Charles Stross (2007) |
Virtuality Helmet ('Virching' Helmet) A helmet with a communication system and a display; a pilot wearing this helmet could sit on the ground and control a distant aircraft. |
Bruce Sterling (1994) |
Vivisector - software deconstruction A program that takes another computer program apart, while it's running, to see what it does. |
David Brin (1990) |
Vizzyprint - phone printer A printer attached to a video phone. |
Rudy Rucker (1988) |
Voicewriter Screen (Computer Monitor) A screen that displays characters. |
Theodore Sturgeon (1954) |
Wearables - computers to go Slang for 'wearable computer.' |
Vernor Vinge (2001) |
Wearables (Wearable Computers) - embroidered circuits Computers and peripherals that use textiles for electronic circuitry. |
Vernor Vinge (2006) |
Websight - visualize the Net A way of visualizing the Internet internally. |
Robert J. Sawyer (2009) |
Worldweb All Thing Network connects billions of people in real time. |
Dan Simmons (1989) |
Wristpad A tablet computer worn on the wrist. |
Kim Stanley Robinson (2017) |
Related Science Fiction in the News
Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness? 'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.' - Isaac Asimov, 1975. (re: Isaac Asimov, 6/1/2025 ) |
Jetson Orin Nano Super 70 Just $249 'Rayno folded up the microterm and tucked it back inside his jumper.' - Bruce Bethke, 1983. (re: Bruce Bethke, 1/19/2025 ) |
Automatic Bot Traffic Is 38 Percent Of HTTP Requests 'there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net...' - John Brunner, 1975 (re: John Brunner, 7/4/2024 ) |
Neuroplatform Human Brain Organoid Bioprocessor Uses Less Electricity 'Cultured brains on a slab.'- Peter Watts, 1999 (re: Peter Watts, 5/24/2024 ) |
AI Worms That Spread '...there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net now' - John Brunner, 1975. (re: John Brunner, 2/20/2024 ) |
Great. Now AIs Have Access To Hacking Tools '... when you and the Flatline punch through that ice and scramble the cores.' - William Gibson, 1984. (re: William Gibson, 4/15/2023 ) |
Tongue-Controlled Tong Wearable Mouth Computer 'Griff found the white and pink map distracting and switched it off using his tongue mouse.' - Greg Bear, 2007. (re: Greg Bear, 1/9/2023 ) |
Interpol Launches Metaverse For Law Enforcement 'CopSpace sheds some light on matters, of course. Blink and it descends in its full glory.' - Charles Stress, 2007. (re: Charles Stress, 10/5/2022 ) |
AVATECT Prevents Spoofing Of Avatars 'Your physical appearance is a graphical encryption that the human mind is uniquely qualified to decode.' - Daniel Suarez, 2009. (re: Daniel Suarez, 2/27/2022 ) |
I Really Want A Folding Computer '...A paper thin polycarbon screen unfurled.' - William Gibson, 1986. (re: John Barnes, 1/3/2022 ) |
Galaxy Z Fold 3 Perfect For William Gibson's 'Control-Face' 'Chia recognized the square as the control-face of the computer she'd seen in his room.' William Gibson, 1996. (re: William Gibson, 10/29/2021 ) |
Poor Humans. Miami Herald Bot Writes Great Real Estate Articles. 'Nothing of news-interest escape it...' - Philip K. Dick, 1953. (re: Philip K. Dick, 10/19/2021 ) |
CGI 'Master Faces' Impersonate Several Identities 'As the computer looped through its banks, it projected every conceivable eye color, hair color, shape and type of nose...' - Philip K. Dick, 1977. (re: Philip K. Dick, 8/9/2021 ) |
GIDE AI Tools 'See Days In Advance' 'what will go on here in the next half hour...' - Philip K. Dick, 1964. (re: Philip K. Dick, 7/25/2021 ) |
Kaleido Color E-Reader Pocketbook Go 'At a touch, successive pages of the text appeared on it.' Stanislaw Lem, 1961. (re: Stanislaw Lem, 6/15/2021 ) |
Soft Polymer 'Synaptic Transistors' Mimic Brain Plasticity 'He had then applied countless different electrical vibrations to this metallic brain-stuff...' - Edmond Hamilton, 1926. (re: Edmond Hamilton, 4/23/2021 ) |
Kelly Clarkson Show Like Black Mirror '15 Million Merits' 'These people are pieces of software called avatars.' Neal Stephenson, 1992. (re: Neal Stephenson, 9/25/2020 ) |
Neuralink Will Land A Chip In Your Brain 'What are you talking about? Do you mean a neural lace?' - Iain M. Banks, 2010. (re: Iain M. Banks, 8/13/2020 ) |
100 Terabyte Exadrive SSD Also Has Biggest Price 'A man could carry AIs or complete planetary dataspheres in a Schrön loop.' - Dan Simmons, 1989. (re: Dan Simmons, 7/11/2020 ) |
Google Now Expects Chips To Design Themselves 'What lay down there? Energy, tubes and pipes, wiring, transformers, self-contained machinery...' - Philip K. Dick, 1960. (re: Philip K. Dick, 5/17/2020 ) |
Neuromorphic Computing Hardare 'He had constructed an organ, a brain, of metal, entirely inorganic and lifeless...' - Edmond Hamilton, 1926. (re: Edmond Hamilton, 10/29/2019 ) |
Finally! Microsoft Surface Neo And Surface Duo Implement Excellent Courier Idea 'Runcible, whose pages were thicker and more densely packed with computational machinery...' - Neal Stephenson, 1995. (re: Neal Stephenson, 10/11/2019 ) |
Tap Strap 2 Now With Air Mouse 'He waved his hand and the circuit switched abruptly.' - Philip K. Dick, 1955. (re: Philip K. Dick, 10/9/2019 ) |
Entire Planet Modeled In New MS Flight Sim 'CIC uses [it] to keep track of every bit of spatial information that it owns...' - Neal Stephenson, 1992. (re: Neal Stephenson, 10/5/2019 ) |
String Art Courtesy Of Robot Artist The number of different ways to span a thread between a larger number of hooks is astronomical. (re: Isaac Asimov, 9/15/2018 ) |
Tetraplegics Dominate Avatar Races Well, just speaking brain-to-computer... (re: Pournelle and Niven, 5/9/2018 ) |
IBM's Grain Of Sand Computer 'Our ancestors... thought to make the very sand beneath their feet intelligent...' - Stanislaw Lem, 1965. (re: Stanislaw Lem, 4/6/2018 ) |
Can An Entire Brain Be Simulated In A Computer? 'The miles of relays and photocells had given way to the spongy globe of platinum iridium about the size of the human brain.' - Isaac Asimov, 1941. (re: Isaac Asimov, 3/17/2018 ) |
Illustris: The Next Generation Of Universe Simulation 'This digital device was ... A machine able literally to contain the Universe Itself...' - Stanislaw Lem, 1965. (re: Stanislaw Lem, 2/26/2018 ) |
