This last Sunday, Microsoft
announced radical changes to the next generation augmented reality HoloLens
by incorporating an artificial intelligence coprocessor. What is HoloLens? HoloLens is essentially a holographic computer built into a headset that lets you see, hear, and interact with holograms within an environment such as a living room or an office space.
The AI coprocessor
will expand the capabilities of the HoloLens allowing it to analyze visual and
auditory data locally, without having to send and receive information from a cloud based server,
giving the next generation HoloLens faster processing times and increased
mobility.
“… and this is the kind of thinking you need if you’re going
to develop mixed reality devices that are themselves intelligent. Mixed reality
and artificial intelligence represent the future of computing, and we’re
excited to be advancing this frontier.” Wrote Marc Pollefeys, Director of
Science for the HoloLens at Microsoft, in their latest
blog post.
Previously, the current version of the HoloLens could only
perform simple augmented reality tasks such as simple visual interactions and
displays. However with the AI coprocessor Microsoft plans to develop, the next
generation HoloLens will be able to perform much more complex interactions
and tasks. Possible examples of these tasks could be displaying real time
statistics on products. Since the AI coprocessor will help with tagging data in
the real world the HoloLens can present overlays that are incredibly
informative.
Microsoft plans of create the silicon AI coprocessor in
house because they believe that is the most productive way to unlock the best
uses from augmented and mixed reality environments. Google has also built its
own AI processor, and Apple has also been developing its own dedicated AI chip
for the iPhone. However, Micorsoft’s approach to developing its own AI
coprocessor chip is to unlock the full potential of MXNet,
an open-source deep neural-network framework that Microsoft supports.
With Microsoft developing their own AI coprocessor to incorporate
into their next generation HoloLens, Microsoft is taking augmented and mixed
intelligent reality to the next level. Removing cloud based
computing to store information locally, giving the HoloLens increased
processing times and enhanced real world interactions. All of these
enhancements will make for faster and smarter business decisions, allowing
companies and organizations to win and succeed through an intelligent augmented
reality.