Joseph, Eugene
Eugene Joseph
Eugene Joseph wrote Bot Colony as he was designing software that enables machines to converse in English. The robot dialogues appearing in the book are inspired by the author's actual R&D work since 2001 on natural language understanding. While this conversational ability is still in the realm of science fiction, it may become reality in the not-too-distant future. Eugene's company, North Side of Montreal, Canada, has embedded its breakthrough language technology in the Bot Colony adventure videogame--the first to offer intelligent conversation with the characters. The writing of the novel and the development of the game progressed in parallel, inspiring each other. Go to www.botcolony.com to visit Bot Colony and talk to its robots!
North Side is Eugene's second entrepreneurial venture focused on human-computer interface. He founded Virtual Prototypes (now Presagis) in 1985, when he invented VAPS, now the de factor standard for display design and automated software generation, as well as flexible simulation tools. On April 21, 1999 Eugene was inducted into the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum AW&ST Laureate Hall of Fall as the 1999 Electronics Laureate, for causing a paradigm shift in display development and simulation in aerospace.
Rooted in WWII, the story of Bot Colony unfolds in 2021 in Agrihan, an exotic island in the South Pacific. There, Nakagawa Corporation manufactures intelligent robots with human-like language abilities. From the initial infiltration through its cliffhanger climax, Bot Colony tells a story of espionage and counter-espionage. Offering in-depth insights into 'machine cognition', the book anticipates the near-term impact of robotics on everyday life. The book will appeal to espionage buffs and readers of science fiction who like their fiction to be rooted in science and stay in the realm of the possible.
The first edition of Bot Colony comes off the press on November 30, 2010, and is limited to 5,000 copies. The book inspired the genre-defining online adventure videogame by the same name—the first intelligent conversation game. Soon available in Beta, the Bot Colony videogame features breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence, enabling the player to converse with the characters in plain English and enlist their help in carrying out his mission.
Bot Colony is science fiction you can actually experience: after reading the book, you'll be able to play the investigator and speak with the characters. You'll need their help to counter the subversive actions of an elusive North Korean spy and track him down. Look for the game DVD on Amazon from February 2011. The book will give you a deeper insight into the world of Bot Colony and the minds of its robotic inhabitants. Featuring 32 color plates of concept art and game art, Bot Colony 1st edition is the beautiful collectible you may want to get while quantities last.