In a world where we a currently struggling with voice activation and dictation on high-powered computers, it is hard to imagine a machine capable of passing the Turing Test for AI, let alone passing through vocal responses and not text. Aldiss' interfaces are embodied in several ways, including gadgets people wear and voice response. Changing the "wavelength of her windows" required such little effort of Monica that she performed it "almost by reflex." Checking for mail (or e-mail, perhaps) did not require a walk out to the mailbox. Instead, Monica just dials the Post Office and waits for something to come through.

Voice commands seem to go hand-in-hand with the robots of the future. Like the robot in TV's "Lost in Space," most commands and responses are easily performed vocally. Furthering this, Aldiss' robots are fully capable of conversations. In David's case, expressing his love is difficult even in writing, although Monica is no better at it. Henry's latest serving-man cannot be bored even by the "most vapid conversation," allowing even greater satisfaction to the long-winded politician in need of an audience. Most importantly, these interfaces are designed to accept nearly every possible command and respond with not only a logical answer, but an almost human one. Henry's serving-man replies to the question of "'How do you like it?'", conerning the Hologram garden and mansion, with a critique, "'Roses occasionally suffer from black spot.'" There are still some bugs to be worked out.

Aldiss is showing us some of our wildest imaginations come true. Star Trek looks at our future explorations through space. Aldiss is more down to Earth. With computers becoming increasingly fast, we want them to hold a conversation with us, speaking to us and accepting our own words back. Does our future hold Aldiss' visions?