Atomristors - Atomic Memristors - Using Thin Nanomaterials 'I could almost feel those little tunnel junction neuristors working, forming their own interconnections as I operated it.' - Robert Heinlein, 1966. (re: Robert Heinlein, 1/18/2018 ) |
RNA-Based Biocomputing Device Living things can sense and analyze complex signals in living cells. (re: Greg Bear, 11/12/2017 ) |
Loihi Chip Mimics Human Brain's Neurons And Synapses 'You can hook a Thorsen tube into a control circuit... and the tube will "remember" what was done and can direct the operation...' - Robert Heinlein, 1956. (re: Robert Heinlein, 10/14/2017 ) |
Brain Connected To Internet - ‘Brainternet' Fascinating! or thoughts to that effect. (re: Gene Roddenberry, 9/2/2017 ) |
Koniku Kore, Mouse Brain-Based Chip, Detects Explosives 'As a matter of fact, this mouse is going to keep on thinking forever.' - Cordwainer Smith, 1962. (re: Cordwainer Smith, 8/18/2017 ) |
Siri Now Smoother, Perkier (Thanks, Deep Learning!) 'Good morning, Dr. Chandra. This is Hal.' - Arthur C. Clarke (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 8/14/2017 ) |
Neuralink, The Latest Elon Musk Passion 'I used my implant to tell MILLIE [a mainframe computer] what we wanted...' - Pournelle and Niven, 1981. (re: Pournelle and Niven, 8/12/2017 ) |
Desktopography Makes Virtual Desktops Real 'Ender doodled on his desk, drawing contour maps of mountainous islands and then telling his desk to display them in three dimensions...' - Orson Scott Card, 1985. (re: Orson Scott Card, 7/14/2017 ) |
The Largest Virtual Universe! '...a machine able literally to contain the Universe Itself .' - Stanislaw Lem, 1965. (re: Stanislaw Lem, 5/19/2017 ) |
ARM Wants To Build Brain Chips 'Slivers of microsoft, angular fragments of colored silicon...' - William Gibson, 1984. (re: William Gibson, 4/29/2017 ) |
Robot Swarms Controlled With Augmented Reality 'You're not thinking in enough dimensions...' - Daniel Suarez, 2009. (re: Daniel Suarez, 4/21/2017 ) |
Eterni.me - To Skype With The Dead 'Nothing... left of Jeserac but a galaxy of electrons frozen in the heart of a crystal.'- Arthur C. Clarke, 1956. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 2/26/2017 ) |
Razer Project Valerie Laptop Unfurls 'A paper thin polycarbon screen unfurled silently...' - William Gibson, 1986. (re: William Gibson, 1/8/2017 ) |
Google Home Continues Implementation Of Pohl's Joymaker 'It is a transponder connecting you with the central computing facilities of the city in which you reside on a shared-time, self-programming basis.' - Frederik Pohl, 1966. (re: Frederik Pohl, 12/27/2016 ) |
New Startup 'Improbable' To Model Our World 'A machine able literally to contain the Universe Itself...' - Stanislaw Lem, 1965. (re: Stanislaw Lem, 12/6/2016 ) |
Tricking Cells Into Making Silicon Chips 'Fabricated by genetically engineered metal affinity bacteria...' - Marvel, 1984. (re: Unknown, 11/11/2016 ) |
Elections In Science Fiction 'WE ARE READY TO PROCEED WITH THE TABULATION.' - James Blish, 1957. (re: James Blish., 10/26/2016 ) |
IBM's Neuromorphic Chip 'The full sensitivity of the neuristor brain was not appreciated at first.' - Roger Zelazny, 1976. (re: Roger Zelazny, 9/18/2016 ) |
Software Agents Fight Unseen On The Web '...Worms and counter-worms loose on the data-net.' - John Brunner, 1975. (re: John Brunner, 9/6/2016 ) |
Terminal Snooping At Bloomberg 'The evidence began with a slowed response at her computer terminal.' - Frank Herbert, 1977. (re: Frank Herbert, 7/10/2016 ) |
Will There Be A Digital Afterlife? 'A quick exchange of energies resulting from the relocation of discorporate states.' - Samuel R. Delany, 1968. (re: Samuel R. Delany, 7/9/2016 ) |
Livescribe 3 Black Edition Smartpen Yes, Thunderbird fans, you've seen this one before! (re: Various, 1/4/2016 ) |
LONald 'Contract Robot' First In UK 'The law clerk arrived, a smallish robot...' - Frederik Pohl, 1954. (re: Frederik Pohl, 12/26/2015 ) |
The Time-Traveling Quantum Computer 'His closed-timeline-curve time-travel computing machine.' Stephen Baxter, 2004. (re: Stephen Baxter, 12/3/2015 ) |
Algorithm Predicts Marriage Success (HAL 9000 Will See You Now) 'I can tell from your voice harmonics, Dave, that you're badly upset....' - Arthur C. Clarke (re: Philip K Dick, 11/20/2015 ) |
Microsoft's Surface Book Is Part Clipboard 'Floyd sometimes wondered if the Newspad, and the fantastic technology behind it, was the last word in man's quest for perfect communications...' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1968. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 11/6/2015 ) |
LineFORM MIT's Shape-Changing Interface 'For an interval, the device struggled with itself...' - Philip K. Dick, 1957. (re: Philip K. Dick, 10/30/2015 ) |
Piper, Google's 2 Billion Line Code Repository, Needs A Cool Display 'The student pointed a finger and as he did so, the line of equations marched down the wall...' - Isaac Asimov, 1953. (re: Isaac Asimov, 9/20/2015 ) |
Digital Immortality For Your Personality 'You've got remote storage. How regular is the update?' - Richard Morgan, 2003. (re: William Gibson, 8/25/2015 ) |
Melomics Avant Garde Computer Musician 'Rollo sat at the keyboard, prim, inhuman, rigid, twin lenses focused somewhere off into the shadows...'- Herbert Goldstone, 1953. (re: Herbert Goldstone, 6/12/2015 ) |
x.ai And The Quest For A Digital Personal Assistant 'In McKie's thoughts, the DS [Daily Schedule] was suddenly transformed into a valued confidante.'- Frank Herbert, 1977. (re: Frank Herbert, 6/5/2015 ) |
NailO Thumb-Mounted Mouse Needs John Varley's Help I think that NailO needs a display and a keyboard. (re: John Varley, 5/5/2015 ) |
Vint Cerf's 'Digital Dark Age' Vs. George Orwell's 'You could never consult Archival Records in a straightforward manner.'- Frank Herbert, 1984. (re: Frank Herbert, 2/12/2015 ) |
Data Mining Computers Detect Your Emotions 'I can tell from your voice harmonics, Dave, that you're badly upset.'- Arthur C. Clarke, 1968. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 1/28/2015 ) |
Lizard Squad, Nihilistic Technofetishists For Hire 'The Modern's were mercenaries...'- William Gibson, 1984. (re: William Gibson, 1/2/2015 ) |
Do You Want A Tablet Computer? Or, Fad Over? 'He would plug his foolscap-sized Newspad into the ship's information circuit'- Arthur C. Clarke, 1968. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 11/24/2014 ) |
