Intel working on technology that will sense your emotions and your body language
Wave fingers, make faces: The future of computing at
Intel
The chip giant is working on "perceptual
computing" technology that will sense your emotions and your body
language. Here's an inside look.
Shara Tibken by Shara Tibken November 29, 2013 4:01 AM PST
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- If the next big wave in devices
turns out to be gestures and eye tracking, Intel wants to be ready.
Intel is the king of PCs, but it hasn't always been ahead
of evolving innovations. Its processors power more than 80 percent of the
world's computers and the vast majority of its servers, but Intel has made
little headway in smartphones and tablets. To spur interest in PCs again, as
well as persuade more mobile device makers to use its chips, Intel has devoted
significant resources and efforts to something it calls "perceptual
computing."
Perceptual computing may sound like a jargony, marketing
term, but it does just what it says -- it uses the senses to help technology
interpret what's going on around it. Those features, such as gestures, facial
recognition, and voice recognition, should all make devices more "natural,
intuitive, and immersive," says Anil Nanduri, one of the Intel executives
in charge of the company's efforts in perceptual computing.
The goal is getting "sensory inputs that make
[computers] more human like," Nanduri said. "Once you give computers
the ability to assess depth, a lot of wonderful things can happen."
Devices will be able to sense emotion and detect a
person's biometric data simply using a camera. They'll be able to carry on
conversations with users and understand context -- or what "play me some
jazz" means -- instead of simply following commands. Computers will be
able to pick out individual fingers instead of simply recognizing an entire
hand or the fact that a person is present. And they'll create more immersive
augmented reality, such as digital versions of children's pop-up books.
In the case of Intel, the company is placing particular
emphasis on vision and teaching devices to recognize depth. That's made
possible through 3D cameras. The company has partnered with Creative on 3D
cameras, which should show up integrated into devices such as PCs and tablets
in the second half of 2014.
"Once you give computers the ability to assess
depth, a lot of wonderful things can happen."
--Intel's Anil Nanduri
A big pitfall for companies like Intel is the hyper focus
on speeds and feeds, making technology that's the most powerful without
necessarily considering all the ways it might be used. For perceptual
computing, Intel says it's starting with software and users first and then
moving to the hardware.
To do that, Intel released a software development kit
last year to get developers interested in the technology. Since that time, the
SDK has been downloaded more than 26,000 times. Intel is so serious about
perceptual computing that it has even sponsored contests -- with $100 million
in prizes -- to get app developers interested in the technology. Intel will
announce the latest crop of winners soon.
"For the users, what am I getting for it?"
Nanduri said. "That's why we started a year early, focusing on the
ecosystem more so than talking about bringing this into hardware or a
device."
Yuriy Kozachuk, an application engineer in Intel's
perceptual computing lab, demos technology that tracks facial expressions and
translates them to characters in a game.
But now Intel believes the ecosystem has advanced enough
that it's time to talk hardware. Devices will show up next year that contain
elements of Intel's perceptual computing efforts. And it hopes all of those
will use its chips. Technically, some features could be possible using chips
such as those from Qualcomm. However, Intel says the amount of horsepower
needed to run the features smoothly will require its higher-end chips.
Initially, the perceptual computing features will only
work with Intel's Core line traditionally used in PCs and some tablets, not its
lower-power Atom line used in mobile devices. However, the company plans to
eventually make the features run on its more energy efficient processors, and
it's also adding accelerators, tools, and graphics to its chips to take
advantage of the perceptual computing capabilities.
"We're already thinking ahead and looking at the use
cases people need two to three years out from now and putting them into our
silicon," Nanduri said.
Some elements of perceptual computing have already shown
up in products. The Kinect for Microsoft's Xbox is one example, as are Siri and
Google Now for voice recognition. However, Intel says it's taking those a step
further by focusing on short-range interaction of less than a meter. That means
the technology needs a very fine level of recognition, with the ability to pick
out specific fingers instead of just noticing an arm or if entire person is
present.
But it still will be a challenge for Intel to make
features that are truly useful and not just gimmicky. Intel acknowledges that
gesturse and other features won't be ideal for all instances. Computer users,
for instance, won't be making slideshows by waving their hands in the air. But
they might use gestures when showing the slideshow to friends.
Gaming, in particular, is one area where perceptual
computing could really take off, Nanduri said, as well as education and related
fields. And it's not just about PCs. This technology will show up in a wide
range of devices in the coming years, he said.
The company is sure to provide more details and demos in
January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
"Perceptual computing is about everything and is
device agnostic in many ways," Nanduri said. "It's going to be
everywhere."
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