Intel Is Making The Transition From Smart PC to Smart Cars With Computer Vision Acquisition

When you’ve become a force to reckon with in your field, what’s next? For Intel, delivering new experiences to their customers, starting with smart autonomous cars #automagic

At this point of our lives, cars are assisted by computers to make our lives easier at the wheel (even where parking is concerned) and more fun (Apple CarPlay, anyone?). But they still need to see and understand their surroundings to make driving safer. This is where computer vision comes into play. Intel knows the importance of having a team of computational imaging experts close to them, so the company acquired Itseez Inc., an expert in their field.

With their help, Intel wants to contribute to the increasing pool of automotive solutions for electronically perceiving and understanding images. “[…] devices will require constant connectivity and will need the intelligence to make real-time decisions based on their surroundings. This is the “autonomous era,” and machine learning and computer vision will become critical for all kinds of machines – cars among them.”, states Intel in an official press release.

Indeed, after attaching sensors to all sorts of objects and connecting devices with the cloud, the next step is to provide them with autonomy, the ability of working and “seeing” by themselves. Intel is not the only big player to think in that way. The leader in computational imaging and computer vision solutions, FotoNation, shook hands with Kyocera, an important provider of rear-view cameras systems for vehicles, just one month ago, with one goal in mind: helps cars see and interact with drivers.