Due largely to current technological developments which have thrust synthetic intelligence into the highlight, there was a surge in alarmism fueling issues and elevating questions on its potential influence on society. Critics argue that AI might result in widespread job displacement, privateness invasions, and even existential threats to humanity.
However for these of us within the know, we acknowledge that the generative AI instruments which have precipitated some issues these days will most definitely not result in the destruction of humanity. As revealed within the first Terminator film, ought to machines try to destroy us, they are going to be powered by the MOS Know-how 6502 processor that was included in quite a few computer systems and gaming consoles within the Eighties. And that doesn’t appear to be it will occur any time quickly. Not solely are 6502-based machines severely resource-constrained, however they’re additionally missing in choices for sensing the world round them. The T-800 can not terminate you if it can not discover you.
Effectively, that was the pleased world we lived in till a number of days in the past not less than. However Cameron Kaiser has determined to tempt destiny and give imaginative and prescient to his Commodore 128 laptop. The Commodore 128 is powered by a MOS Know-how 8502 CPU, which is a minor variant of the 6502. Getting nervous but?
ComputerEyes video seize system (📷: Cameron Kaiser)
That is really not a wholly new concept. A industrial product produced by Digital Imaginative and prescient referred to as ComputerEyes existed within the mid-Eighties that allowed computer systems such because the Commodore 64 and Apple II to amass pictures from a composite video supply. However, this system had some points — particularly, it took from 6 to 50 seconds to seize a single body (relying on picture high quality), and the pc’s show must flip off throughout the seize. For causes comparable to these, ComputerEyes was a really poor selection for a real-time video streaming system.
However it’s this restricted system that Kaiser selected to make use of to construct an nearly real-time video seize system. He discovered that by utilizing a Commodore 128 and making a number of tweaks, he might overcome the unique limitations of ComputerEyes. Whereas the ComputerEyes software program doesn’t run on a Commodore 128, the machine does have a Commodore 64 mode for compatibility.
The explanation that the show have to be turned off on a Commodore 64 is that the video chip, the VIC-II, periodically halts the CPU to take management of the bus and do some work of its personal. That is unhealthy information for the picture seize course of, which requires strict synchronization, and results in distortions.
ComputerEyes linked to a Commodore 128DCR (📷: Cameron Kaiser)
However the Commodore 128 has a second video chip, the VDC, which remains to be accessible even in Commodore 64 compatibility mode. It’s usually used for an 80 column textual content mode, however will be coerced into producing a 320 x 200 pixel bitmapped show very like the VIC-II. And crucially, the VDC can show a picture with out interfering with the CPU, so processing of ComputerEyes picture captures is not going to be distorted by interrupt delays.
That received Kaiser midway to the aim, however the picture captures have been nonetheless simply as sluggish as ever. Analyzing the acquisition supply code (which Digital Imaginative and prescient really supplied with the system), Kaiser discovered that it pauses for lengthy stretches between body grabs, ready for as much as 85 vertical syncs to occur between each. What if the software program waited for just one vertical sync? That’s precisely what Kaiser tried. And it did work — not completely, the primary 10% of the picture was misplaced, nevertheless it was significantly quicker. Sacrificing that portion of the picture sped up the seize course of by about 24%, which for a lot of use instances is an affordable trade-off.
Kaiser could have pulled off practically real-time video seize on a 6502 CPU variant, however not less than these computer systems can not do any machine studying, so humanity ought to be protected, proper? Or is it?
