A robot that can interact with people and be manipulated over long distances, perhaps over the Internet … He said he hopes in about five years to create a robot … “How you would do it and why anybody would want it are questions that have to be answered.”
Predictor: Bell, Gordon
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for The Boston Globe, Beppi Crosariol interviews Gordon Bell, formerly of Digital Equipment Corporation, about his move to Microsoft and his research plans. Crosariol writes: ”Microsoft Corp.’s newest employee, 60-year-old Gordon Bell, said yesterday he wants to make a robot that can interact with people and be manipulated over long distances, perhaps over the Internet. Bell, the former head of research and development at Digital Equipment Corp. and chief architect of the companie’s best-selling VAX minicomputer, has joined Microsoft as a senior researcher, the company said yesterday. Bell left Digital in 1983 and went on to help start several high-technology companies. He said he will help Microsoft explore video and high-speed networks to improve communications over long distances … Bell said Microsoft has given him carte blanche to pursue his interest in so-called telepresence. He said he hopes in about five years to create a robot. However, he concedes that the technology is in its infancy and that he does not know how it will be turned into a marketable product. ‘How you would do it and why anybody would want it are questions that have to be answered,’ said Bell, who has a reputation as a visionary. Bell also plans to continue his recent research into an area called scalable computing, in which clusters of personal computers are assembled to do the high-level work of multimillion-dollar mainframes.”
Biography:Gordon Bell proposed a plan for a U.S. research and education network in a 1987 report to the Office of Science and Technology in response to a congressional request by Al Gore. He was a technology leader at Digital Equipment Corporation (where he led the development of the VAX computer) and with Microsoft. (Technology Developer/Administrator)
Date of prediction: August 14, 1995
Topic of prediction: Communication
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: Boston Globe
Title, headline, chapter name: Former Key Digital Researcher Joins Microsoft Robot Project
Quote Type: Partial quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Economy, Page 31
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney