Blue LEDs, seemingly insignificant, are actually a key to the future.
Because it solves a very important need.
Clean, inexpensive, and efficient white light.
In fact, the field of LED light-emitting diodes had already been booming for countless years before blue LEDs.
Whether it's red, green, or any other random color, manufacturers have already explored them all.
But this blue light is the one thing we just can't overcome, no matter what we do.
Why is it that this thing has clearly caused so much trouble for so many researchers in materials science, yet everyone still flocks to try and tackle it?
Because blue light is a key precursor to solving the problem of white light.
White light is not actually a single color.
Go back several hundred years.
In 1665, the 23-year-old Newton, inspired by Descartes's book " Dioptrics," turned his attention to... light.
He placed the prism in front of the brilliant beam of white light, opening a new chapter in human exploration of optics. Red light as a long wavelength, green light as a mid-wavelength, and blue light as a short wavelength.
They simultaneously stimulate the three types of cone cells (l, m, and s) in the human eye, causing the brain to perceive the presence of white.
In the field of optics, or more specifically, computer science, RGB was born.
Roughly speaking, in optics, combining Red Green, and blue light together produces white light.
However, for engineers, there are better, simpler, and cheaper solutions for creating clean white light.
Vivian's gaze fell on the screen of the Pokepal.
Looking back on the day Lin Lixin created it in the laboratory, I can only lament that there was no photographer to follow the whole process.
That should have been a moment recorded in history.
He only did one thing.
There is no complicated three-color light source control, no fancy chips or management.
Only one blue LED...
And a layer of yellow fluorescent powder. Yes, it's fluorescent powder!
When this blue LED emits light, the blue light excites the yellow phosphor on its surface, causing it to emit yellow light.
Then the yellow and blue are mixed together.
It can perfectly stimulate the three types of cone cells in humans.
And that's how white was born.
All that's needed is yellow phosphor and blue LEDs; there's nothing else superfluous.
That's an absolutely brilliant idea!
The only problem now is that the upstream and downstream supply chains are not yet mature.
Once the technology is fully iterated and perfected, the profits it can generate are simply unimaginable.
This technology will likely be used in all future LCD screens, indicator lights, and even light bulbs installed in a house.
326 years ago, Newton stood on the shoulders of the giant Descartes and began a whole new chapter in optics.
326 years later, Gamenova, having climbed upon the shoulders of its predecessors, saw an even more distant future. If Vivian were to choose a single moment as the starting point of a new era...
The answer won't be about the creation of a particular chip, a specific work, or a particular architecture.
Rather, it's the Pokepal in my hand right now.
Unfortunately, Lin Lixin had instructed that today's demonstration did not need to explain how amazing its hardware was; it was enough to simply show how to play it.
Otherwise, she really wanted to tell the world about this incredible technological revolution.
Under the watchful eyes of countless people, she launched this Pokepal, a machine destined to go down in history.
An egg appeared on the screen.
A bouncing egg... that sounds a bit strange.
But that's exactly what it is.
It's probably something like a Pokémon egg.
It swayed gently.
Thanks to Gamenova's top-notch graphics technology, this thing's visual performance is far superior to Bandai's Bandai consoles. At least it doesn't have the kind of severely pixelated graphics that are visible to the naked eye.
The specifications of this screen are almost identical to those of NPC.
"I wonder which one will hatch? If I had to choose... I'd prefer Eevee."
Vivian spoke into the Mike.
Everyone held their breath and stared intently at the egg on the screen.
Judging from what she said, there are clearly different branches of thought!
This means that the number of Pokepals each person receives is actually different.
"Click"
A crack appeared on the egg.
An 8-bit synthesized tone was emitted from the buzzer.
Limited by power consumption, storage space, and cost, even someone as capable as Lin Lixin couldn't cram in complete sampled sound effects.
Returning to synthesized sounds was a last resort. As the crack widened, a ball of fluff popped out.
"What... is this thing??"
Kyoko stared blankly at the ball on the screen that looked like a glutinous rice ball.
Is this Pokémon?
I don't recall ever seeing anything like this before.
It looks a bit Jigglypuff, but it has no hands, feet, or ears; its eyes and mouth, however, are all on its face.
There was even a pair of cute blushes.
It happily bounced around there.
"We'll only know what it will turn out like once it grows up."
Vivian offered an explanation.
Depending on how well it is cared for, a pokepal can grow into different branches.
Of course, different models will also have version-limited editions like those in Pokémon. This is purely the adults' malicious intention; it's a collection design created to encourage players to buy more units.
It can be considered the ancestor of blind boxes.
A short while later, a screen popped up.
Just four simple letters:
[name:]
This little gadget even supports custom naming in an RPG style!
