CognitiveComputing
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Intel Labs measures cognitive workload of distracted drivers, we go eyes-on with the demo (video)
Many studies have shown that any kind of distracted driving is a bad thing, but Intel wanted to take a closer look at our driving behavior to determine if we could avoid it in the first place. Paul Crawford, a senior research scientist in Intel's Interaction and Experience Research Lab, sought to do just that in a comprehensive investigation that seeks to understand not just where drivers are looking, but how they're thinking. By doing this, Intel hopes to alert the driver of any mental warning signs before he or she even gets behind the wheel. At a recent Research @ Intel event in San Francisco, Crawford used a racing car gaming set-up to demonstrate both visual and mental diversions with eye-tracking software and a functional near-infrared spectrometer headband. The latter is used to gauge the metabolic activity and cognitive workload of the brain under different driving conditions, which in this case fluctuated between a peaceful drive and a high-speed chase. Crawford also threw in a few questions and mathematical problems at the test subject to complicate matters. As you might expect, the brain was highly active during the more challenging scenarios and less so in the other. Crawford told us he hopes that the findings will point to ways we can optimize our environmental conditions and taskloads so that we can perform better, not just when driving but in everyday tasks as well. To see the demo in action and hear Crawford's words for yourself, check out the video after the break. Michael Gorman contributed to this report.
IBM supercomputer simulates 530 billion neurons and a whole lot of synapses
IBM Research, in collaboration with DARPA's Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) program, has reached another brain simulation milestone. Powered by its new TrueNorth system on the world's second fastest supercomputer, IBM was capable of crafting a 2.084 billion neurosynaptic cores and 100 trillion synapses -- all at a speed "only" 1,542 times slower than real life. The abstract explains that this isn't a biologically realistic simulation of the human brain, but rather mathematically abstracted -- and little more dour -- versions steered towards maximizing function and minimizing cost. DARPA's SyNAPSE project aims to tie together supercomputing, neuroscience and neurotech for a future cognitive computing architecture far beyond what's running behind your PC screen at the moment. Want to know more? We've included IBM's video explanation of cognitive computing after the break.
IBM simulates cat's brain, humans are next
Almost exactly a year ago we noted DARPA pouring nearly $5 million into an IBM project to develop a computer capable of emulating the brain of a living creature. Having already modeled half of a mouse's brain, the researchers were at that time heading toward the more ambitious territory of feline intelligence, and today we can report on how far that cash injection and extra twelve months have gotten us. The first big announcement is that they have indeed succeeded in producing a computer simulation on par, in terms of complexity and scale, with a cat's brain. The second, perhaps more important, is that "jaw-dropping" progress has been made in the sophistication and detail level of human brain mapping. The reverse engineering of the brain is hoped to bring about new ways for building computers that mimic natural brain structures, an endeavor collectively termed as "cognitive computing." Read link will reveal more, and you can make your own cyborg jokes in the comments below.
