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AI Explorers 6-8 / Week 02 / Explorer Quest
6/6
Week 02 · Sensors and Perception

Explorer Quest

Explorer Quest: Sensor and Perceiver
// From raw signals to meaning
⏱ about 20 min

Explorer Quest: Sensor and Perceiver

On their day off, the crew invites the station cook to play a brand new game in the galley.

Raven hides an object inside a cloth bag. "Rocket is the Sensor," she says. "He can feel it but can only report signals."

"Smooth," Rocket says carefully. "Cold. Heavy for its size. Curved on one side."

The cook laughs and taps the table. "That has to be a spoon!"

Nova flashes her lights. "Perfect perception," she says. "Now swap places and try something harder."

  1. Computers perceive the world using sensors, such as cameras and microphones.
  2. A signal is raw information. Perception is getting meaning from sensory signals.
  3. Making computers see and hear well enough to be useful is one of AI's most significant achievements so far.
  4. A sensor plan combines hardware and software and says where the data goes.
  5. Real AI does not see or hear the way a person does, and it can be wrong.
◇ SENSOR AND PERCEIVER
One player secretly puts a safe household object in a bag or pillowcase.
The Sensor reaches in and reports signals only: texture, temperature, weight and shape words.
The Sensor may not name the object or say what it is used for.
The Perceiver predicts what it is. Count how many signals it took.
Swap roles and play five rounds each. Try objects that feel alike, like two kinds of spoons.
For a grown-up
Choose safe objects only: nothing sharp, hot or breakable.
Ask: what is the difference between a signal and its meaning?
Ask: which devices in our home have cameras or microphones, and what do we want them to collect?
QUEST CHECK
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
The Sensor says "rough and cold." Is that a signal or a meaning?
The Perceiver says "It is a pine cone." Is that a signal or a meaning?
Two spoons feel almost the same. What makes perception hard?
In the game, which player never touches the object? Type one word.
WHY THIS EXERCISEThe Sensor collects signals, and the Perceiver finds their meaning, just like in Sky Sorter.
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