Charles Rosen, Ivan Sutherland, Ernst Dickmanns – have you heard of any of these names? Most people likely haven’t, though they should have. These are the geniuses behind remarkable engineering firsts and tech created decades ago that are still used today.
AI, robotics, AR and driverless cars may all feel very now, but they’ve all been decades in the making. And once a few decades have passed, it’s easy to forget the people who first came up with the ideas that are powering what we’ll be using tomorrow (or whenever driverless cars are actually available).
While writing a book about the history of future technologies, I met – sometimes over email, other times via university archives – a collection of inventors and engineers who managed remarkable feats well before computers could match what was in their imaginations. Their work didn’t necessarily lead to flying cars or AI-powered robot butlers, but we still don’t have that now. Let’s meet ten geniuses from decades past who should be remembered by the tech industry.
“The systems developed using Shakey went on to power satnav software, robotic vision and even the Mars Rover”
Charles Rosen
I can’t choose which is my favourite story about Charles Rosen; there are just too many. But first, some context. From 1966 to 1972, Rosen
