Videoconferencing
Photograph by Lee Jin-man, AP
In "In the Year 2889" Jules Verne describes the "phonotelephote"—a forerunner to today's videoconferencing technologies, such as the setup above, used to connect distant family members in North and South Korea in 2005.The phonotelephote allowed "the transmission of images by means of sensitive mirrors connected by wires," Verne wrote.
Verne's phonotelephote is one of the earliest—if not the earliest—reference to a videophone in fiction, according to Technovelgy.com, a website that catalogs inventions and ideas from science fiction.
Verne's imagination was also heavily influenced by scientific and technical journals, MIT's William said.
"He read voraciously," she said. "He went to the men's club where all these journals were and he took notes. So he was aware of a submarine that was being tried out in the North Sea, for example."
Published February 8, 2011
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