Apple Computer Inc Macintoshes of the future are likely to have signal processors built in, according to an Apple staffer speaking at MacWorld Expo Toronto last week. Signal processors could be used for voice synthesis, rendering, and three-dimensional graphics, and according to Microbytes Daily, the company showed a video clip demonstrating one being used to rotate a three-dimensional wire-frame object while simultaneously generating four synthesised music pieces; in another clip, a one was used to synthesise speech using text in an on-screen document. Apple said it is working on specifications for three dimensional modelling, rendering, and file formats, so that interchange of three dimensional objects would be possible. On the software front, Apple is examining how to provide a distributed operating system kernel beneath the Mac interface. In other research, the company is doing work on advanced authoring environments and programming by example, in which the Macintosh would watch what the user was doing, analyse the actions and then imitate them.