CoBots - Collaborative Robots Ask Humans For Help 'Whenever a robot finds something it can't identify... You give it a good look.'- Harry Harrison, 1956. (re: Harry Harrison, 11/13/2014 ) |
Neuromorphic Brain-Chip Takes Flight 'Cultured brains on a slab.'- Peter Watts, 1999 (re: Peter Watts, 11/6/2014 ) |
'Hello, Computer!' Intel's Core M Catches Up To Scotty Scotty's impulse to talk was right, it seems. (re: Gene Roddenberry, 9/18/2014 ) |
Touch Typing Taught Haptically DIY-style 'He then started hand movements of definite pattern...' (re: Robert Heinlein, 8/22/2014 ) |
Google's Project Tango VR Tablet Pictures Your 3D World 'Surely most were virtual, but the blending was perfection.' - Vernor Vinge, 2006. (re: Vernor Vinge, 6/23/2014 ) |
Oculus Rift Combats Battlefield Trauma Virtual reality could soften the blow of real reality. (re: Roger Zelazny, 6/15/2014 ) |
Google Offers Future Prediction In The Cloud 'Beyond the machinery sat the three precogs, almost lost to view in the maze of wiring...'- Philip K. Dick, 1956. (re: Philip K. Dick, 6/13/2014 ) |
Samsung Round Wearable And HG Wells 'He flicked out a little appliance the size and appearance of a keyless watch'- HG Wells, 1899. (re: HG Wells, 5/26/2014 ) |
UK Internet Filters Default To 'Family-Friendly' 'People bought personalized filter programs...'- David Brin, 1990. (re: David Brin, 4/4/2014 ) |
Living Slime Mold Builds Logical Circuits Think of the fecundity of nature, countless molds in the floor of a forest. Think about how abundant bio-circuits could be. (re: Various, 3/28/2014 ) |
First Commercial Artificial Brain? 'He had constructed an organ, a brain, of metal, entirely inorganic and lifeless...'- Edmond Hamilton, 1926. (re: Edmond Hamilton, 12/28/2013 ) |
AIREAL Lets You Feel Virtual Objects In The Open Air 'Startled, he touched his mouth. 'How the devil did you do that?' he shouted.'- Frederick Pohl, 1965. (re: Frederick Pohl, 7/24/2013 ) |
Millimeter-Scale Computing For 'Internet of Things' 'In their megalomania they thought to make the very sand beneath their feet intelligent...'- Stanislaw Lem, 1965. (re: Stanislaw Lem, 5/30/2013 ) |
Fujitsu Touchscreen Mixes Real And Virtual Worlds 'His hands flashed over the keyboard - it had not been there a moment before, but it was operative...'- Frederik Pohl, 1965. (re: Frederik Pohl, 4/16/2013 ) |
Nanowire Memristor Networks Form 'Brains' 'He had constructed ... a brain, of metal... whose atomic structure he claimed was analogous to the atomic structure of a living brain.'- Edmond Hamilton, 1926. (re: Edmond Hamilton, 4/12/2013 ) |
US Census Will Be Online In 2020 'Most would be in English, but some would be in Spanish, some in Amerind languages, some in Chinese...'- John Brunner, 1975. (re: John Brunner, 4/3/2013 ) |
Wireless Brain-Computer Interface 'I used my implant to tell MILLIE [a mainframe computer] what we wanted and she took care of it," Art said.'- Pournelle and Niven, 1981. (re: Pournelle & Niven, 3/5/2013 ) |
New SimCity On Global Rollout '... you gave him a whole civilization to rule and have dominion over forever?'- Stanislaw Lem, 1965. (re: Stanislaw Lem, 3/4/2013 ) |
Systemic Computer Is Self-Repairing 'More complex... Much superior. I was left here by the Old Ones.'- Gene Roddenberry, 1966. (re: Gene Roddenberry, 2/21/2013 ) |
China's PLA Unit 61398 Working On Kuang Grade Mark Eleven Penetration Program 'When Kuang's good and bellytight with the Tessier-Ashpool core, we're ridin' that through...'- William Gibson, 1984. (re: William Gibson, 2/19/2013 ) |
'STANDUP' Computer Comedian 'The potentiometers indicated the machine's lyrical capacitance was charged to the maximum...'- Stanislaw Lem, 1965 (re: Stanislaw Lem, 1/10/2013 ) |
'Neuristor' Acts Like Your Brain's Neurons 'He had constructed an organ, a brain, of metal, entirely inorganic and lifeless, yet whose atomic structure he claimed was analogous to the atomic structure of a living brain.'- Edmond Hamilton, 1926. (re: Edmond Hamilton, 1/6/2013 ) |
Father And Daughter Have Telepathic Talk 'We will add your biological and technological distictiveness to our own...'- The Borg, 1988 (re: Gene Roddenberry, 12/17/2012 ) |
Thumb Kiss On Pair App For iPhone 'What he got was indeed a kiss. It was disconcerting. No kissing lips were visible...'- Frederik Pohl, 1965. (re: Frederik Pohl, 12/5/2012 ) |
Arthur C. Clarke Describes PC, Internet - In 1974 A remarkable statement about the future. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 11/8/2012 ) |
No Online Voting Yet (How long Did You Wait In Line?) '...every veephone on the continent would display, over and over, two propositions'- John Brunner, 1975. (re: John Brunner, 11/6/2012 ) |
'Edgy' Grip User Interface For Smartphones 'The congressman took out his pocket computer, nudged the milled edges twice, looked at its face...'- Isaac Asimov, 1958. (re: Isaac Asimov, 10/9/2012 ) |
Lunar Supercomputer Complex 'When Mike was installed in Luna, he was pure thinkum, a flexible logic... a HOLMES FOUR.' - Robert Heinlein, 1966 (re: Robert Heinlein, 9/21/2012 ) |
Google's Compute Engine Is Sfnally Large '...Twenty-five thousand electronic brains were set up in intricate series.' (re: AE van Vogt, 7/4/2012 ) |
Google's Voice Recognition Sweet In Jelly Bean '...Translating most normal variations of voice, idiom, accent... into the mathematical expressions on which the computers operate.' (re: Frederik Pohl, 6/30/2012 ) |
Real-Time Avatars Mirror Your Expression 'These people are pieces of software called avatars.' (re: Neal Stephenson, 6/12/2012 ) |
MIT Smile Research Knows Your Real One 'Why don't you take a stress pill and get some rest?' (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 5/29/2012 ) |
The Flame - Malware Worthy of John Brunner 'There were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net now, the machines had been instructed to give them low priority.' (re: John Brunner, 5/28/2012 ) |
Brainput Finds Help For Your Brain 'I used my implant to tell MILLIE what we wanted and she took care of it...' (re: Pournelle and Niven, 5/17/2012 ) |
SPARX Fantasy Game Helps With Depression 'And there in the next room by the sofa sat a familiar suitcase, that of his psychiatrist Dr. Smile.' (re: Philip K. Dick, 4/21/2012 ) |
