1. [n]  a person with unusual powers of foresight
2. [adj]  not practical or realizable; speculative; "airy theories about socioeconomic improvement"; "visionary schemes for getting rich"

Visionary
Visionary

more details ...

1. \Vi"sion*a*ry\, a. [Cf. F. visionnaire.]
   1. Of or pertaining to a visions or visions; characterized
      by, appropriate to, or favorable for, visions.
      The visionary hour When musing midnight reigns. --Thomson.
   2. Affected by phantoms; disposed to receive impressions on
      the imagination; given to reverie; apt to receive, and act
      upon, fancies as if they were realities.
            Or lull to rest the visionary maid.   --Pope.
   3. Existing in imagination only; not real; fanciful;
      imaginary; having no solid foundation; as, visionary
      prospect; a visionary scheme or project. --Swift.
   Syn: Fanciful; fantastic; unreal. See {Fanciful}.
   

2. \Vi"sion*a*ry\, n.; pl. {Visionaries}.
   1. One whose imagination is disturbed; one who sees visions
      or phantoms.
   2. One whose imagination overpowers his reason and controls
      his judgment; an unpractical schemer; one who builds
      castles in the air; a daydreamer.
   

1. One who hacks vision, in the sense of an Artificial Intelligence researcher working on the problem of getting computers to "see" things using TV cameras. (There isn't any problem in sending information from a TV camera to a computer. The problem is, how can the computer be programmed to make use of the camera information? See SMOP, AI-complete.)

2. [IBM] One who reads the outside literature. At IBM, apparently, such a penchant is viewed with awe and wonder.

[Jargon File]