Short Story Artifacts

The Veldt  

Setting aside the perturbing end of the short story, The Veldt has quite a lot of room for imagination regarding unique creations. When reading the story, an idea that came to mind was a coffee maker, but one where you don’t need to press a button, grind the coffee, or even place a cup to get a perfect pour every time. This machine would make the use of sensors, like the ones at a hand dryer, and a similar concept to an automatic water pourer to provide the user with a cup of coffee after a simple wave. I wouldn’t say that the creation of this machine would create any new problems other than removing the choice people have in terms of how they want their coffee brewed. 

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

While reading this short story, I focused on the whimsical and magical world that the author described. I imagine that a musical instrument that changes based on someone’s cardiac rhythm could exist in this universe. This invention would work with the same technology as a normal heart monitor but it would just repurpose the information received. I wouldn’t say this invention would create future problems as it is purely for entertainment purposes. 

The Plague

In this short story, our main character describes how he must put up different colored flags outside buildings depending on whether they have people inside them or not. An invention that could exist in this world would be a machine that would scan the area in front of it and determine the color of the flag the character must place outside the building. If the machine does not detect any life forms in its surroundings, it will raise a white flag. If it detects any life forms in its surroundings, it will raise a red flag. The technology used for movement sensors, similar to those used in alarm systems, would be the main component of this invention. Like the other inventions, I don’t foresee any new problems created by this invention.