{"71180":{"#nid":"71180","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Grant Supports \u0022Intelligent Binoculars\u0022 that Mimic the Human Brain","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology has received a contract to help develop \u0027intelligent binoculars\u0027 that mimic the low-level image processing done by the human brain.  Called the Cognitive Technology Threat Warning System (CT2WS), the device is expected to be far more capable than portable visual threat-warning equipment currently used by the U.S. military.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA research team headed by Paul Hasler, an associate professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), will investigate the use of neuromorphic engineering to enable a CT2WS device.  Neuromorphic techniques use innovative hardware and software approaches to emulate human intelligence.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech team will be working with Hughes Research Laboratory and Northrop Grumman Corp., which have won CT2WS contracts from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Realistically, this is probably not something that\u0027s going to be one project and then it\u0027s done,\u0022 said Hasler, who is a research team leader at the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC), a 200-researcher group at Georgia Tech focused on mixed-signal (analog-digital) microelectronics.  \u0022This opens up a whole avenue of thought about neural-inspired approaches to new applications.  There are likely to be a tremendous number of opportunities here going forward.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENeuromorphic engineering is interdisciplinary, using fields that include biology, physics, mathematics and computer science, as well as electrical and other types of engineering.  Its aim is to develop artificial systems -- such as vision devices or auditory processors or even robotic systems -- based to a degree on natural biological systems. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe CT2WS program\u0027s aim is to deliver several prototype units small enough to be carried by solders in the field.  DARPA has stated that these intelligent visual devices are now possible because of recent discoveries in a variety of fields, including wide-angle optics, digital imaging, cognitive visual-processing algorithms, neurally-based target detection processing and ultra low power analog-digital signal processing electronics.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA successful visual-warning device of this type could produce revolutionary capabilities for the combat soldier.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The idea of this project is to build a visual device that is attentive, that can do the kind of low-level visual processing that your eyes do naturally,\u0022 Hasler explained. \u0022You would see a certain picture in your field of view, but the device would actually be looking over a much wider space -- and if it found something interesting it would present you with that picture as well.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHasler specializes in designing analog microelectronic circuits, in particular, novel analog designs that possess some of the configurability of their digital counterparts and yet use far less power. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWorking with Associate Professor David Anderson, also in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Hasler has built mixed-signal analog-digital circuits that can match the performance of all-digital designs while using hundreds of times less power and producing less heat.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHasler has already performed research relevant to the design of intelligent visual devices. With $1.2 million in funding, he and Anderson worked on an earlier DARPA program that focused on new approaches to integrating the sensing and processing of images. And when Hasler won the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, he used that funding to examine frameworks for building neural circuits.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHasler explains that power issues are vital to a project like CT2WS, which must be portable and yet have enough processing power to emulate human cognition.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This is a highly interesting platform problem because you really are trying to build, at least initially, a simple representation of one layer of human brain cortex, maybe multiple layers if you can,\u0022 Hasler said.  \u0022You need a great deal of computational power, robustness and performance, and it becomes possible because a configurable analog-digital system has a power efficiency improvement of up to 10,000 times compared to an all-digital system.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHasler adds that the new DARPA program can also be expected to stimulate speculation about whether this technology has commercial promise. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This kind of problem can serve as a roadmap for future applications,\u0022 Hasler said. \u0022It can get people from the commercial side interested because it demonstrates some very real possibilities.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Jackie Nemeth (404-894-2906); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jackie.nemeth@ece.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejackie.nemeth@ece.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Rick Robinson\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech teams with major defense contractors"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"The Georgia Institute of Technology has received a contract to help develop \u0027intelligent binoculars\u0027 that mimic the low-level image processing done by the human brain.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech is part of a team developing \u0022intelligent binocula"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2008-06-20 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:19","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-06-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2008-06-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71181":{"id":"71181","type":"image","title":"Prof. Paul Hasler","body":null,"created":"1449177358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:58","changed":"1475894630","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:50"},"71182":{"id":"71182","type":"image","title":"Electronic devices","body":null,"created":"1449177358","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:15:58","changed":"1475894630","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:50"}},"media_ids":["71181","71182"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff\/fac_profiles\/bio.php?id=45","title":"Paul Hasler"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gedcenter.org\/","title":"Georgia Electronic Design Center"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7354","name":"binoculuars"},{"id":"6057","name":"image"},{"id":"856","name":"Intelligence"},{"id":"7353","name":"neuromorphic"},{"id":"820","name":"vision"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}