Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"We didn't have a telephone and our family until I was about 15, in high school."
- Ray Bradbury
 |
| Radiant | ||
| A chip that is injected into the shoulder, providing positioning and information about the subject. |
When Earthman Aile Farr arrived on Iszm, a planet of the Xi Aurigae system, he was naturally treated with great suspicion. Before being allowed to roam the planet, he was first given a radiant, for location and identification.
| Eventually the medics, shaking their heads glumly, returned Farr to the outer chamber, where he was met by an Iszic in a tight white and gray uniform, carrying a hypodermic.
Farr drew back. "What's this?" "A harmless radiant." "I don't need any." "It is necessary," said the medic, "for your own protection. Most visitors hire boats and sail out upon the Pheadh. Occasionally there are storms, the boats are blown off course. this radiant will define your position on the master panel." "I don't want to be protected," said Farr. "I don't want to be a light on a panel." "Then you must leave Iszm." Farr submitted, cursing the medic for the length of the needle and the quantity of radiant. |
| From The Houses of Iszm,
by Jack Vance. Published by Better Publications in 1954 Additional resources -
|
Upper class Iszic carried special viewers, which would allow them to query the radiant for information:
The Iszic flourished his viewer. "A privilege to greet a fellow-scientist."
Farr said sourly, "That thing even tells you my occupation?"
The Iszic viewed Farr's right shoulder. "I see you have no criminal record; your intelligence index is 23; your persistence level is Class 4... There is other information."
The use of the radiant as a locating beacon is demonstrated later in the novel, as Farr finally figures out why he cannot elude pursuers:
The Iszic lifted a single-lensed lorgnette on an ebony rod, the viewer habitually carried by high-caste Iszic, an accessory almost as personal as one of their organs. Farr had been viewed many times; it never failed to irritate him... The radiant injected into his shoulder had labeled him. He was now categorized and defined for anyone who cared to look...
He looked up at the ceiling of the arcade, imagining the sky beyond. Somewhere, five or ten miles overhead, hung an air-boat. In the air-boat sat an Iszic, with a sensitive viewer and a radio. Everywhere that Farr went, the radiant in his right shoulder sent up a signal. On the viewer screen, Farr was as surreptitious as a lighthouse.
The techically savvy reader will no doubt recognize in Vance's "radiant" today's RFID chip, a small electronic device with a bit of memory to carry information and an antenna to transmit that information to a suitable reader.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Houses of Iszm
More Ideas
and Technology by Jack Vance
Tech news articles related to The Houses of Iszm
Tech news articles related to works by Jack Vance
Radiant-related
news articles:
- VeriChip Chairman Proposes RFID Chips For Immigrants
- VeriMed Implanted RFID Dogtags Studied By Military, VeriChip
- Human-Injectable Satellite Tracking Chip
| Zephyr Solar-Electric Stratospheric Drone |
| Robot Hummingbird Hovers Biomimetically |
| Capitalist Big Brother Co-Opts Regular Big Brother |
| Juggalo Face Paint Disrupts Facial Recognition |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
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.
|
As far as the future is concerned 'they're the only experts we have'.
'The walls and ceiling bore an irregular spacing of illuminum tiles...'
'The planes flew continuously, twenty-four hours a day...'
'It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time.'
'...a single perfectly level platform, which rose so high above the water that it was not splashed by the waves.'
'Is an extra-factual memory that convincing?' Quail asked.
