Can a Supercomputer Be Moody?

Tonight will conclude the epic three-night Jeopardy battle to prove if the human brain can still out-pace a computer’s.

Last night we were (once again) informed via Alex Trebeck, of the technological nuances of Watson’s programming. We were briefed on how long it took Watson to be built, his components, and programming, I however was more interested in seeing any visual reaction he would display through his avatar.

I applaud the IBM team for being mindful of the potential emotional drama an audience feels when seeing a contestant sweat. Since Watson lacks a face, IBM chose to construct a flat panel display which projects an avatar controller (IBM’s Smarter Planet icon encased with spinning arcs of colors). This a welcome departure from the cold glowing red stare of Hal from the 1968 movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Digital artist Joshua Davis worked with the IBM team to help give Watson his "face". Programmed with 27 states (ranging from correct answers to Daily Doubles) Watson's avatar reacts visually when one is triggered.

To dramatize this, Davis proposed a computer generated modules of 40 swarming arcs and dots that follow a "leader" along a sphere's surface that switch their position when a positive (up) and negative (down) reaction is made. This concept partners with four colors mapped to four different levels of confidence that sync to the sphere.

Green indicates a high level of confidence showing that Watson will most likely know the answer–with red showing a shake to his confidence. Watson also uses probability bars (also displayed during the game) that are labeled with what choices he is thinking are the correct answer.

Again color is used to differentiate level of confidence via a bar to a computational answer. Green signifies a higher percentage self-assurance to "buzz-in" with a correct answer. Yellow or red would indicate an unsure level of confidence to a specific answer on Watson's part.

Bravo to IBM for hiring Josha Davis to help solve the visual eye-candy challenges to help make Watson more tangible and attractive to his viewers.

I for one can't wait to see the conclusion of this historic technological event tonight.

Go to The Face of Watson to see a video on the what it took to build Watson's avatar.

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