From: LARRY KLAES (ljk4_at_msn.com)
Date: Mon Nov 17 2003 - 10:17:31 PST
On the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Voyager record, we naturally might ask what we might do
differently today. What would the technology and content of the next Voyager record be like?
Few people could have imagined that before the 20th century was out that “long-playing” records
would appear so primitive. Today we could create a multimedia spectacular digital video disc
(DVD), that could hold over 17 gigabytes of images, music, and video. No careful selection
would be necessary at all, just send an entire encyclopedia! Beyond this, using “artificial
intelligence” computer technology, we could make the record into an interactive learning device.
With a touch screen or other selective pointer, our extraterrestrial (ET) being could jump about in
hyperlinks, relating images and sounds in more or less detail on demand. Using the instructional
computing technology of the 1980s, we could provide a question and answer system: Assuming
a common notation (as the Voyager record designers cleverly crafted), ET could ask questions
and learn at his (or its) own pace. And with just a bit more speculation, using the “agent”
technology of today, a computer system could interact with ET to develop a shared vocabulary
and learn how to communicate with ET2—like sending a proxy of ourselves into space.
http://homepage.mac.com/WJClancey/~WJClancey/ClanceyVoyager.pdf
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