Author: Greg Fisher / Source: Gigaom
Hardware innovation is a fickle beast. It takes money, lots of money. It takes time, a great team, and execution in more than twenty separate domains, many of which are often overlooked until it’s too late (certifications anyone?!). But, I’ve got some good news.
Hardware is back and it’s about to get really exciting.You’re probably thinking right now, “All I ever read about is how AI, ML, blockchain, and XR are ready to revolutionize the world” and that’s exactly the point. There are some amazing software technologies coming out, but this “new” software has hardware in its DNA. Until recently, smart technologies have largely been limited by their access points: computers, tablets, smartphones, etc. Going forward, hardware innovations will become increasingly integral and valuable as the interface for tomorrow’s software. Hardware will capture the data through wearables, hearables, cameras and an increasing variety of sensors and will then be leveraged as the outputs to interact with the world as robots, drones, and the myriad of other IoT devices that are being developed.
As the ecosystem of devices, computation, connection, and data evolve, the platforms, tools and systems are naturally finding more synergy and lowering the barriers of integration. The line between what is a hardware or software product will continue to blur. The sensor technologies leading the way are cameras and microphones. If there is a camera, there’s a good chance there’s an AI stack behind it, with self-driving cars being the most prominent example. On the microphone/speaker side, the Smart Home assistants Amazon Echo, Google Home, and others are obvious and ubiquitous.
The beauty of hardware enabled AI/ML is that it not only crosses the boundary between the physical and virtual, but also between analog and digital. It’s particularly valuable when interacting with the world and dealing with its…
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