ISS to get “HAL-like” computer.
A voice-operated computer assistant is set to be used in space for the first time on Monday – its operators hope it proves more reliable than “HAL”, the treacherous speaking computer in the movie 2001.
Called Clarissa, the program will initially talk astronauts on the International Space Station through tests of onboard water supplies. But its developers hope it will eventually be used for all computer-related work on the station.
Clarissa was designed with input from astronauts. They said it was difficult to perform the 12,000 procedures necessary to maintain the ISS and conduct scientific experiments while simultaneously reading through lengthy instruction manuals.
“Just try to analyse a water sample while scrolling through pages of a procedure manual displayed on a computer monitor while you and the computer both float in microgravity,” says US astronaut Michael Fincke, who spent six months on the station in 2004.
Wonder how long it’ll be before some astronaut’s heard shouting, “Control, Alt, Delete! Control, Alt, Delete!”?
www.newscientistspace.com:
A voice-operated computer assistant is set to be used in space for the first time on Monday – its operators hope it proves more reliable than “HAL ”,…
I’d just like to go on record as being officially offended.
Well, I’d be worried. I’ve heard from reliable sources that “Clarissa Knows It All”. How much longer until she decides her human inhabitants are … unreliable?
But does she sound like Majel Barrett?