Does China Have An Internet Kill Switch? You never know when you might need one. (re: John Brunner, 4/13/2012 ) |
Business Cards Give Way To Bump The time-honored business practice goes digital. (re: Neal Stephenson, 3/18/2012 ) |
Affective Autotutor, Emotion-Sensing Teaching Software Be sure to bring a digital apple to give the computer teacher. (re: Issac Asimov, 3/6/2012 ) |
Machines Talk More To Each Other What do all of these machines have to say about us? I hope they just stick to business. (re: Frederik Pohl, 2/15/2012 ) |
Smart E-Book System Outperforms Apple iBooks Take a look at the video with this article, and decide for yourself whether this is better than the iPad. (re: Stanislaw Lem, 1/10/2012 ) |
Fear of Dentists App, iPhone-based Therapist 'The machines aren't ignorant of human psychology - far from it.' (re: James Blish, 1/7/2012 ) |
T-Shirt Computing And Vinge's Wearables The foundations are being laid for wearable textile computers. (re: Vernor Vinge, 12/31/2011 ) |
Steve Jobs 1955-2011 Steve Jobs was a one-of-a-kind visionary whose creations had a profound effect on my life. Rest in peace. (re: Various, 10/4/2011 ) |
Bolshoi: Largest Computer Simulation Of The Universe 'A machine able literally to contain the Universe Itself within it's innumerable memory banks.' (re: Stanislaw Lem, 9/30/2011 ) |
Samsung Cites 'Space Odyssey' Newspad Against iPad In Patent Suit Should a science fiction movie be used as 'prior art' in a patent dispute? (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 8/23/2011 ) |
Texas Couple Married By Computer 'Do you take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife Y/N?' (re: Robert Silverberg, 7/30/2011 ) |
Galaxy Tab 10.1 vs. iPad 2 vs. Clarke's Newspad What a world we live in; science-fictional devices are readily available. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 5/13/2011 ) |
'Schizophrenic' Computer Aids Researchers In which a computer is afflicted, with human brain research the beneficiary. (re: Roger Zelazny, 5/11/2011 ) |
Carbon Nanotube Synapse Circuit Like Human Neuron Could scientists build a synthetic brain? (re: Isaac Asimov, 4/18/2011 ) |
Blood Flow Simulation Detailed By Supercomputer 'Previous computer models haven't been able to accurately account for, say, the motion of the blood cells bending or buckling as they ricochet off the walls.' (re: Various, 4/14/2011 ) |
ACTUV Game From DARPA Seeks Ender Wiggin Gamers! your talents are needed by your friends at DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. (re: Orson Scott Card, 4/9/2011 ) |
Is China Altering Web Traffic? SF fans were prompted to think about this a generation ago. (re: Frank Herbert, 3/25/2011 ) |
Voice Stress Detection In Emergency Callers Take two stress pills and call me in the morning. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 3/22/2011 ) |
Single Atom Quantum Memory Store the qubit from a polarised photon in a single atom of rubidium (re: Robert Heinlein, 3/15/2011 ) |
Building The World Wide Mind The mind in the cloud? This concept is explored in a new book. (re: Niven and Purnelle, 3/14/2011 ) |
Your Computer Therapist Will See You Now Computers are more helpful than ever. (re: James Blish, 3/12/2011 ) |
Police Sketch Artist Database Software Bringing a new technological twist to difficult human art. (re: Joseph Killeam, 3/9/2011 ) |
First Millimeter-Scale Computer System Tiny wireless networks and implantable glaucoma eye pressure monitors are just two possible applications. (re: Various, 2/24/2011 ) |
Computational Photography: Image Of The Future This remarkable idea will change the way you see photography. (re: Ridley Scott, 2/22/2011 ) |
Nanowire Transistors For Smallest Computers I can see the nanomachine swarm coming now. No, wait, I can't see it. (re: Stanislaw Lem, 2/10/2011 ) |
HP TouchSmart 610 Reclining Touchscreen The bridge crew from Star Trek: TOS will have no problem recognizing this kind of computer display. (re: Gene Roddenberry, 2/7/2011 ) |
PrimeSense WAVI Xtion Gesture Control Of TV The same company that created Microsoft's Kinect wants to do more for you in your living room. (re: Douglas Adams, 1/21/2011 ) |
When You're Smiling, The World's Machines Smile With You! The machines know when you're happy, so smile! (re: Various, 1/17/2011 ) |
Living Earth Simulator For 'Ultimate Answers' It's an explorational device, like the Large Hadron Collider. (re: Stanislaw Lem, 1/4/2011 ) |
Will Lucas Resurrect Dead Actors Digitally? Is George Lucas obsessed with bringing dead celebrities back to life? He'd need at least one sfna-only technology to do it. (re: Various, 12/7/2010 ) |
Pocket God's Hundreds Of Ways To Play God Let's not forget who thought about this idea long before The Sims - the amazing Stanislaw Lem. (re: Stanislaw Lem, 12/3/2010 ) |
Computers Need Your Help In Image Recognition Science fiction fans benefited from the work of Harry Harrison, who discussed the kinds of help that human beings could give to computers and robots fifty years ago. (re: Harry Harrison, 12/1/2010 ) |
CyberTherapy Avatar Will See You Now Cybertherapists use avatars to help patients in a virtual therapeutic environment. (re: Orson Scott Card, 11/23/2010 ) |
Computer Recognizes Human Emotions From Conversation What are the practical applications of a computer that can correctly infer emotions from speech? (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 11/15/2010 ) |
Sony Internet TV Foreseen In 1946 'It looks like a vision-receiver used to, only it's got keys instead of dials and you punch the keys for what you wanna get.' (re: Murray Leinster, 10/7/2010 ) |
eXistenZ iPhone Charger Cable This umbilical cord-inspired iPhone charger may make you think about Halloween early this year. (re: Various, 10/3/2010 ) |
Kiss ME Device For Kiss Communication A novel hi-fidelity physical interface for transferring a remote and mediated kiss in real-time. (re: Frederik Pohl, 9/16/2010 ) |
eyeSight Gesture Control Of Android Phones A wave of your hand controls your phone - and it can be used for gaming, too. (re: Samuel R. Delany, 6/8/2010 ) |
Internet Addiction Growing? You can log off anytime you want to - right? (re: Dan Simmons, 6/1/2010 ) |
