1910 – The Electric Vampire – F. H. Power (British)

The Electric Vampire By F. H. Power Illustrated by Philip Baynes (This short story appeared in The London Magazine of October 1910 with the accompanying Editor's note: 'The following short story, though of course but a figment of the imagination, is yet founded on fact. Over seventy years ago (in 1836, to be precise), a …

1870 – Artificial Man – Orin Vasta (Swedish)

Source: The Daily Telegraph Harrisburg, PA.29 Dec 1870 A NEW ADAM IN SWEDEN. Curious Story from a Swedish Paper— How a Man was Made—What a New Being Thought and Felt—How He Acquired Ideas, etc., etc., etc. The New York World says: A Swedish paper makes the seemingly preposterous assertion that a scientific gentleman of Stockholm …

1945 – Radio Jockey – Gernsback / Leslie (American)

Caption: This electronic Robot might have prevented the horse-racing ban, but it would cause technological unemployment among the jockey fraternity. Source: Radio-Craft for March, 1945. RADIO JOCKEY – Electronically-Controlled Robot Rider By ERIC LESLIE HORSE-RACING—the game of kings—has one great weakness. The suspicion of "fixed" races, of "pulled" horses and of dishonest jockeys, has prevented …

1971 – A computer controlled multi-task powered exoskeleton for paraplegic patients – Jack George Grundmann / Ali Seireg (American)

University of Wisconsin-Madison Mechanical Engineering Professor Ali Seireg achieved worldwide recognition for his work in mechanical and biomedical engineering design. Among his advances, he was first to develop a mathematical model of the entire human musculoskeletal system that could predict the muscle and joint forces and interactions, given a motion input. In the early 1970s, …

1976 – Pneumatic Exoskeleton Prosthesis – Pierre Rabischong (French)

Revolutionizing Techniques of Orthosis and Prosthesis Professor Pierre Rabischong of the Montpellier Propara Centre watches as a female patient and her physical therapist use a machine developed by Professor Rabischong. This machine allows the patient in rehabilitation to maintain her balance while inciting her muscles to move. The system functions according to the master-slave concept. …