Around fifty-five years ago, Apollo 11 reached the moon and back to Earth. Interestingly, the computers used to guide the spacecraft only required 4 kilobytes of memory. While it may seem small by today’s standards, it was a super machine that allowed precise and complex calculations for the journey.
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” -Armstrong
Levin presented us with findings over thirty years later on the advancements humanity has made regarding computers. With more capacity, they are now able to track things in real-time and output images that are not just static but interactive. This reminds me of the breakthrough that Apple made with its Apple Vision and Vision Pro. The device is a major display (no pun intended) of what computer vision has become. While it may seem lesser compared to our phones (with its low battery capacity and weight!), it also made me reimagine the future when these devices are common occurrences in daily lives.
Remember when the first iPhone was introduced by Steve Jobs: people made fun of touchscreens. Today, it is indistinguishable from our daily lives. Indeed, today Apple Vision is mostly perceived as redundant to our smartphones. But unless someone took up the mantle and challenged the default, no invention would ever be made.
References
To the Moon and Back on 4KB of Memory – Metro Weekly
The Four Computers That Flew Humans To The Moon (youtube.com)
Levin, G. “Computer Vision for Artists and Designers: Pedagogic Tools and Techniques for Novice
Programmers”. Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Society, Vol. 20.4. Springer Verlag, 2006.