Inventions You’re Not Sure You Want. . .From the Out of Time Series

Tech…technology. It’s one facet of my Out of Time books that people seem to love most. And, because you’ll discover quite a few new inventions in my upcoming sequel release, A Time to Speak, I thought we’d go exploring today. I’m going to introduce you to the tech inventions from books one and two. At the end of this post I’ll tell you which one I’d want most.

And then you’ll tell me which one you’d want most!

Ready?

The Clock

The Clock. It tells you how long you have to live. No, I can’t tell you how it works. But, the Clocks are never wrong…or so they say.

How I came up with the idea: Frankly, I don’t remember. I was asking the mental question, “What if there was something that showed me how long I had to live.” And I just pictured a little wooden rectangle with glowing Numbers. Voila.

But…the Clocks don’t look like that in book two. You’ll have to read it to see what I mean. 😉 (Aren’t I cruel?)

Tweetable: Of these inventions: I’d want the CLOCK. Tell me how much time I have left!

The Emotigraph

A photograph of emotions. A burst of feeling that you experience over a quick ten seconds. Entrancing and…sometimes addicting. Imagine this: You and your spouse just had a baby. As you look on the face of your new baby girl, you slip your hand into your pocket and press a button to record the emotions that consume you the moment you see her face. Now, forever, you can re-experience that feeling until you wear that emotigraph down. Sounds tempting, right?

How I came up with the idea: I love capturing emotions. Whenever I’m about to take a new trip, or go on an adventure I know will impact my life, I’ll use the senses to gather memories and emotions. I’ll buy a new yummy-scented lotion for that Europe trip, or I’ll put together a new music playlist just for that experience. One thing I noticed is, when I take photographs, I seem to miss the moment.

If you’ve seen the 2014 movie, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Shawn O’Connel has the perfect moment to take a picture of a ghost cat. And he…doesn’t. He just watches the cat and breathes in the moment. I like to do that, and I once wondered, what if I could capture the emotion instead of just the photo? Thus…the emotigraph was born.

Tweetable: Of these inventions: I’d want the EMOTIGRAPHS. Snapshots of emotions! So cool.

Tune Chip

An implant behind your ear that plays music that matches your mood. This way you’re never stuck with silence. No one else can hear it, it’s your own little world.

How I came up with the idea: We live in a headphone world. I thought how that might progress. Music is huge to the young adult generation and I expect it to just continue growing. Our society is also growing more and more private and I could imagine invisible or implanted headphones someday. Not to mention our obsession with “new” and “fresh” music. Imagine a chip that created music while tracking your emotions.

Tweetable: Of these inventions: I’d want a TUNE CHIP. Endless music & no headphones. Ahhhh.

Testimony Log

Contact lenses that film your entire life, everything you hear. This way, you’ll never forget anything! You can pass down entire chunks of your life to your children, you never have to worry about having a video camera at the right time. And just think how much easier this can make crime scene mysteries for authorities.

How I came up with the idea: We’re recording everything from baby’s first steps, to niece’s home run in little league on our phones. A lot of us are starting to process life through screens. We need to video or snapshot everything. But that’s inconvenient, so wouldn’t it be nicer if our contact lenses just did it for us? Voila. Testimony Logs.

Tweetable: Of these inventions: I’d want a TESTIMONY LOG to record my entire life.

Knowledge Cap

Swallow a pill. Swallow knowledge. What do you want to know? Math? Science? Or — if you’re willing to spend a bit more money — you could buy a Dictionary cap, or a Bible cap (but those are illegal now, of course.)

How I came up with the idea: I read an article written by some tech-heads, doctors, and other brilliant people who were speculating about future inventions. One mentioned being able to swallow knowledge. Of course, I had to run with that.

Tweetable: Of these inventions: I’d want a KNOWLEDGE CAP. Time to swallow a dictionary.

Pirate Chip

Who needs a ship, when you have a chip? Assassins, ninjas, and thieves alike love this sneaky little device. Just program it with the right key words, insert it into the body (most anywhere would do, but the back of the neck seems to be popular0, and steal someone’s mental information. It’s like a USB for the brain.

How I came up with the idea: Frankly, I needed something that would be stealing an invention from my character’s brain. So…I just decided that if emotigraphs, tune chips, and knowledge caps were possible, then pirate chips should be, too. 😛

Tweetable: Of these inventions: I’d want a PIRATE CHIP to steal your very brain! I mean…uh…

Enhanced Suits

I’m afraid I have no idea how these suits work. You’ll have to ask Wilbur Sherrod, he’s the inventor and genius behind them. But…I know you want one.

How I came up with the idea: I watched about 10 different Ted Talks and somehow knitted together the hours of invention-talk that had entered my brain into enhanced suits.

Tweetable: Of these inventions: I’d want an ENHANCED SUIT to, you know, have ninja skills.

Which one would I want most?

I would want a knowledge cap for the Russian language. Even though I know about the disadvantages to taking a knowledge cap, I think I’d be willing to risk it in order to be fluent!

Your turn:

Of all these inventions, which one do you want the most…and why?

In case you hadn’t decided yet. Here are some pre-written tweets for ya:

• Of these inventions: I’d want the CLOCK. Tell me how much time I have left! (Tweet this)
• Of these inventions: I’d want the EMOTIGRAPHS. Snapshots of emotions! So cool. (Tweet this)
• Of these inventions: I’d want a TUNE CHIP. Endless music & no headphones. Ahhhh. (Tweet this)
• Of these inventions: I’d want a TESTIMONY LOG to record my entire life. (Tweet this)
• Of these inventions: I’d want a KNOWLEDGE CAP. Time to swallow a dictionary. (Tweet this)
• Of these inventions: I’d want a PIRATE CHIP to steal your very brain! I mean…uh… (Tweet this)
• Of these inventions: I’d want an ENHANCED SUIT to, you know, have ninja skills. (Tweet this)

And in case you’re wondering…yes you should see all of these inventions somewhere in the Out of Time Series books. I wouldn’t just torment you. (Well…I would….)

Don’t forget:

Remember, friends, A Time to Speak releases on October 16th! You can still sign up for your free swag, or enter the giant blog hop giveaway, or attend the Facebook party! AND….be sure to enter the giveaway below!