In a message dated 3/15/03 4:10:29 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
michaelnellis{at}yahoo.com writes:

<< 
 > The
 >  difficulty with machinery, as I see it, is that machinery has no
 >  ability to spontaneously capture data, correlate it with previous
 >  data, assign variable values to the two sets of data, and then
 >  reprogram itself as required to assign the higher value
 > precedence.
 >   >>
 > 
 > Ahh, like Newell's S.O.A.R. system?  S.O.A.R. stands for State,
 > Operator, and Result.  I'm sure Aibo uses something similar.  
 
 Never heard of either one.  What are they all about?
  >>

The Sony A.I.B.O. is a robotic dog that reacts to human behavior, rolls over, 
fetches, and other dog tricks.  

S.O.A.R. is being used in robots last I heard.  It's an operating system that 
uses a Block World logic to figure out new things and solutions to problems 
before it. The book that made me aware of it is Unified Theories of Cognition 
by Newell.  It takes a situation, moves around the elements, and delivers a 
result it can then act on the basis of.  How well this works in the real 
world, I don't know.  Depends on the type and hueristics of the information 
base available to the program.  

MockYeti, read this stuff years ago, BardMock

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