Future Technology Trends

In the brain, biological neural networks are constantly firing away and performing advanced calculations. People are completely oblivious to these operations. Our awareness of different emotional states seems so natural. It can be hard to believe that it is all just the result of complex computational processes. The skull encapsulates one of the most complicated machines imaginable. The Moneta version 2.0 project is developing an artificial mind that can carry out some of the tasks a small animal is capable of doing. Many mammals have an amazing ability to navigate their surroundings without the need to use GPS. For these creatures, it is almost instinctive to be able to maneuver around swiftly. Next generation robots may be more like the Von Neumann probes found in the film *batteries not included. They might scavenge for their energy source and explore new territories by themselves without any human intervention.  Read More »

Electronics that have animal-like sensory processing may eventually become a reality. Neurally inspired chips might enhance a number of consumer devices. This could lead to a future with intelligent cars, portable computers or movie recording cameras. Brain Corporation is synthesizing novel algorithms that mimic how the mind functions. They are collaborating with Qualcomm in order to create low-power smart mobile appliances. The undertaking is seeking to use the technology for artificial perception and motor control. It can help to build machines that navigate autonomously. Eugene Izhikevich is the CEO of this organization. He has previously developed large-scale models of the mammalian thalamo-cortical system. That software has an enormous amount of spiking virtual neurons and mimics the in-vitro activity of the cortex. They were able to witness some higher-level wave activity that is similar to what you would see in an EEG scan. A few of the details in these emulations are more sophisticated than IBM’s cat brain.  Read More »

A designer programmable mind is the challenge for scientists. Leading European researchers are working on the Human Brain Project (HBP). This venture will combine the study of neuroscientific operating principles with gains in information technology. High performance computers will detect, store and compute neurobiological data. These applications can run on petaflop/s mainframes. One undertaking beneath the HBP umbrella is BrainScaleS. They are synthesizing the next generation machines that can be successors to Von Neumann architectures. To accomplish this, they have built a neuromorphic wafer that has analog components. The CPU is composed of 200,000 artificial neurons with 50 million synapses. Regular neural cells fire at a frequency in the tens of hertz range, whereas electronic microchips can cycle at the megahertz or gigahertz level. Their chip operates at hundreds of times the rate of what nature can do. They have special software that estimates the capabilities of wafer scale hardware (see Development of an Executable System Specification for a Large-Scale Neuromorphic Hybrid Device PDF). The circuit has a lot of flexibility, but there are many hardware-specific effects to take into account. The program helps workers to understand the functionality and limitations of future designs before they actually create them. This enables the testing of a variety of configurations to come up with the best possible one. The FACETS initiative came before BrainScaleS and had similar criteria. A main objective is to develop energy saving equipment. Read More »

The memristor has been a theoretical concept since 1971. In 2008, researchers constructed the first prototype out of titanium dioxide. It joins a family of other electronic elements like the resistor, inductor and capacitor. The resistance in the device changes depending on how much current passes through the component. Recent advances have made more practical memory resistors that could rival other types of technology. Scientists from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have manufactured a novel bipolar memristive nanodevice. As a common intracellular protein, ferritin stores iron and releases it when the body needs it. This complicated compound is suited for memory resistance. The researcher created the circuit by immobilizing ferritin molecules in nanogaps. These gaps are located on lithography-generated wires. The resistance variations are due to electrochemical processes inside of the center of the protein. Read More »

A*STAR is a Singapore government agency for science, technology and research.  They are presently working on their own artificial brain project.  Singapore is one of the many nations that invest significant resources towards this pursuit.  Though the country is small, it still has the potential to contribute to the initiation of some sort of neuro-singularity. Read More »

Researchers at Boston University have completed the first part of MoNETA or MOdular Neural Exploring Traveling Agent and are now progressing to version 2.0 of the project.  They are going to test the neuromorphic system in a more realistic virtual training ground.  This will allow them to see how various organized synthetic neuron configurations function at certain tasks. Read More »

A European project is seeking to develop a unique neural chip.  It is called nanobrain and would be a CPU based on a memristive platform.  This is a hardware version of an artificial neural network but will use a relatively novel technology.  Spintronics has been around in the preliminary stages for decades.  The spin of an electron is a quantum mechanical phenomenon that could be utilized to store and process information.  Scientists have faced considerable difficulties in introducing more intricate appliances based on this science.  It has found rudimentary uses in current hard drives.  Room temperature spintronic transistors have been long sought after and some good progress has been made in this domain recently.  Julie Grollier is the the main scientist working on this nanobrain device. Read More »

NeuroP is a newly  funded European project that aspires to develop a microchip that will model cortical circuits.  This could potentially allow for brain-inspired computation.  In the first part of this ambitious endeavor, the researchers are using advances in neuroinformatics to investigate the functioning of cells located in the neocortex.  This region of the brain is important for a number of higher cognitive functions.  A second phase will emulate those biological neural networks using neuromorphic technology.  Ultimately the hope is that that the synthetic synapses can process images visually in real time or perform other practical jobs.  This work is being carried out by scientists  at the Institute of Neuroinformatics University of Zurich and ETH Zurich in Switzerland.   Read More »

HRL, in conjunction with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is developing computer hardware inspired by the human brain.  Future neuromorphic technology could augment the capabilities of autonomous military vehicles and usher in a new era of advanced next generation robotics.

CNES promotes the idea that the neural system in the brain is an example of such a complex adaptive system. A key goal of CNES is to explain how computations in the brain can help explain the realization of complex behaviors such as perception, planning, decision making and navigation due to brain-body-environment interactions.  

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In the journal Nano Letters, researchers have published a paper that details a novel way to manufacture memristor integrated circuits.  Memristors are a recently developed technology that has the potential to power future electronic devices and create neuromorphic hardware.  Last year HP scientists demonstrated another technique that had a 20% yield for functional memristors on a circuit.  The newer method reduces the complexity of the manufacturing process and facilitates a higher throughput.  These types of innovations are critical in order to enable the production of microchips that can be competitive with currently existing technology.   Read More »