The visit to the Computer History Museum was actually surprisingly fun to me. I thought it would be mainly about the previous generations of computer engines and early calculators, but I discovered a bunch of very interesting things, learned and had a chance to interact with them. The CHM felt very professional, and serious the I walked in; maybe because there were many people dressed formally and were having business conversations inside.
I took so many pictures at the museum of many interesting things that I saw. There’s a display of the inside of a supercomputer, there were like a billion wires inside. I saw many old robots, there was a bigger police robot, it has the flashing light of police cars and the police badge. There were many much smaller ones as well; there’s one named the “AIBO”, it’s designed by Sony, a robotic pet dog. Apparently it responded to more than 100 voice commands, and I think this design is adorable. I also interacted with the first AI, it was stupid, no matter what I typed in it only responds “I can’t understand that!” I saw the development of search engine around the world, and the earliest video games.
My favourite object was the Ameca; she’s the robotic AI in the appearance of a female. My friends found her horrifying, I thought it was amazing of how much behaviours she’s capable of and commands to respond to. We tested that she could speak multiple languages, and she actually has facial expressions. I commanded her to wink and do a disgusted face, and she actually did, which was very surprising for me. It’s just that she responds very slowly.
Overall, the CHM visit gave me a deeper appreciation for the history of technology and the people behind it. It connected the things I learn in class with real artifacts which could visualize