HAL 9000

HAL 9000 (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) is a fictional computer/character in the Space Odyssey series, the first being the novel and film 2001 A Space Odyssey, written by Arthur C. Clarke in 1968. HAL is an artificial intelligence, the sentient on-board computer of the spaceship Discovery that eventually goes rampant. HAL is usually represented only as his television camera "eyes" that can be seen throughout the Discovery spaceship. The voice of HAL 9000 was performed by the actor Douglas Rain. HAL became operational on January 12, 1997 (1992 in the movie) at the H.A.L. Laboratory in Urbana, Illinois, and was created by Dr. Chandra. In the 2001 film, HAL is depicted as being capable not only of speech recognition and natural language processing, but also lip reading, interpreting emotions, expressing emotions and reasoning.

Related Topics:
Fictional computer - Character - Space Odyssey - 2001 A Space Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke - 1968 - Artificial intelligence - Sentient - Computer - Rampant - Douglas Rain - January 12 - 1997 - 1992 - Urbana, Illinois - Dr. Chandra - Speech recognition - Natural language processing - Lip reading - Emotion - Reasoning

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In other languages than English, HAL might have another name: for instance, in the French version of 2001 A Space Odyssey, his name is stated as being CARL, for Cerveau Analytique de Recherche et de Liaison ("Analytic Research and Communication Brain"). However, the famous camera plates still read "HAL 9000".

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Some versions state that the name HAL was derived by rotating one letter (see Caesar cipher) of the name IBM, although this has been denied by both Arthur C. Clarke and his fictional character Dr. Chandra, who states that "by now, any idiot should know that HAL stands for Heuristic ALgorithmic" (2010).

Related Topics:
Caesar cipher - IBM

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