First Person Infected With Computer Virus It's not quite the Snow Crash Metavirus. But they're working on it. (re: Gregory Benford, 5/26/2010 ) |
3D Input Interfaces For Gesture-Controlled Phones This would be one way to avoid all those smudges on the screen of your cell phone or mobile device. (re: Douglas Adams, 4/26/2010 ) |
Judges Who Google: The Tip Of The Iceberg? Just how connected should judges be? And when justice delayed is justice denied, how fast are human judges anyway? (re: Harry Harrison, 3/21/2010 ) |
FCC Wants Nationwide Wireless Public Safety Network The FCC has proposed significant funding for a wireless network for use by police and emergency workers; they might want to read Halting Space to see how to use it. (re: Charles Stross, 3/16/2010 ) |
iPad With VoiceOver Reads Aloud It's been an important part of e-readers for almost sixty years. (re: Stanislaw Lem, 3/14/2010 ) |
Augmented (Hyper)Reality Video What will our augmented reality future actually look like? I think that Keiichi Matsuda has presented an interesting view in this short video. (re: Various, 2/16/2010 ) |
Gesture Cube Touch-Free Input Just think of the gestures you'll use with this lovely cube that you can take with you throughout your domicile. (re: Douglas Adams, 2/4/2010 ) |
First Transistor That Mimics Brain Synapse The only way to get human-style computer brains is to get the components right. This is the first transistor that really mimics brain connections. (re: Isaac Asimov, 2/1/2010 ) |
iPad Newspad Calculator Pad Trek Pad - And More Clarke versus Asimov, readers; who foresaw the iPad? (re: Various, 1/28/2010 ) |
Muscle-Computer Interface Video Excellent short video illustrates muscle-computer interfaces, as seen in sf (thanks, readers!). (re: Harry Harrison, 1/6/2010 ) |
Cybercrimes Of The Decade Cybercrime is larger and more varied, what will the next decade bring? (re: John Brunner, 1/5/2010 ) |
Fingertip Tracking Interface For Mobile Phones Will the multi-touch give way to the multi-gesture? Watch the video and judge for yourself. (re: Samuel R. Delany, 1/4/2010 ) |
'Webtribution' Fact And Fiction Nothing that a good retaliatory worm wouldn't fix. (re: John Brunner, 12/3/2009 ) |
Intel Developing Brain Chip Computer Interface 'Very useful gadget, but you can communicate with a computer about as well with a good briefcase console.' I still want my computer communication implant. (re: Pournelle and Niven, 11/24/2009 ) |
Muscle-Controlled Interface Is Hands-Free Research could lead to completely hands-free gaming interfaces. (re: Ian Banks, 10/30/2009 ) |
Human Brains For Robots? In science fiction, it's usually space aliens who decide to use human brains to run things. However, in the real present it's the humans who are working on it. (re: Keith Laumer, 10/20/2009 ) |
iLickit App Reveals iPhone Tongue Interface Absurd iPhone app may lead to a more useful healthcare application. (re: Alfred Bester, 10/7/2009 ) |
Online Banking Malware Rewrites Your Statements This is a very sneaky trojan program - it sits in your PC and rewrites bank statements on-the-fly, as you're looking at them. (re: Various, 10/5/2009 ) |
Courier Tablet Computer Video Reveals Features This short video shows off the capabilities of Microsoft's Courier tablet prototype. Do you see features here that are worth having? (re: Neal Stephenson, 9/30/2009 ) |
'Mechanical Tumor' Meatspace Expression Of Computer Stress Would you really want to visualize your computer's level of activity in terms you can really, I mean viscerally, understand? (re: Philip K. Dick, 9/29/2009 ) |
Doctorow's SchoolBook Computers Created By Australian Govt Waving a red flag in front of the world's hackers, the New South Wales schools will be handing out 'unhackable' computers to high school students. (re: Cory Doctorow, 9/28/2009 ) |
Courier Tablet Computer - Microsoft's Prototype Interesting two-page tablet computer prototype from Microsoft is very similar to a Toshiba prototype from almost five years ago. Does it make you think of a runcible? (re: Neal Stephenson, 9/22/2009 ) |
Computers Now Lip Read Like Humans Remember that very far-fetched scene in 2001 where a computer reads lips? Not so far-fetched anymore. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 9/18/2009 ) |
Hot Ice Computer Can you create a massively-parallel computer with a solution of super-saturated sodium acetate? Watch the video. (re: Various, 9/6/2009 ) |
Computers May Crack Ancient Texts Is it a language or is it just a bunch of little pictures? National pride fuels the debate between scholars on the Indus Valley script. Those who enjoyed the movie Blade may have seen this idea before. (re: Various, 9/1/2009 ) |
WAHHA GO GO Laughing Head This baroque device recreates the sound of the human laugh by means of clever clockwork and reconstructions of human pipes and lips. Why make such a thing when synth chips cost nothing. (re: William Gibson, 8/27/2009 ) |
Sentiment Analysis: Hypercorps Need Emotion Chips It turns out that big companies really want to know how you feel about them. Really? (re: Gene Roddenberry, 8/25/2009 ) |
Buying a Tablet Computer? I think that tablet computers might just make it this time around. Here's why. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 8/5/2009 ) |
U.S. Cyber Challenge - Greetings, Starfighter! It's time for all good geeks to come to the defense of their country. The DoD hopes to attract and train at least 10,000 students to help defend our national cyberspace. (re: Various, 7/27/2009 ) |
Bacterial 'Computer' Solves Math Problem Genetically modified bacteria solve yet another math problem. It takes a while to program them, but when you can double your number of processors every few hours, the calculations go faster. (re: Greg Bear, 7/26/2009 ) |
'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.' (re: Vernor Vinge, 7/18/2009 ) |
HTC Magic Smartphone At Google IO Take a look at what they gave us at Google IO 2009; maybe the most remarkable pocket-sized computer you ever owned. (re: Niven and Pournelle, 5/28/2009 ) |
WolframAlpha Is Not A Search Engine I see the WolframAlpha computational knowledge engine in two science-fictional ways, but their engineers might be seeing another. (re: Robert Heinlein, 5/20/2009 ) |
