Connection Machine CM-2

Launched in 1987, the Connection Machine 2 (CM-2) was the second in a series of parallel computers produced by the American company Thinking Machines, following the CM-1 (1983). The driving force behind the project to build the first commercial supercomputer with a massively parallel architecture was Daniel 'Danny' Hillis.

Prof. Dr. Michael Beigl (Professor of Pervasive Computing Systems / TECO at KIT) on the visual design of the Connection Machines:

"The CM-2 impressively demonstrated how creative design can make the inner workings of a computer visible and understandable. Its iconic architecture, often referred to as an ‘electronic brain,’ translated abstract concepts such as massive parallelism into a spatially tangible form, thereby shaping both scientific thinking and the public perception of computing processes. Today's AI systems, especially large language models, do not yet have comparably vivid representations of their inner workings. The development of such visual approaches remains an open task. The CM-2 therefore continues to serve as a reference for how visualization can mediate between technical complexity and broad comprehensibility."

KIT – Karlsruher Institut für Technologie is a leading international institution in research and teaching and contributes its expertise to the project, in particular through the TECO research group. The group's main contribution is the technical reconstruction of the CM-2 display matrix and its connection to current computer technology, with the aim of recreating the visual impression of the CM-2 via the reconstructed matrix. TECO also supports knowledge transfer with regard to the technical complexity and technological heritage of the CM.