IBM Automatic Language Translation, New York World's Fair 1964/65

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Artifact Overview

At the 1964 World's Fair, IBM debuted their Automatic Language Translator. This computer held a high-speed optical "dictionary disk" with 170,000 words in English and Russian. IBM hired typists to input Cyrillic characters on a keyboard, triggering a beam of light to search the dictionary disc for an English counterpart. Translations were produced at 1000 words per minute.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Brochure

Date Made

1964

Subject Date

1964-1965

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

2015.47.1

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)
Plastic

Technique

Printing (Process)

Color

Multicolored
Red

Dimensions

Height: 10 in
Width: 8 in

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