Rity Software Agent Has 'Genomic' Personality The Sirius Cybernetics Corporation may own the patent on this idea; this software agent is back in the news with a much more complex personality. (re: Douglas Adams, 5/20/2009 ) |
iVisit SeeScan Cell Phone 'Seeing Eye' Camera For Blind This remarkable demo video shows some very impressive object recognition; very useful for the blind or people with low vision or other visual impairment. (re: Various, 5/19/2009 ) |
Universities Irrelevant By 2020 A Brigham Young University professor foresees the end of the university as we know it. But will it come soon enough? (re: Isaac Asimov, 4/22/2009 ) |
The Cybersecurity Act of 2009 Could Shut Down Your Internet The Cybersecurity Act may need a way to shut down all or part of the Internet - Brunner, who first introduced the term 'computer tapeworm', is ahead of everyone once again. (re: John Brunner, 4/17/2009 ) |
Brain Chip Hardware Neurons And Synapses Finally, robots will be able to get the brains they really need, not just some sort of microprocessor. (re: Isaac Asimov, 3/26/2009 ) |
MindCite Data Mining Crime Fighting BatComputer This computer effort combines information from many different sources. Object: crime-fighting. (re: Bob Kane, 3/24/2009 ) |
Evidence.com Virtual Evidence Warehouse By TASER This company seems to be building what Charles Stross called 'CopSpace' and all of the hardware and software needed to store police 'lifelogs' and geospatial analytics. (re: Charles Stross, 3/11/2009 ) |
RealView 3D Scanner - For Your Desk This handy little desktop wonder can bring at least the external details of any object (that fits) right in to the digital world. (re: Jack Vance, 1/12/2009 ) |
SCIgen - Computer Generates CS Papers Read about this paper-generating program and wonder at a brand new, ground-breaking paper by five science fiction titans - Asimov, Gallun, Herbert, Russell and Heinlein. (re: Robert Heinlein, 12/27/2008 ) |
NSA Patents Herbert's Network Snooper Catcher The NSA apparently forgot to search for prior art when patenting ways to determine if someone is tampering with network communication. (re: Frank Herbert, 12/22/2008 ) |
Virtual Philadelphia More Interactive Than Street View Walking through Virtual Philadelphia is so real, you can talk with shopkeepers. You can even make your avatar fly, just like in The Matrix. (re: Various, 12/16/2008 ) |
Virtual Faces With Personality And Emotion Computer personalities get a leg up on reality using this new model developed by Diana Arellano, a PhD student. (re: William Gibson, 12/9/2008 ) |
DoD Computers Penetrated In Cyber-Attack Attacks on DoD computers forced military leaders to brief President Bush this week; I wonder if they read to him from Neuromancer to help him understand it? (re: William Gibson, 11/28/2008 ) |
Artist Blogger Vlach Wants Webcam Eye This one-eyed San Francisco artist wants to replace her blind prosthesis with a working web cam. (re: Various, 11/17/2008 ) |
G-Speak Compared To Minority Report Gesture Interface This software platform looks a lot like the one in the movie, and there is a good reason for that. (re: Steven Spielberg, 11/17/2008 ) |
RESURRECT High-Fidelity Computer Battlefield Simulations How would you face the no-win scenario? DARPA wants to know, and I think they want a very visceral kind of test. (re: Gene Roddenberry, 11/11/2008 ) |
The Digital Dark Age And Bene Gesserit House Records Fortunately, Frank Herbert has given us a glimpse of what this future will be like. (re: Frank Herbert, 11/10/2008 ) |
Integrated Cyber Defense To Recode Cyberspace The US military, father of the Internet, is trying to rewire its child. For protection. (re: Various, 11/4/2008 ) |
SideSight Virtual Touchpad - But Does It Have Air Quotes? Interesting development brings gesture to control to very small devices. (re: Various, 11/2/2008 ) |
Online Death Leads To Offline Arrest Bizarre case of broken hearts and avatar erasure. (re: Various, 10/27/2008 ) |
Spam Kiwi Kings Of Spam Sent Third Of All Spam Emails Two men stand accused of being the kings of spam; shutting them down may decrease world spam by one-third. (re: Greg Egan, 10/17/2008 ) |
OLO iPhone-based Laptops This is a really slick idea if you haven't seen it; at the right price point, this would be a great answer to those small net-surfing laptops. (re: Various, 10/14/2008 ) |
Paul Otlet On The Internet (A Century Early) Fascinating video describes how Otlet's work in the 1930's describes the functionality of the Internet. (re: Murray Leinster, 9/28/2008 ) |
Yotify Scouts Work The Web For You Nifty application site offers 'google alerts on steroids' which sf fans will certainly recognize from some of their favorite novels. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 9/26/2008 ) |
The Evolution Of Spore Fascinating computer game has many roots in both science and fiction. (re: Stanislaw Lem, 9/11/2008 ) |
Google Navy: Water-Based Data Centers Avast, there: Google has filed a patent application for a sea-going Internet of sustainable data havens. (re: Bruce Sterling, 9/6/2008 ) |
MS InPrivate Browsing May Cut Off Google's Air Supply The endless struggle between Google and Microsoft goes on; this little-known feature could have big effects. (re: Various, 8/27/2008 ) |
Seek Map Wrist Navigation Concept Interesting visual fiction (a concept design) has much earlier roots in sf. (re: Stanislaw Lem, 8/26/2008 ) |
Crime Mapping Website - Your Own Batcomputer Scotland Yard Google mashup brings us closer to the Batcomputer, and, I believe, certain Justice League of America technologies. (re: Various, 8/18/2008 ) |
Lookalike 'Wanted' Leaflet Features Harry Potter Actor This is not a real compliment for actors; however, it's a technique that police hope will work. (re: William Gibson, 8/11/2008 ) |
I-9/11 Event Would Bring iPatriot Act Interesting argument by Lessig regarding the free Internet that we all use, and how easily our freedom might be lost. (re: John Brunner, 8/6/2008 ) |
RC Car Dust Mop Crash Bandicoot Mashup (Proposed) I'm looking for game designers who could make this work. (re: Orson Scott Card, 7/31/2008 ) |
Cuil Search Engine Optimization (Cuil Tuil No Juil) Cuil shows a different first page of results than Google, but different isn't necessarily better. You'll need to read the first sentence to understand the title. (re: Various, 7/29/2008 ) |
