The Wizard of West Orange (Short Story)

Work Title: The Wizard of West Orange (Short Story)
Medium: Novel
Episode Title:
Year: 2007
Writer(s): Steven Millhauser
"Original" Writer: Yes Own work?: No

Summary:

"The haptograph - an experimental device that mimicks ordinary feelings on the skin and stimulates previously unknown tactile sensations - sits in a locked room in the basement of a renowned scientific institution. It is 1889, and the reasearch facility is headed by the Wizard. He is a brilliant inventor who is cognizant of the importance of patents and profits. Multiple projects are ongoing, and the Wizard supervises all of them. One of his aims is to mechanically replicate each of the human senses. The Wizard has many assistants. Kistenmacher, an electrical experimenter, is one of the best. His pet project is the haptograph. The machine consists of a body suit (covered by a network of wires, brass caps, and miniature electromagnets), battery, and unit containing replaceable cylinders. Two test subjects are enlisted. The research librarian (who tells the story in the form of diary entries) is a willing volunteer. Earnshaw, a stockroom clerk, is an unwilling participant. Inside the suit, the librarian is impressed by a variety of familiar feelings of touch. When strange sensations - a total body caress, regeneration, an out-of-body event, and a sense of being suspended in air - are provoked, a new world is revealed to him. He experiences bliss. With ten times more funding and three additional researchers assigned to the venture, the haptograph could be commercially available in three years. Dreams are smashed when Earnshaw deliberately wrecks the apparatus. The Wizard terminates the project and reassigns Kistenmacher to a more menial task. The librarian ponders the Wizard's motives in halting the development of the haptograph. Perhaps the gadget is too dangerous and even heretical. Possibly the public is not ready for it. Maybe the Wizard figures he cannot turn a profit from it." - Literature, Arts and Medicine Database, New York University School of Medicine

  • Self-Written?:
  • Source Name: NYU
  • Source URL:

Era/Year of Portrayal: distant_past

Distinctive characteristics of the world in portrayal:

The world is relatively realistic to the time period (1890s). Inventors, mainly led by The Wizard, are attempting to develop several technologies that mimic the various human senses.


Technology

  • Name of portrayed presence-evoking technology: The Haptograph
  • Description of the technology: The Haptograph is a device that simulates the sensation of touch. It is described as doing for "skin what the phonograph does for the ear." The user wears the device or enters the device (the haptograph changes design throughout the story) and a series of pins that come into contact with the skin send a signal to the skin that simulates various actions. These actions range from simple actions like putting on a sock to more complex actions like flying and other out-of-body experiences. All actions are extremely vivid.
  • Nature of task or activity: The user wears or enters the device and without any action by the user, experiences different sensations of touch and feel.
  • Performance of the Technology: The haptograph advances in its capabilities before ultimately being destroyed. It successfully mimics simple acts such as putting on socks, then develops to the point of simulating more complex actions such as being stretched beyond human capability.
  • Description of creator(s): The Haptograph is a collaborative effort by several inventors, led by The Wizard.
  • Major goal(s) of creator(s): The goal is to replicate the sense of touch, but could ultimately be commercialized for entertainment purposes or to make money.
  • Description of users of technology: The main user in the story is an unidentified assistant of The Wizard, but it is assumed the device can be used by anyone.
  • Type(s) of presence experience in the portrayal: both
  • Description of presence experience: The user is put through a simulation of various sensations of human touch. Simulations can range from personal acts like putting on a hat or mimicking the sensation of shaking hands with another person. Simulations are incredibly vivid.
  • User awareness of technology during experience: The user is fairly aware they are using the technology, though the sensations are vivid enough that users can forget they are using the device.
  • Valence of experience: The valence depends on the simulated sensations, which can be either pleasant or unpleasant.
  • Specific responses: The user is said to have experienced a heightened sense of touch after several experiences with the Haptograph and became somewhat obsessed with the more out-of-body simulations produced by the device.
Long-term consequences:

The haptograph gets destroyed and the project is ultimately scrapped. Depending on the simulations, the haptograph could ultimately have pleasant experiences or produce unpleasant experiences or even obsessions, as evidenced by the research assistant.

Other:

Coder name: Jared Groff
Coder email: jared.groff@temple.edu
Coder affiliation: Temple University