The romantic legacy of the 1970 �Ӱ�ֱ�� Computer Ball

Posted on Feb 7 2025 by Claire Bowman

Black and white photo of Clinton and Maureen in their Ball attire, 1970 — Hon Professor Clinton Foster PSM and Dr Maureen McCluskey OAM on the night they met – �Ӱ�ֱ�� of Adelaide Computer Ball, 1970

The dating app of 1970: meet the couple matched by the �Ӱ�ֱ�� of Adelaide’s computer dating program, launched in 1969 for the 'Computer Ball'.

In 2025, it seems perfectly normal to attend the wedding of a couple who met using dating software. In the early '70s, however, attendees at the wedding of Maureen McClusky and Clinton Foster were experiencing something new and futuristic. The couple happily sharing their first dance had been matched by a computer program.

At the �Ӱ�ֱ�� of Adelaide in 1969, a program authored by two students was employed to match people with their ideal counterpart for the Adelaide �Ӱ�ֱ�� Science Association (AUScA) inaugural ‘Computer Ball’. In total, 1000 people from across Adelaide city’s universities and colleges packed into the three refectories of Union House for the event.��

The first Computer Ball was a resounding hit. After several successful iterations, the ball was lauded as “Perhaps the largest and best attended of our fun shows” by The Blue Dwarf 1972 edition of AUScA magazine. The pitch was simple: “Here the game and/or unfortunate from the Universities and Teachers’ Colleges are paired off for an evening of music, grog and dimness with a near stranger, an experience rarely found elsewhere at Adelaide �Ӱ�ֱ��.”

Two of “the game” attendees on the evening of the annual Ball on 11 July 1970 were Bachelor of Science student, Clinton, and medical student, Maureen. Prior to the ball, Clinton received a slip of paper, printed by the computers on campus, informing him of his match and instructing him to contact her as soon as possible.

AUSCA Computer Ball match ticket printed on lined paper — The printed ticket informing Clinton that his assigned date, Maureen, was ready to hear from him.

Clinton, now better known as Hon Professor Clinton Foster PSM, reflects on his anticipation on the evening of the ball. "We were looking forward to having a good time – this was something new and all my friends were going. We weren't nervous exactly but it was such a unique experience. We were excited.

“Maureen's best friend organised a pre-ball soiree at her parents' house. It was a great way to break the ice before the ball.”

The computer program had hit upon a true love match. Hon Professor Clinton Foster PSM and Dr Maureen McCluskey OAM recently celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary. According to Prof Foster, the ball was genuinely responsible for their meeting. “We wouldn't have met otherwise – and what a remarkable experience we share from the innovated approach of the Computer Ball.”

Clinton hugs Maureen from the side, both of them smiling widely — Hon Professor Clinton Foster PSM and Dr Maureen McCluskey OAM

“We wouldn't have met otherwise – and what a remarkable experience we share from the innovated approach of the Computer Ball.”Prof Foster

Students Ian Noble and Bob Willson were behind the novel matching software that printed out hundreds of paper tickets for the carefully paired couples. The programmers couldn’t have known, as they wrote the software, that their work would lead at least one couple – and perhaps more – to a lifetime of love. In fact, they were specifically focused on short-term compatibility and were "not trying to run a marriage bureau," according to Ian's article in��the 1970 Yggsdrill edition of the AUScA magazine, a humorous but informative article titled “Machine Love”. In it, he explains the algorithms behind the computer program that he co-wrote with Bob on the CDC-6400 mainframe, and the unique challenges and ethical conundrums encountered by the programmers in the process.��

"We are becoming more and more reliant on computer logic – or in some cases, illogic, thanks to the human mistakes – but this need not be cold or impersonal. The computer offers the greatest chance that we have of achieving true personal and individual attention in this mass produced environment...��

"You might just ask what is personal about being 'paired up' by a method somewhat like a cross between egg grading and stud breeding. Well, let's just look at what goes into a matching program."

Ian explains that the program first filtered for significant differences in age as well as extremes of height, and followed the same logic for religion. Then, it considered hobbies and interests.

“Even if two people are physically compatible and they match reasonably personality-wise, it will prove rather embarrassing if they arrive at the Ball and find they have nothing in common,” writes Ian. “Talking about the weather can become rather dull. Therefore, we have tried to ensure that any couple will have several interests in common, whether these be the stock market, opera or sex (actually 95% of all Ball goers express a keen interest in sex).”

Title page of an article about "machine love" by Ian Noble — The lead page of the article in��1970 *Yggsdrill* edition of the AUScA magazine.

"...we have tried to ensure that any couple will have several interests in common, whether these be the stock market, opera or sex (actually 95% of all Ball goers express a keen interest in sex).” Ian Noble in his article "Machine Love" 1971

Ian explains that participants were also matched on two “attitude scales”: “radical versus conservative” and “tough versus tender”. From our viewpoint in the future, it seems rather akin to ensuring your strongest values and preferences are evident on your dating profile, to weed out potential mismatches.��

There were challenges with the sheer quantity of data to be processed, and the cost of doing so on a 1960s computer. But the author assures us these issues could be overcome.

"There then remain other little difficulties," Ian continues, "like stopping blokes matching with blokes��–��although this option may be included later."��

Like modern day dating apps, the program was forced to rely, in part, on factors self-identified by the user. “There are flaws of course: some people really can’t describe themselves very well; others don’t know what they want; also physical appearance plays a large part in short term compatibility.”

Flaws or not, as far as Prof Foster and Dr McCluskey are concerned, the algorithm was perfect. The couple continue to enjoy their partnership of more than five decades, which was a hit from the first moment, according to Prof Foster. “I was knocked out when Maureen came out to say hello … and 50 years later, we still remember how much fun we had that night at the ball.”

More from history...

was the �Ӱ�ֱ��’s first non-sporting club, with records dating back to 1891. In the 1970 Nova edition of AUScA magazine, the editor says, with a hint of sarcasm perhaps, “Who else but the Science Association who wield its vast fund of computer knowledge into the noble task of bringing together people who would otherwise not meet.”

What did computers look like at the �Ӱ�ֱ�� in the '60s and '70s? Check out the ��and the huge��, constructed from scratch by the �Ӱ�ֱ��’s Electrical Engineering Department between 1959 and 1962.

Hon Professor Clinton Foster PSM, graduated in 1972 with a Bachelor of Science and��in 1973 with an Honours in Geology. Dr Maureen McCluskey OAM graduated with an MBBS in 1974.

��

Please note: this story was updated on 13 February 2025 to reflect additional information from the �Ӱ�ֱ�� Archives regarding the CDC-6400 computer.

Tagged in alumni profiles, alumni in focus, sciences alumni network, science, health, alumni