A Tiny Artificial Intelligence Chip with Huge Potential

Microsoft Corp. and Sony Corp. partnered to embed the capabilities of artificial intelligence into the Japanese company’s latest imaging chip. This will be a big boost to their camera product. Moreover, the electronic giant describes it as a world-first for commercial customers.

The significant advantage of the new module is that it has its memory and processor built-in. Thus, it allows analyzing video using artificial intelligence tech like Microsoft’s Azure. Nevertheless, it is a self-contained system that is faster, simpler, and more secure for operation than any other existing method.

Thus, the two companies appealed to logistics and retail logistics businesses with potential uses, like for factory automation and optimizing in warehouses. Moreover, it quantifies the flow of customers by equipping cars with the technology to store information about their environment and drivers.

Now is a time of increased public surveillance, helping to rein in the spread of the novel coronavirus. Thus, the new smart camera has the potential to offer more privacy-conscious monitoring. It even holds the promise of advancing mobile photography, in the case that personal devices will adopt that technology.

Thus, Sony’s artificial intelligence chip can analyze the video its sees, instead of generating actual images. Moreover, it only provides metadata concerning what is in front of it, instead of showing what is in its frame of vision. This is because it sends no data to remote servers. Thus, opportunities for hackers to intercept sensitive videos or images are dramatically smaller. Moreover, it shall help allay fears surrounding privacy.

Artificial Intelligence

Apple Inc. already proved the efficacy to combine artificial intelligence and imaging for creating more secure systems. This is realized thanks to authentication through Face ID. It is powered by the processor of iPhone’s custom-designed Neural Engine.

Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Huawei Technologies Co. also dedicated artificial intelligence, based on silicon, in their smartphones. This is to assist with image processing. Those on-device chips represent what is known as edge computing. It carries out sophisticated machine-learning and artificial intelligence tasks at the so-called tip of the network instead of sending data back and forth to servers.

Sony’s advancement is eliminating, the need for transfers, within the device itself, whereas Google and Apple are still using conventional images sensors. Thus, those sensors are converting light particles into computer-readable image formats for their chips to read. Whereas the new Sony part is capable of doing analytical work. Moreover, it is capable of doing analytical work without any data leaving its physical boundaries.

The sensor, capable of artificial intelligence, might help to advance augmented applications of reality. The two Android and iOS operating systems of these United States giants can control practically the entire market of smartphones. Moreover, they are heavily investing in AR development. For example, Google Maps is now offering the option to show 3-D directions atop a video feed of the surroundings of the user. Apple plans, in the fall, to release new 3-D cameras on its next set of iPhones. The agenda-setters of the mobile industry looks for ever-smarter cameras of mobile. This is an action that Spurns the demand for more sophisticated imaging gear.