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"The way you write science fiction is: you sit down at your writing machine and you open your mind to the first thought that comes through."
- Frederik Pohl
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| Implant-Watch | ||
| Subcutaneous timepiece; uses patterns of colored lights to show the time. |
This is a slick idea; I also think that there are some cool artistic possibilities here. The lights could be arranged in different patterns and colors; the wrist is not the only place you could have one. If you were really into historical realism, you could tattoo a watch on your wrist, with the implanted lights showing through.
| ...years ago, when Ron was flush with money from the sale of the engraved beer bottles, he'd bought an implant-watch. He told time by one red mark and two red lines glowing beneath the skin of his wrist. |
| Technovelgy from Cloak of Anarchy,
by Larry Niven. Published by Analog in 1972 Additional resources -
|
Personally, I have a strong attachment to the finger watch, which appeared in The Puppet Masters, by Robert Heinlein. But Niven's watch has the added advantage that you can't leave it someplace.
Compare to the Wrist Search Display from A Matter of Size (1934) by Harry Bates,
Wireless Wrist Intercom from The Shape of Things To Come (1936) by H.G. Wells,
Reserve Bracelet from Plague (1944) by Murray Leinster,
Tattletale from The Game Players of Titan (1963) by Philip K. Dick,
Wristband Viewer from Changeling (1980) by Roger Zelazny,
Predator Wrist Display from Predator (1987) by John McTierna,
Wrist Command from Tides of Light (1989) by Gregory Benford,
Tracking Bracelet from Shadowspeer (1990) by Patricia Jo Clayton,
Inertial Bracelet from Psychohistorical Crisis (2001) by Donald Kingsbury,
Command Bracelet from Sagramanda (2006) by Alan Dean Foster and the
Wristpad from New York 2140 (2017) by Kim Stanley Robinson.
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More Ideas
and Technology from Cloak of Anarchy
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and Technology by Larry Niven
Tech news articles related to Cloak of Anarchy
Tech news articles related to works by Larry Niven
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| Pixel Watch 'Loss of Pulse Detection' And Philip K. Dick |
| ErythroMer Artificial Blood |
| MouthPad Supports Head And Tongue Tracking |
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'ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!'
'These are your rudimentary seed packages... Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures.'
