Video games win respect as researchers adapt features for computer programs

Article Abstract:

Video games that run on computers are being reconsidered by computer science researchers. Such games often incorporate interesting and effective ways to allow users to deal with large amounts of data. Innovative uses of color, sound and animation could help to unleash the potential of computers to simplify and manage real-world problems. For example, researchers at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Urbana, IL, use 'visualizations' to help them understand how to improve techniques for plastic injection molding. Dan Brady, chief of the Visualization Laboratory lab there, foresees an increased influence for video games. Sphere Inc, which makes the Falcon flight-simulation game, is bidding for a contract for F-16 simulators. Nintendo Co has given $3 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for research into educational uses for its games. Various other research projects and game applications are mentioned and briefly described.

Games, toys, and children's vehicles, Usage, Computer games, Video games, Computer simulation, Computer science, Game theory, Visualization (Computers), Visualization (Computer), Simulation, Scientific Research, Computer Game, Visualization

---

Technology

Article Abstract:

Origami, the Japanese art of paper folding, helps researchers at AT and T's Bell Laboratories, who are trying to get the most processing power out of small computers. The lab, which wants to patent a 'problem-folding' process, is investigating the power of parallel processing, which involves using many small processors that work simultaneously. A $750,000 security system now being used in airports uses neural networks that process information in a way that mimics the way the brain works. The system, from Science Applications International Corp, examines checked-in baggage for explosives by seeking out nitrogen, which all known explosives contain. The system is expected to detect explosives 96 percent of the time. Xerox Corp introduces the government-approved Xerox Encryption Unit, $4,995, which scrambles outgoing files and unscrambles incoming files on a microcomputer network.

Xerox Corp., XRX, Product information, Product introduction, Encryption, Data encryption, Neural networks, Product development, Security measures, Data security, Parallel processing, Lucent Technologies Inc. Bell Laboratories, Science Applications International Corp., column, Security Systems, Neural Network, Xerox Encryption Unit (Computer security system)

---

IBM official defends R&D spending cut

Article Abstract:

IBM Pres Jack Kuehler says plans to cut $1 billion from the company's 1993 research and development budget will not threaten its leadership in high technology. The cuts are only 11 percent of IBM's planned R and D expenditures, not the 17 percent reported in the press. The cutbacks, announced Dec 15, 1992, have quickly become a mass-media symbol of the United States' declining technological prowess. Even President-elect Bill Clinton has weighed in, saying IBM's cuts are exactly the sort of thing that US firms should avoid. The cutbacks are part of a huge cost-reduction effort that includes slashing 25,000 jobs and taking a $6 billion charge against 4th qtr 1992 earnings. Kuehler concedes that morale of IBM R and D personnel is down as a result of the announcements.

Prepackaged software, Management, International Business Machines Corp., IBM, Cost control, Cost Reduction, Budgeting, Kuehler, Jack D.

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Evidence on the relationships between earnings and various measures of cash flow. The incremental information content of accrual versus cash flows
• Abstracts: Firms bypass Big Board floor to execute many program trades. Big Board faces fight on trading; Contel heads group of listed companies against programs
• Abstracts: U.S. is urging some penalties in screen case; Japanese makers of certain computer displays face duties, others spared
• Abstracts: MCI posts 11% drop in 4th-period net as price-war fears hurt phone stocks. MCI posts loss of $176 million; charge is cited
• Abstracts: What would Murdoch buy with MCI's cash? Untangling the debate over cable television

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.