ST-2 Shooting Simulator Like Simak's Virtual Rifle Range Clifford Simak had a pretty good vision of this forty years ago; see the ST-2 video and check it against Simak's ideas. (re: Clifford Simak, 7/9/2008 ) |
Sensor Vest For Computer Games? Prototype uses sensors woven into the fabric to sense stress and muscle excitation levels. (re: Various, 7/8/2008 ) |
Artificial Neural Network Predicts Death Row Executions Slightly disturbing article about how computers can predict who will actually be executed on death row better than human observers. (re: Harry Harrison, 6/27/2008 ) |
Your Face Is The TV Remote Control Interesting project shows how your 'face' can be an 'interface' for controlling machines. (re: Various, 6/25/2008 ) |
Teen Hacker Raises Grades Wargames-Style This teen faces 38 years in prison for changing his grades. (re: John Badham, 6/24/2008 ) |
Electronic Voting Banned In Netherlands Someday, Americans will figure out how to conduct uniformly democratic elections. (re: John Brunner, 6/5/2008 ) |
ParanoidLinux Escaping From Doctorow Book 'Little Brother' Interesting idea from Doctorow's novel may be seen in the wild sometime this year. (re: Cory Doctorow, 6/5/2008 ) |
Humans! Tutor Computers And Robots In Your Spare Time Harry Harrison first described this in 1956; I notice that in the real future, no one is getting paid for it. (re: Harry Harrison, 5/21/2008 ) |
Toriton Plus Like Cylon Datastream Humans seem to be catching up with Cylon tech; at least this music controller seems to have more going on than simply the production of music. (re: Various, 5/17/2008 ) |
Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor (COFEE) Of course, the computers of the future might also have lawyer programs to detect the use of this kind of device. (re: Various, 4/29/2008 ) |
200,000 Computer-Generated Books I don't understand why this guy doesn't take his idea to the logical conclusion. (re: J.G. Ballard, 4/15/2008 ) |
Cyberwalk CyberCarpet VR Locomotion This 'magic carpet' is the latest in a continuing effort to create the floor for a ST:TNG-style holodeck. (re: Gene Roddenberry, 4/12/2008 ) |
Software Helps Computers Find Attractive Women This software application can tell what beauty looks like - in women, anyway. Men are described as 'too difficult' by researchers. (re: Various, 4/8/2008 ) |
Hackers Induce Epileptic Seizure Like 'Press Enter' John Varley suggested this idea a quarter-century ago. I can't believe that people would actually try this. (re: John Varley, 3/30/2008 ) |
MindMentor Computer-Based Psychotherapy Does the Eliza computer therapy method actually work? Two Dutch psychiatrists think so. (re: James Blish, 3/27/2008 ) |
Virtusphere Videos This ultimate gaming environment has been installed in a number of places; good videos are now available. (re: , 3/20/2008 ) |
Cyber-Crime Cops Get Organized Cyber-cops are getting organized; the cyber-criminals already have mature crime-kit markets. (re: Various, 3/19/2008 ) |
Duroquinone Molecule Nano-Brain Absurdly small computer can outperform the typical transistor. (re: Neal Stephenson, 3/12/2008 ) |
Codename 'Reynard' - Hunt Terrorists In Virtual Worlds Terrorists are expanding their efforts on the 'net; al Qaeda alone has at least 5,600 websites online. (re: John Brunner, 3/6/2008 ) |
Momenta PC Lifelog For Most Exciting Moments This interesting concept has a neat twist on the lifelog idea. (re: Charles Stross, 2/21/2008 ) |
Military To Create Human, Social And Cultural Simulations The military is showing a greater interest in the value of simulation technology to prepare personnel for insurgencies. (re: Frank Herbert, 2/8/2008 ) |
MacBook Air: What Vision Is This? Oh, yes, you can buy your own MacBook Air and take it home. But why are you going to? (re: Various, 2/1/2008 ) |
Pizza Computer Is One Smart Box Outrageous case mod made me think immediately of an sf classic. (re: Neal Stephenson, 12/20/2007 ) |
Fictional Interfaces By Mark Coleran Coleran created some of the most futuristic interfaces for the good guys - and the bad guys - in some of your favorite movies. (re: Various, 12/10/2007 ) |
Sentilla Smart Drink Coasters Pervasive Pub Computing I'm very impressed with the idea of an ad hoc network that you can set up right in front of yourself and your friends at the pub. (re: Larry Niven, 12/8/2007 ) |
19th Century Steampunk Laptop Runs Windows, Linux Take a step back into the future in this remarkable creation from Datamancer. (re: Various, 12/6/2007 ) |
Aleutia E1 Solar-Powered Linux Computer This little unit is maybe the most green computer you can buy; is there a smaller (or another) unit that is sold as a solar-powered computer? (re: Various, 12/4/2007 ) |
Air Hockey Table Made From iPhone This little app just sort of struck me as cool; perhaps it is because I'm hoping that an iPhone might appear for me this Christmas. (re: Various, 11/21/2007 ) |
Draw A World Where Physical Laws Apply Create a world in which physical laws apply as soon as you pick up your crayon. (re: Various, 11/20/2007 ) |
Easy With Eve Virtual Teacher Understands Student Emotions Easy with Eve is a pretty good match for a standard sf cybernetic teaching system; can you think of a better example than mine? (re: Bruce Sterling, 11/19/2007 ) |
Virtual Theft From Habbo Hotel When there is a theft of virtal goods in a virtual world, does your avatar spend time in a virtual jail? Interesting tie-in with an excellent new Charles Stross novel. (re: Charles Stross, 11/17/2007 ) |
Kindle E-Book Reader From Amazon Yet another e-book reader, you say? Maybe, but this one has online book powerhouse Amazon.com behind it. (re: Stanislaw Lem, 11/17/2007 ) |
Hancock, Mass Surveillance Programming Language From AT&T Is it illegal for phone companies to aid the government as it searches through the records of tens of thousands of innocent Americans? Legal or not, AT&T is good at it - they've got patents. (re: Various, 10/30/2007 ) |
British Intelligence Pays For Ads In Video Games Cheaper than putting together a whole new game, British intelligence is looking for a few good, uh, first person shooters. (re: Various, 10/19/2007 ) |
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... (re: Vernor Vinge, 10/12/2007 ) |
