Posts Tagged ‘Scifi’
Scifi fail
I’ve enjoyed watching the BBC science fiction Television series “Torchwood” (a Dr. Who spin-off). I watch it on NetFlix, which signifies that I have a tendency to see episodes extended soon after they had been initially broadcast. Last evening I saw an episode from season three, initially aired in 2009. This wonderful season consisted of a single really extended narrative spread over 5 gripping and effectively produced episodes. But there was a technical detail that threw me completely for a loop.
It’s a given that most scifi will introduce some sort of scientific element that does not truly exist in right now’s planet. This may well be make contact with with an alien race, or a long term technological advancement, or some as-yet-undiscovered human capability. Such premises are a fundamental portion of the entertaining and interest of the genre. But it’s quite an additional point if a perform of science fiction violates its personal premises. And that’s just what happens in the otherwise superb third season of Torchwood.
In specific, our intrepid Torchwood team use a genuinely nifty technological innovation: Make contact with lens cameras. These helpful small gadgets appear specifically like ordinary make contact with lenses, but when you put them on, a remotely positioned colleague with a laptop computer can see everything you see.
It turns out that there is a limitation: the lenses can see, but they can’t hear. The only way the remote operator can understand what a individual is saying is if the cyber-get in touch with lenses are looking at the individual’s face. Then sophisticated image processing software package can analyze the speaker’s lip movements, printing the now acknowledged speech as text on the laptop screen.
Am I the only person who thinks there is some thing deeply wrong with this technology situation?
Scifi fail
I’ve enjoyed watching the BBC science fiction TV series “Torchwood” (a Dr. Who spin-off). I watch it on NetFlix, which means that I tend to see episodes long after they were originally broadcast. Last night I saw an episode from season three, originally aired in 2009. This wonderful season consisted of a single very long narrative spread over five gripping and well made episodes. But there was a technical detail that threw me completely for a loop.
It’s a given that most scifi will introduce some sort of scientific element that does not actually exist in today’s world. This might be contact with an alien race, or a future technological advancement, or some as-yet-undiscovered human capability. Such premises are a fundamental part of the fun and interest of the genre. But it’s quite another thing if a work of science fiction violates its own premises. And that’s just what happens in the otherwise excellent third season of Torchwood.
In particular, our intrepid Torchwood team employ a really nifty technology: Contact lens cameras. These handy little gadgets look exactly like ordinary contact lenses, but when you put them on, a remotely positioned colleague with a laptop computer can see everything you see.
It turns out that there is a limitation: the lenses can see, but they cannot hear. The only way the remote operator can understand what a person is saying is if the cyber-contact lenses are looking at the person’s face. Then sophisticated image processing software can analyze the speaker’s lip movements, printing the now recognized speech as text on the laptop screen.
Am I the only person who thinks there is something deeply wrong with this technology scenario?