Mobile Expert Predicts a Brain Storm
From: EE Times - 01/10/2005 - No. 1353, P. 1
By: Rick Merritt

PalmOne CTO Jeff Hawkins says he is on the verge of creating technology that
allows computers to operate as biological neural systems do, a capability he
says will spawn thousands of new applications and change people's lives
similar to the introduction of digital computing and electricity. Hawkins is
creating computer vision systems at the Redwood Neuroscience Institute that
demonstrate this ability to mimic brain functions. The basis for this new
style of computing is an algorithm that lets computers recognize objects in
different variations, such as drawn in line figures or shown in black and
white; eventually, this will lead to computer vision systems that can easily
differentiate between a cat and dog and car, for example, and help improve
other areas where variation recognition is important, such as speech
recognition. Computer vision was chosen as the platform for this
revolutionary new algorithm because the sensors are easier to deal with and
the field is well understood. The next step is promulgating knowledge about
the technology and spurring academic and industrial interest; Hawkins is
considering a conference to demonstrate his new computer vision system.
Hawkins believes this new technological space will open up an entirely new
industry, and that the next Microsofts and Intels for this new industry will
be founded in the next two years. In terms of his work with PalmOne, Hawkins
says he is working on a new mobile technology that will be completely
different than what has been created before, and that should be introduced
between one and two years from now; he says mobile phones are undergoing
rapid technological change, similar to how desktop computers evolved from
text-based interfaces to graphical interfaces. One thing that hinders mobile
development is the different approaches each carrier takes, requiring mobile
system firms to dilute their product development efforts. 

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