Intel has launched a vision processing unit (VPU), which the company says is the world’s first such. Dubbed the Movidius Myriad X, it is a system-on-chip shipping with a dedicated Neural Compute Engine for deep learning inferences at the edge.

Myriad X is the newest generation in a lineage of Movidius VPUs, which are purpose-built for embedded visual intelligence and inference. The compute engine gives devices (drones, robotics, smart cameras, or virtual reality/augmented reality solutions) the ability to see, understand and react to their environments in real time, according to Intel. The Myriad X architecture is capable of 1 TOPS of compute performance on deep neural network inferences.

“In the coming years, we’ll see a huge range of new products emerge that are made more autonomous by embedding real-time intelligence capabilities in devices – from drones and smart cameras to augmented reality and more – to give them the ability to see, understand, interact with and learn from rapidly changing environments,” said Remi El-Ouazzane, vice president and general manager of Movidius in the New Technology Group of Intel in a post talking about the new VPU.

[Image courtesy: Intel]