Re: So just how *do* they fire those things?

From: Ed Rudnicki <erudnick_at_pica.army.mil>
Date: Fri, 26 Apr 96 13:05:55 EDT

>> Probably not. I should have clarified my last comment, too. When I meant
>> that the Glovatrix has been activated when it's been used, I meant that
>> it's been *manually* activated (i.e., by pressing a button on the
>> Glovatrix, etc).
>
> But have you actually *seen* them press a button on it? I noticed a long
>time ago that the Glovatrix is a lot like Spiderman's web shooters, to fire
>they simply point and it happens. No further explanation is given. Some
>creeplings did touch the side of a Glovatrix to fire it in Night of the Dark
>Kat, but when T-Bone and Razor fire in the same ep, no such button pressing is
>seen. I dunno, should we write off Glovatrix firing as a matter of
>convenience?

Spiderman's web shooters do (or did) require manual action. If you
go way back to the oldest material, you'd see the "web fluid" is in
a reservoir around his wrist, with the outlet nozzle running up the
inside of his wrist, and a pressure switch in his palm. Of course
this made it difficult to hold things :)

The Glovatrix may work along the lines of the power holsters in
Harry Harrison's "Deathworld" series, by sensing the orientation of
the tendons on the inside of the arm. The holsters worked by being
mounted on the inside of the arm, with a "smart" cable connecting
the gun to the holster. To use the gun, one simply made the motions
of grasping it; the holster sensed the movements of the tendons and
the "smart" cable put the gun into the user's hand, ready to use.

The Glovatrix could work in a similar manner, with just a change in
the position of the hand relative to the wrist actuating it. There
could even be multiple position settings for different devices. Such
control requires a great deal of training and discipline, as did the
aforementioned power holsters, but methinks the boys can handle that
:)





Ed

Received on Fri Apr 26 1996 - 13:37:05 PDT