tlug: KPCA 2/18/98 meeting

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  ***  Kansai Professional Computing Association News ***
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FEBRUARY PRESENTATION: ATR's Artificial Brain ("CAM-Brain") Project
Speaker: Dr. Hugo de Garis, Head, Brain Builder Group, ATR
2/18/98-Wed, 6:45-9:00pm. Club KARMA's event hall, 5 minutes from Osaka JR.
No charge for MEMBERS.

Within the next 10 years, it is anticipated that an artificial brain with
the same number of neurons in a human brain will be developed and built in
Japan.
The "Brain Building" industry is expected to become a trillion dollar
industry within 20 years, and Japan has the dominant lead in this NEW
important area of emerging computing technology. (As stated in The Daily
Yomiuri 2/4/98, the U.S. has taken the lead in brain research, but Japan,
because of its unique approach, has the clear lead in Brain Building).

A CAM-Brain which will be able to update 100 billion CA cells a second and
evolve a neural net module in less than a second, will be available by
March 1998. NTT will receive the first CAM-Brain in the first half of 1998.
MIT, George Mason University, and other companies from the European
Community, such as Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products, have their names on a
waiting list for future CAM-Brains.

Dr. Hugo de Garis is currently the _ONLY_ person in the world trying to
build an artificial brain. He will talk about his current running project,
development of a robot kitten called "ROBOKONEKO", as well as the future of
Brain Building. To meet the father of the "Brain Building" industry, and to
find out about his visions, this is a KPCA meeting you wont want to miss!
For additional information, see his website at
http://www.hip.atr.co.jp/~degaris

Dr. Hugo de Garis earned his PhD in Artificial Life and Artificial
Intelligence from Brussels University. He has lead CADEPS's Artificial
Intelligence and Artificial Life Research Unit doing "Genetic Programming".
In Japan's Tsukuba's ETL he worked on Artificial Nervous Systems and
Embryonics.  He has been invited to speak at ICANNGA, EPFL, NSF, DARPA,
SFI, and many other conferences and organizations.


PRICE: Through special arrangements with Club KARMA, the meeting fee is
FREE for paid up annual members, others: 2000 yen. Drinks/food will be
available starting at 300/600 yen.  Invite your friends!

JANUARY PRESENTATION:
Once upon a time, "mobile computing" simply meant a computer that you could
carry around.  Nowadays, the definition is not complete without a network
connection. In 1998, some expect an explosive growth in mobile computing as
the Japanese goverment continues to deregulate the communication industry.

Masaki Wakano of NTT Kansai Business Communications, spoke at the Janaury
meeting of the Kansai Professional Computing Association on the topic of
"Mobile Computing in Japan".  Mr. Wakano discussed the current state of
mobile computing in Japan, including two recent case studies and an
impressive demonstration of streaming video from the Internet through a PHS
phone to handheld computer.  The talk stressed issues of importance to
businesses preparing to choose a mobile computing system.  How mobile and
how secure is the system?  Does it have acceptable throughput?  Will the
pieces fit together?  What is the total cost?

A PDA (Personal Data Assistant) might weigh in at about 400 grams, but when
you include a portable phone, wires, and spare batteries, is it still
mobile?  Is it ergonomic?  Is the hardware itself liable to be lost or
stolen?  If you are using your handheld computer in a public place, will
someone be reading your email over your shoulder?  Will your PHS network
connection work if you take it to Tokyo?  Given the high phone service
rates in Japan, what is the total operating cost? Questions like these have
to be addressed and answered in order for a business to go forward with a
mobile computing solution.

Nevertheless, they do go forward, and Mr. Wakano's case studies showed that
they can do so quite successfully with a good match of technology to
application.  One case involved a sales staff using keyboard-based
terminals (weighing 3 kg), who often had difficulty finding a phone line to
use at the point-of-sale.  The system was dramatically streamlined with the
introduction of pen-based Newtons connected to the home office computer via
cellular phone.  The second study, an installation for a chemical factory,
used infrared communication to avoid a potentially dangerous combination of
chemicals and wires.  Mr. Wakano's final streaming video demonstration
showed that adequate throughput can be achieved even with a relatively
"slow" PHS connection.

Masaki Wakano received a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from Kobe
University before moving on to NTT to do operations research.  In 1993, he
worked at TINA-C (Telecommunications Information Networking Architecture
Consortium) in New Jersey, USA, with 40 other researchers from
telecommunication carriers and vendors to specify future telecommunication
architecture.  He is currently working in NTT's system development business
unit, helping businesses integrate telecommunication and information
processing technologies.  He has spoken at GLOBECOM, INFOCOM, TINA, ICC,
IEICE, Mobile Computing Forum and other conferences.

SPEAKERS SOUGHT! The KPCA is looking for speakers for future meetings. Come
promote your pet project/product, your career.

Email any/all response to:
Dennis Grass, KPCA-President

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RESPONSE PLEASE! FORM

__  I can probably attend on Wednesday, Feb. 18 (Artifical Brains)
__  Oops, I'm busy on the 18th. Please keep me informed of future events.
__  I can probably attend on Wednesday, March 18 (Future of Internet)
__  I can probably attend on Wednesday, April 22 (Automated Speech Translation)
__  I can probably attend on Wednesday, May 20

__  Yes!  I am interested in speaking at a KPCA meeting.
        My proposed topic:






---------------------------------------------------------------
Next Saturday Meeting: 14 February 1998 12:30 Tokyo Station
Yaesu Chuo ticket gate.
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