Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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
"Science fiction is what scientists would do if they could - if they had enough grant money, enough time, and enough brains to do the wonderful things they would like to do."
- Greg Bear
 |
| SimStim | ||
| Stimulation of the brain and nervous system of one person using a recording (or live broadcast) of another person's experience. |
This is a way of sharing experience, but in the world of Neuromancer, you are reminded of the early comments that the experts had about television: "it's an ideal teaching tool."
| Cowboys didn't get into simstim, he thought, because it was basically a meat toy. He knew that ... the cyberspace matrix was actually a drastic simplification of the human sensorium, at least in terms of presentation, but simstim itself struck him as a gratuitous multiplication of flesh input. |
| From Neuromancer,
by William Gibson. Published by Phantasia Press in 1984 Additional resources -
|
As far as I know, Gibson is the first person to explore both a business use and the extended entertainment version of this idea. Simstim can also be done live.
An earlier reference in science fiction to the idea of using some sort of technology to both read and record a person's thoughts is the espionage machine from Cordwainer Smith's 1958 story No, No, Not Rogov!.
A much earlier reference to the idea that one person can actually experience the transmitted experience of another can be found in the wonderful 1939 story Masson's Secret, by Raymond Z. Gallun. Read about the neuronic receptor-transmitter. See also the Life Chamber from The Chamber of Life, by G. Peyton Wertenbaker., published by Amazing Stories in 1929. Just found the psycho-phone from David Keller's 1928 A Biological Experiment.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 2 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Neuromancer
More Ideas
and Technology by William Gibson
Tech news articles related to Neuromancer
Tech news articles related to works by William Gibson
SimStim-related
news articles:
- Jack Into A Cat's Brain
- Implanted Biothermal RFID Chips May Warn Of Avian Flu
| Flyboard Water Jet Shoes Lift Off |
| Cosplay Style Wings Could Work On Moon |
| Music Not Impossible (MNI) Vibrotactile Wearable Experience |
| Augmented and-or Virtual Reality Shoes From Google |
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 Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'The Enforcement Droid series 209 is a self-sufficient law enforcement robot...'
'Buses without drivers moved close to the curb and stopped at intervals.'
'... infected males were more than 46 times more likely to become pack leaders than uninfected males.'
'He had left Earth to get away from its gravitational field...'
'Faster the cubes moved; faster the circle revolved; the pyramids raised themselves, stood bolt upright on their square bases...'
'Life experience is linearly additive, but the correlation of memory impressions is an unlimited expansion.'
'I grabbed two Syntho-Steaks out of the freezer...'
'...we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.'
'What fabric can take that kind of a load? Synthetic spider silk.'
