Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Web Services Wizard And Frederik Pohl's Joymaker
Can't my computer just take care of it? If I know the name of a song, can't my computer just go get a copy of it from iTunes? If I need an appointment with my dentist, can't my computer contact the dentist's office computer and find an appointment time that works for both of us?
One of the people working to make that happen in Charles Petrie, senior research scientist in the Stanford Logic Group of the Computer Science Department.
"A world wide wizard, through some kind of magic that I'm going to explain in a little bit, would know and do things," Petrie says. "He would know when things had changed in cyberspace. He would know the effects of those changes. He would know, because those things had changed, what else should be changed."
(Charles Petrie wants a joymaker
[even if he doesn't know it])
The Internet should make this level of interaction possible; ideally, this "cyberspace wizard" would not just be a program on your local device:
"This isn't just a piece of localized software running on your desktop; this is running on the Internet and interacting with a lot of people—the guys in your band, your legal adviser, the songwriter that you're working with, the shipper for your equipment, the charter plane [operators], owners of the venue that you're going to," Petrie explains. "You're sharing schedules and budgets and plans as they're revised. There are a lot of people interacting here, and this wizard is controlling the interactions."
I always appreciate it when engineers share and work toward science-fictional futures like this one, which was imagined eloquently by Frederik Pohl in his 1965 novel The Age of the Pussyfoot.
In the novel, the lives of every person on Earth were mediated by joymakers, which were super-PDAs - or BlackBerries on overdrive.
The remote-access computer transponder called the "joymaker" is your most valuable single possession in your new life. If you can imagine a combination of telephone, credit card, alarm clock, pocket bar, reference library, and full-time secretary, you will have sketched some of the functions provided by your joymaker.
(Read more about the joymaker)
When working as a "cyberspace wizard," the joymaker made use of your interests profile:
"...Have you filled out an interests profile?""I don't think so."
"Oh, do! Then it will tell you what programs are on, what parties you will be welcomed at, who you would wish to know. It's terrible to go on impulse, Charles," she said earnestly. "Let the joymaker help you."
"...I don't understand," he said. "You mean I should let the joymaker decide what I'm going to do for fun?"
"Of course. There's so much. How could you know what you would like?"
Improving the technological magic behind web services is the subject of contests like the Semantic Web Services Challenge, held at Stanford in 2006 and sponsored by the Stanford Logic Group. The next challenge will take place in Innsbruck, Austria, in June. Judges certify that participants have solved the problems and then rank their software. I like the way they determine the winner - it's the participant who gets the task done with the least programming.
You might also be interested in another project to really give your "cyberspace wizard" a helpful face - see Rity - Sobot Longs To Be Near You, about a software application that can actually transfer itself from one computer to another to be close to you. Browse through some of the products and services predicted by Pohl in this novel, like cellphone caller lists, cellphones as credit cards, administer medications with your mobile device, cellphone voice mail and even get a Virtual kiss via tactile net.
More via this Stanford press release - Web services 'wizard' may help computers do people's work, researcher says.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 5/6/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Artificial Intelligence ")
Have AI Researchers Given Up On 'Bio-Babies'?
'You couldn't have the capstone without the pyramid to hold it up.' Stephen Baxter, 2008.
Nuclear Plant Restarted To Power AI To Feed Us Dreams
'...Anything was possible in my imaginary environment.' - Raymond Z. Gallun, 1940.
Dino From Magical Toys An AI Companion To Children
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.' - Anne McCaffrey, 1990.
AI Computer Chip Designs Passeth Human Understanding
'It seems that at one time computers were designed directly by human beings.' - Isaac Asimov, 1958.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Robot Hand Creeps Along, Separate From It's Owner
'The crawling... object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
Taikonauts Exercise In China's Tiangong Space Station
'Joe got out the gravity-simulator harnesses...'
Korean Exoskeleton Suit F1 Helps You Put It On
'Better late than never.'
Have AI Researchers Given Up On 'Bio-Babies'?
'You couldn't have the capstone without the pyramid to hold it up.'
Bunker Busters and Bore-Pellets
'The first revelation of the new Soviet bore-pellets.'
'Spikeless' Brand Swizzle Stick Detects Spiked Drinks
'the unobtrusive inspections with tiny remote-cast snoopers...'
Heart Patches Grown In The Lab Repair Hearts
I'm hoping that this procedure becomes a normal part of medical practice!
Humanoid Robots Spotted In Homes Performing Household Chores
'... nothing was perfected until M. Pantalon announced the completion of his automatic valet.'
Musk Proposes Sites For Martian Cities
'...its streets were of remarkable width, with few or no buildings so high as mosques, churches, State-offices, or palaces in Tellurian cities.'
Bambot Open Source Cheap Delivery Robot
'Not since the time he rewired the delivery robot...'
Robot Collective Acts Like A Smart Material
'...it was all composed of tiny, identical cubes, carefully laid to form a tilelike surface.'
Vipera Electric Skis From Frigid Dynamics
'JOAN strapped on her power-skis...'
Pixel Watch 'Loss of Pulse Detection' And Philip K. Dick
'He carried on his person a triggering mechanism sensitive to his heartbeat.'
Nuclear Plant Restarted To Power AI To Feed Us Dreams
'...Anything was possible in my imaginary environment.'
SpaceX's Starman Tesla Roadster In Space
'Somewhere in space, a chrome and blue automobile raced the green light of Earth.'
Pivotal Blackfly Electric Aircraft Lifts And Hovers
'That explains how it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair...'
