Abstract
A method of using photographic film and pin-hole optical wiring is proposed here that seems particularly suited for simulating an electronic data processing machine having many elements operating in parallel. The maximum size of this machine would seem to be about 10 000 neural elements with a storage capability of 100 levels in each element. A number of sequential photographic exposures and developments would be required to adjust the internal states of the simulator for each input pattern that has to be “learned” , and the total time involved in film processing would be approximately thirty minutes. One prime advantage of this optical simulation method over its electronic counterpart would be the ability to progressively change the internal wiring toward an optimum configuration in a self-converging manner.
Each function of an electronic machine is simulated optically and photographically, the optical analogue represented on photographic film could be used to construct an electronic machine of equivalent design