[NetBehaviour] Space station gets HAL-like computer

[marc]

*Space station gets HAL-like computer*

    * 16:19 27 June 2005
    * NewScientist.com news service
    * Maggie McKee

A voice-operated computer assistant is set to be used in space for the 
first time on Monday - its operators hope it proves more reliable than 
"HAL", the treacherous speaking computer in the movie 2001.

Called Clarissa, the program will initially talk astronauts on the 
International Space Station through tests of onboard water supplies. But 
its developers hope it will eventually be used for all computer-related 
work on the station.

Clarissa was designed with input from astronauts. They said it was 
difficult to perform the 12,000 procedures necessary to maintain the ISS 
and conduct scientific experiments while simultaneously reading through 
lengthy instruction manuals.

"Just try to analyse a water sample while scrolling through pages of a 
procedure manual displayed on a computer monitor while you and the 
computer both float in microgravity," says US astronaut Michael Fincke, 
who spent six months on the station in 2004.

Clarissa queries astronauts about the details of what they need to 
accomplish in a particular procedure, then reads through step-by-step 
instructions. Astronauts control the program using simple commands like 
"next" or more complicated phrases, such as "set challenge verify mode 
on steps three through fourteen".

more...
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7584
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