Fiction is always based on reality. Imaginability is the necessary precursor, and we can never cut the possibly thin band, which connects our imagination with our daily experiences in order to understand a fictional concept.So, we might quest ourself with finding the roots of such a fictional concept, and to decide if the first step on the way of this to become a reality has already been taken.


The year 2001 has become famous as the title of a science fiction film of Stanley Kubrick. It is also the only film, for which one of the most important directors in movie history was awarded an Oscar (for special effects). The film, made in 1969, tells the story of the search for a black obelisk that seems to have influence on the history of mankind itself.Near the beginning of the movie, we see the "dance" of a space station. It may be noted that such a space station will become a reality in 2001. The first crew of the I.S.S. has already entered the spaceship, and will stay there for a couple of months. On the other hand, travelling to Jupiter, as in the movie "2001 - A space odyssey", is far from being done. We can go further: the movie presents the idea of a portable computer, and also the concept of a computer going mad (HAL), threatening the life of the spaceship crew. Just fiction?

"Briefcase-PC" from movie "2001"


You can take a look onto other fictions as well. The creators of "Star Trek" have enriched us with things like warp engine, beaming, and even anticipated a planet at distant star Epsilon Eridanus. In fact, once a technology of teleportation will be developped, using it will be named "beaming," for sure.


The question is: are we prepared to put such concepts to reality, if it comes up to computer science? Look at the screenshots of the movie "The 5th Element." This is a very interesting scene, illustrating the contradiction between autonomuous and controlled systems.


The bad guy in the movie, named Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg, wants to demonstrate the affordability of the new technical developments of his company to priest Cornelius. For doing so, Zorg lets drop a glass with a drink, and the glass smashes on the floor. In a moment, this "event" is noted by some robots, which immediately starts to operate. They remove the garbage, clean up the carpet, and they also discover the original state of the broken object. At the end, Zorg becomes a copy of his glass put back into his hand and filled with the same drink as the one what was in it before the glass smashed.


So, this is an opus on sensing technology. Considering our ideas on soft computing, we seem to have everything what is needed already in our hands. Soft computing ought to be the right frame for such "interior designs."

(click on the YinYang to see Lesson 2)