Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory

The MARK I perceptron was an experimental machine which could automatically identify optical patterns. It was developed at Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory under the sponsorship of the Information Systems Branch of the Office of Naval Research and the Rome Air Development Center. Frank Rosenblatt headed the development team at Cornell. The MARK I was an electromechanical device built to demonstrate the feasibility of the basic perceptron concept. Perceptrons had a significant role in artificial intelligence research during the 1960s, although claims about the MARK I and later perceptrons were later demonstrated to have been exaggerated. The MARK I was first publicly demonstrated on 23 June 1960.

The Mark I Perceptron was one of the first experimental machines designed to identify optical patterns. Its development was sponsored in the late 1950s by the Office of Naval Research and the Rome Air Development Center. The effort was headed by Frank Rosenblatt of the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory. Perceptrons had a significant role in artificial intelligence research during the 1960s, although claims made about the significance of the Mark I and later perceptrons were later demonstrated to have been exaggerated.