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"Science fiction is the very literature of change. In fact, it is the only such literature we have."
- Frederik Pohl
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| Computer Vision (Artificial Eye) | ||
| A device which, attached to a suitable computer, will allow the device to see. |
How can you prove that your artificial, metallic brain works and is conscious? You might try providing it with vision.
| "The T-wave, the vibratory current, is produced over there, and led into the brain case to act on the atomic organism inside. Right now that thing is conscious."
"...And I can prove it now. Since you last saw it I've provided it with the sense of sight. See that inset lens? Well, it's like no lens you ever saw, for it's really an artificial eye, that I made myself. There is an artificial retina beneath and it is connected direct to the brain-stuff, and carries its sensations to it, as electric currents. "An artificial retina?" asked Lanier. "Isn't that going a bit too far? An inorganic material sensitive to light?" "Did you never hear of a substance called selenium?" asked Detmold with fine sarcasm, as as Lanier started, he added, "Ah, you begin to see! You remember that the electrical resistance of selenium varies enormously in light and in darkness, and you begin to perceive how the light striking that artificial retina could be translated into electricity and flashed to the brain." |
| From The Metal Giants,
by Edmond Hamilton. Published by Weird Tales in 1926 Additional resources -
|
This is a very early reference to the idea that an inorganic "brain" or computing device could be provided with vision, which today is called "machine vision".
Compare to the more modern conception of a vision strip from Orphans of the Void (1952) by Orville Shaara.
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'When confronted by hills, or rough terrain, it did not stop, but simply slowed until the task demanded equaled its steady power output.'
'... the brain is no longer subjected to the accustomed pull, and it expands slightly in all directions.'
