Sci-Fi Civilian Vehicles, Equipment and Technology

Hi, as you can see in this thread, there is two threads of Military equiment and military tactics, which is nice at all but I feel like it happen a lot all the time, it tend to overfocus quite a lot in military aspect of a setting.

So, why not help or discuss about the other side of the coin? a thread about the civilian aspect of any sci fi setting.

The "Sector General" series by James White was one of my favorites. Had some interesting medical technology.

Leftovers from the last war.

Can you enter in detail abou it? in general I kind of like medical tech and I feel that waaaaay ot often it fall back into "Magic" that just cure because it does.

For example one little thing I actually like was the medical scanners in After Earth who show the broke bone and the probalities of survival, it was very intersting.

First, there's just the overall idea of a cross-species hospital, where any alien could specialize in treating an ailment of any other species. Plus, the various species and their illnesses are treated in some detail. The hospital's different units recreating the physical environments of the patients is fascinating.

While it is technically a military sci-fi "Star Corpsman" by William H. Keith Jr. aka Ian Douglas has a big emphasis on medicine.

The focus is on the Corpsman and his tools with a lot of detailed medical descriptions and terminology. Ian Douglas can get a bit overboard with the technical side sometimes. I almost had to ask for my grandfathers medical books at one point. The focus is on the detailed use of nanomachines as a medical tool for treating various traumas and injuries. Everything from treating just about any known disease to closing wounds, strengthening bones, tinkering with nerves and even touches on the potential to be abused just like over the counter medicines and painkillers are today.

I have a fondness for the concept of the Le Tourneau overland train as a sort of sci-fi Gypsy Wagon of a sort for nomadic culture.

edited 28th Apr '18 8:37:31 PM by TuefelHundenIV

I have to admit I have to weakness in Civilian sci fi tech: Medicine and Agriculture.

What new techinique did you see in agri-tech? I like the idea of special statos with huge agri tech deposite who grow in zero gravity, it sound intersting.

If you like speculative agro-tech, this site should interest you. It has articles on the following:

Agricultural Robot Pest Controller - picking off the pests Michael Crichton (1985)

Agricultural World Isaac Asimov (1951)

Chlorella Plantation Frederik Pohl (w/CM Kornbluth) (1952)

Darknet Farm - augmented farm reality Daniel Suarez (2010)

Genetic Ark - conserve the genome David Brin (1990)

Robot Gardener - gardening robot Philip K. Dick (1955)

Tri-D E.B. White (1950)

Then there's this little classic: "Farmer in the Sky" by Heinlein (I haven't read it, unfortunately).

edited 30th Apr '18 5:53:53 PM by DeMarquis

Another site you might find interesting is Unusual Locomotion. It focusses on a wide variety of methods of typically off road vehicles and covers both civilian and military equipment of all varieties.

How useful would it be for digital HUDs on Spacesuits to project the faces of their users to other people wearing spacesuits nearby. Would this be a desired civilian feature?

I cant think of a purpose useful enough to take up the bandwidth.

However, it might amuse people to use a 3D avatar based on the speakers actual appearance...

What about facial communication? Humans communicate a lot with their face, so it might be useful there, especially in civilian jobs.

On small closed nets, maybe. But if you're in a space suit, you probably want to have good view of your surroundings. If its in a large area where lots of people are passing through... then no. At best it might be helpful if you're using some sort of eye tracking software to have static mug shots next to names when trying to open a private comms channel.

As long as everyone's following proper radio procedure it's hard to get confused about who's who. If you have a lot of bandwidth available some basic positioning data might be more useful to transmit, if it can be generated.

I can't be the only who thinks perfectly clear/transparent glass cell phones/computer monitors are a terrible design, no?

You are not. But Rule of Cool, as always.

I hate em as well, all phones in my settings remain solid design.

Depends on how they work. If they can still display opaque images, and not let other people view them through the back, they wouldn't be as annoying. The Orville has holographic screens that take on a "frosted glass" sort of look when viewed from the "wrong" side. First time I've seen someone address that issue.

Borderlands have Holograms display a opaque back when not facing their user.

So, what would future bathrooms be like? Especially for mutliple species across the galaxy

Well, the methane breathers need to stay in their own stall. I dont care how nice it smells.

edited 12th May '18 10:08:41 AM by DeMarquis

I've been wondering, Androids are a cool concept and all... but what would be actual civilian use for humanlike machines that can smile and presumably not break the uncanny valley?

Anything that involved human interaction. Receptionists, nurses, corporate assistants, that kind of thing. I’d argue civilian uses are really the only uses for lifelike androids.

edited 5th Jun '18 10:50:15 AM by archonspeaks

Would it be possible to find a civilian application for Power Armor?

Yes. Construction and firefighters would benefit a whole lot from powered armor.