It’s A Computer World: Volmet

Series

Series Name

Living Tomorrow

Issue

Issue No.

257

Date Released

1980

Length of issue (in feet)

522

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1It’s A Computer World: Computer Policeman
2. 2It’s A Computer World: Colour Print Composer
3. 3It’s A Computer World: Volmet

Story

Story No. within this Issue

3 / 3

Summary

COI synopsis: The microchip is changing the face of industry. But the microchip is also enriching our society - helping to move traffic smoothly through our towns, to explore new areas of design and to guide great airliners more efficiently and with greater safety all over the globe. Safety in the air often hinges on a pilot’s knowledge of the weather beneath the clouds. His weather reports, over the wireless, are updated every half hour, but he must cope with different voices, different accents as the forecasters change shifts. A computer has come to his aid. It analyses every nuance of just one voice. Later, at the press of a button, it will build up whole sentences comprised of those nuances; sentences that have never been spoken, yet sentences which sound natural and normal.

Researcher Comments

Story also appears in ‘Living Tomorrow No. 305’

Keywords

Weather; Aviation; Aircraft; Communications; Science and technology; Computers and computing

Written sources

COI Microfilm Roll 55 [BFI National Archive]   Used for synopsis

COI Reference

MI 1458/257

Credits:

Sponsor

Central Office of Information (COI)

Sponsor

Foreign & Commonwealth Office

Cutter

Maurice Tarling

This series is held by:

Film Archive

Name

British Film Institute (BFI)

Email

For BFI National Archive enquiries:
nonfictioncurators@bfi.org.uk
For commercial/footage reuse enquiries:
footage.films@bfi.org.uk

Web

http://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web

Phone

020 7255 1444

Fax

020 7580 7503

Address

21 Stephen Street
London W1T 1LN

Notes

The BFI National Archive also preserves the original nitrate film copies of British Movietone News, British Paramount News, Empire News Bulletin, Gaumont British News, Gaumont Graphic, Gaumont Sound News and Universal News (the World War II years are covered by the Imperial War Museum).

Series held

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