Japan’s fuzzy boom
Commercial applications of fuzzy logic began to appear in the early 1980s, particularly in Japan, which soon became the centre of academic and industrial research on fuzzy systems. For example, fuzzy logic has been used in the control of cement manufacture and water purification processes, and a fuzzy controller designed by engineers from Hitachi, Ltd., was used to operate the automatic subway trains of the Japanese city of Sendai. Throughout the decade, Japanese consumers were offered scores of goods featuring fuzzy logic components. These included television sets that adjusted volume and contrast depending on noise level and lighting conditions; “smart” washing machines that selected the optimal washing cycle on the basis of quantity and quality of dirt and load size; fuzzy microwave ovens and rice cookers that adjusted for humidity; and video cameras with fuzzy chips that properly adjusted focus and lighting with several objects in the picture. For marketing purposes, the term fuzzy was presented as synonymous with “efficient operation requiring minimal human intervention.”
The Japanese frenzy for fuzzy products eventually subsided, but fuzzy logic is still very much present, if less conspicuously, in a number of consumer products. The automatic transmissions of certain automobiles, for instance, contain a fuzzy component that senses driving style and engine load so as to select the best gear.