Japanese Researchers Jack Halfway Into The Matrix It appears that we are getting much closer to implementing that consensual hallucination known as the Matrix. (re: Vernor Vinge, 10/12/2007 ) |
Ultrathin Computer Memory Fabricated Remarkable development in depositing metal on a substrate may lead to manga (re: Gosho Aoyama, 9/30/2007 ) |
America's Army Arcade Game Looks like the US Army is finally getting the picture - the motion picture 'The Last Starfighter,' that is. (re: Various, 7/26/2007 ) |
Chinese Cyberwar Units Prepare For Netwar Science fiction authors warned us and gave us the weapon concepts we needed - the Pentagon now tells us about Chinese netwar capabilities. (re: William Gibson, 5/29/2007 ) |
Mouse Brain Simulated By Supercomputer And you thought Corwainer Smith was joking about the tiny supercomputers of the future. (re: Cordwainer Smith, 4/30/2007 ) |
Immortal Computing - Microsoft's 'House Records' Interesting patent troll by Microsoft reveals an interest in the history of computers and digital information. (re: Frank Herbert, 1/28/2007 ) |
The Pirate Bay Wants Data Haven On Sealand One way or the other, The Pirate Bay wants a place to do data storage without interference from governments. (re: Bruce Sterling, 1/15/2007 ) |
iEarth From Google, Nasa... Snow Crash? New application effectively implements application envisaged in Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. (re: Neal Stephenson, 12/20/2006 ) |
RoomRender Futuristic Smart Room The smart room has moved beyond prototype to a product that is now available. (re: Ray Bradbury, 12/10/2006 ) |
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. (re: Vernor Vinge, 12/7/2006 ) |
Optimus OLED(Not!) Keyboard Chameleon This keyboard changes its colors (or its keys) for every occasion. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 11/20/2006 ) |
Electric Voting From Home Via Internet John Brunner wrote about electronic voting in a very revealing way in 1975 (re: John Brunner, 11/15/2006 ) |
UK SimCity-Style Social Policy Model - A Kingdom In A Box UK social science researchers make an old idea new again - Stanislaw Lem's 'kingdom in a box.' (re: Stanislaw Lem, 11/14/2006 ) |
Electronic Typewriter Rouses Shub-Internet Unknowing artist may bring the wrath of the Beast of 1024 Processors down upon us all. (re: Various, 10/17/2006 ) |
Polar Rose Face-Recognition Search Engine Someday, the images on the web will be as searchable as the text. (re: Various, 10/3/2006 ) |
Soap Optical Mouse And eXistenZ Metaflesh Game Pod Wash your hands of that carpal-tunnel-syndrome-creating mouse of yours and make yourself a wireless pointing device. (re: David Cronenberg, 8/1/2006 ) |
Games Of Tomorrow Built By Players Wiki-Style The world's megacorporations are counting on you to do the work in the next round of online game creation. (re: Neal Stephenson, 2/3/2006 ) |
VirtuSphere Immersive Virtual Reality A key enabling technology for a working star trek holodeck. (re: Gene Roddenberry, 9/21/2005 ) |
The Vacuum Tube Supercomputer Centre Offering 'true vector computing at competitive prices', the Supercomputing Centre 'makes maintenance possible with a fork lift instead of tweezers and a magnifier.' (re: Jack Haldeman, 7/21/2005 ) |
Google Earth And VPlanet Explorer These two products provide functionality similar to the CIC Earth software in Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. (re: Neal Stephenson, 6/30/2005 ) |
Minority Report Glove Interface From Raytheon Defence contractor Raytheon is working on a computer interface taken from the movie Minority Report, which starred Tom Cruise. (re: Stephen Spielberg, 4/18/2005 ) |
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. (re: Vernor Vinge, 4/7/2005 ) |
The Origins Of Cyberspace Up For Auction At Christie's If you happen to be in NYC on February 23rd, you might want to bid on the amazing items in Christie's The Origins of Cyberspace: A Library on the History of Computing, Networking and Telecommunications. (re: William Gibson, 2/2/2005 ) |
Kaori Web: Odorophonics Comes To A PC Near You Kaori web creates odorophonics - a science fiction idea of the fifties. (re: Ray Bradbury, 8/7/2004 ) |
Can Computer Tapeworms And Viruses Be Your Friends Computer tapeworms and viruses are feared by computer users today. But the creator of the term "computer virus" conceived of them as being helpful (as well as potentially harmful). (re: John Brunner, 8/6/2004 ) |
PC Case Mod Contest: Sandbenda Contenda The ExtemeTech extreme case mod contest heats up - see the dragon. (re: William Gibson, 8/3/2004 ) |
Calling All Sandbenders - PC Case Mod Contest! Liked the idea of sandbenders from William Gibson novels? Check out the extreme case modification contest. (re: William Gibson, 7/1/2004 ) |
Electric Sheep Distributed Screen-Saver: Collective Computer Unconsious The Electric Sheep Distributed Screen-Saver taps into the collective unconscious of sleeping computers all over the world. When your computer sleeps, does it dream of electric sheep? (re: Philip K. Dick, 6/16/2004 ) |
The Latest In Quantum-Dot Switches Quantum dot switches made up of pairs of tiny puddles of forty to sixty paired electrons show promise as the building blocks for quantum computers. (re: Greg Bear, 4/30/2004 ) |
FlashMob I Supercomputer Takes On Linpack Update University of San Francisco students attemtp to create an "instant supercomputer" with their FlashMob I Supercomputer software. (re: Larry Niven, 4/5/2004 ) |
Cypak Disposable Paper Computer With RFID Antenna The company uses conductive ink and adhesives to print electronic circuits and antennas on paper and plastic. The RFID antenna allows for transmission over short distances. (re: Frank Herbert, 3/24/2004 ) |
Siemens PenPhone Watches While You Write The PenPhone has an integrated handwriting recognition facility; the device will interpret hand movements during the act of writing and translate them directly into SMS. (re: Frank Herbert, 2/9/2004 ) |
Mydoom Email Worm (aka Novarg Mimail) Virus protection makers are scrambling to keep the Mydoom email worm from spreading quickly over the Internet. (re: John Brunner, 1/30/2004 ) |
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. (re: William Gibson, 11/20/2003 ) |
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