The three buttons at the bottom are for rotating through the 26 letters, confirming, and undoing.
It's a bit complicated to operate, but it works.
Vivian didn't hold back and directly typed in [lin].
After a brief loading period, the game screen appeared.
It looks like someone's living room or a small room.
The room was bright and clean, with a window hanging above it. Through the window, you could see the sun high in the sky, just around noon. This thing contained the same RTC chip as the NPC, and had the ability to synchronize with the real-world clock.
As real time changes, the day and night cycle in the game will also change.
These are all techniques used in Pokémon Gold and Silver, so it didn't take much Kung-Fu Master.
" Little Lin smells a bit smelly, let's give him a bath!"
Vivian spoke, she pressed a button on the device.
The selected light spot then begins to rotate among several patterns printed on the screen.
This is naturally the printing-as-display alternative she had previously proposed.
Select the bathtub icon to open the secondary menu.
There are several different options: go to the toilet to poop, take a bath, brush your teeth, and clean the room.
She chose to take a bath.
The scene on the screen slowly switched to the bathroom.
Tuanzi was soaking in the tub, so happy she was practically snorting. Vivian pressed a few buttons, and rich, creamy bubbles appeared in the bathtub.
After the chubby baby was completely submerged, a cheerful notification sound came from the buzzer, and the scene slowly returned to the living room.
Then...
A very cartoonish, stereotypical pile of poop was thrown on the floor by Little Lin.
There was a foul stench rising from above.
"Wow! He pooped in the living room! Little Lin is naughty!"
Vivian let out a startled cry, which amused the surrounding audience, who burst into laughter.
Calling this thing by Boss Lin's name is really a strange sense of incongruity.
Watching Vivian frantically search for options and clean the living room, everyone's eyes brightened.
They finally understood what it was.
This is... a completely electronic pet!
A dedicated electronic pet game console! A small electronic pet that needs to be fed, cleaned, taken to the vet, and played with.
That's way too cool!
"Oh dear, it seems like Little Lin wants to play with toys, but I don't have any yet..."
Vivian pretended to be troubled and muttered something into the Mike.
"Ah! I know, let's play some games to earn some money so we can buy him snacks and toys."
She brought up the menu again, found the Game Center, and expanded the secondary menu.
Memory matching games, catching objects, kitchen simulation games, connect-the-dots...
Although none of them are particularly complicated, there are quite a few variations.
This is, of course, the power of Activision.
Upon hearing that Lin Lixin wanted to include a game center inside, David immediately volunteered, requesting that Activision lead the Activision.
Compared to the spectacle creators like Gamenova, mini-games are their true domain.
To be honest, even Lin Lixin didn't know how these people managed to do it. The average resource usage per game was only in the kilobyte range.
But surprisingly, their sizes are all quite good.
Especially that port of " The Pressure Cooker ".
The combined usage of so many games hasn't even fully utilized a single 64kb chip.
Combined with bankswitching technology, it's practically free.
in other words...
This thing is actually a 4-bit and 8-bit game console with a huge number of games!
The venue isn't large, but the portions are generous and you'll be full!
I casually showed Little Lin a few simple games, which earned him some living expenses.
Vivian then opened the shopping function.
Furniture, toys, decorations, snacks, food...
Everything you could want, and even things you couldn't imagine, can be found here.
Even most of the props and furniture have their own textures.
This is naturally due to the power of algorithms.
The extensive reuse of tiles and the splicing of materials allow the same image to be used for several different purposes through simple transformations.
"This running wheel is great! My chubby baby should really use it to exercise, but it's too expensive right now..."
As Vivian spoke, she suddenly pulled out a different patterned Pokepal from her pocket.
"Thankfully, Pokepal supports infrared communication, so I can exchange items and food with my friends!"
She brought up the data exchange function and connected the communication ports of the two machines together.
Before long, a running wheel was transferred to the new machine.
After placing it in the living room, Little Lin happily ran over to play with it.
For a full half hour, everyone present just watched her use all the various functions.
It's amazing that they haven't been able to display all the content clearly even after so long.
The amount of content is ridiculously large!
However, seeing that it was almost time, Vivian gently placed it back in the display case, this time with the screen facing everyone present.
"You can own your own Pokepal for just $14.99."
"Splash!"
She yanked back the tablecloth of another display case behind it, revealing what was underneath.
Various versions with different egg patterns are listed inside.
$14.99!
A level of pocket money for kids!
Anyone can buy one!
This is an 8-bit game console that costs less than $20... fucking!
Gamenova is the master of the world!
Kyoko stared blankly at the dazzling array of various models, speechless for a long time.
She suddenly had a feeling.
I have found what I was looking for on this trip to CES.
If possible, I must secure the regional distribution rights for this product! Even if it's just for one village!