A few weeks ago I read The Dream Master, a scifi novel that deals with dreams and virtual reality that has a blind character in it. The portrayal of blindness was… not great, but something that struck me about it was that for a futuristic setting, it lacked imagination for what technology could look like for the blind. The only real inovation in that world was a talking guide dog (who the character barely used) but otherwise the character still took notes on a tape recorder. It was written in the 60s so maybe a braille display or notetaker was too much of a strange concept but I feel like they could have thought of something. Is modern science fiction any better? is there any science stories that involve futuristic assistive tech beyond just curing blindness with bionic eyes?
For a really interesting portrayal of blindness in modern sci-fi, read Project Hail Mary. It’s the darling child of audiobook fans these days.
There’s some stuff in there I’d describe as interesting assistive technology.
I can’t go into any details, because they’d be spoilers.
@MostlyBlindGamer @ThisIsRidiculousAnd @main
Will have to give that a listen. Enjoyed reading The Martian and Artemis but had not gotten to Project Hail Mary yet. Know if it is available on BARD or will I have to buy on Audible or similar?
I wouldn’t be able to tell you, I got it on Audible. It’s got lots of the same inventiveness as The Martian, you’ll probably like it.
I’ll check it out, thanks.
