9MARCH 2023· The lower-right quadrant represents the options where a more embedded, autonomous compute is paired with higher-end optics and sensors. The earliest Ring doorbell was powered by an iMX.RT from NXP.2: Independence at the Edge. The growth in lower-level recognition options has created an architectural shift in how dependent deep-learning systems are on the Cloud. There are now application-specific AI Accelerators that blur the lines between all three quadrants. Google's Edge TPU, Intel's Movidius VPUs, NVIDIA Jetson Nano, and others, through parallel computing optimized for machine learning, can add inference to the system--Learning locally, not connected to the Cloud. Not all applications need continuous learning. Low-end hardware that only intermittently connects to the Cloud can participate in learning by uploading privacy-safe metrics that then contribute to Big Data which can be used to improve a model that comes down later in a firmware update as well as discover new patterns.3: Imaging is Everywhere. The recent need to work from home has rapidly changed the average person's exposure to video and imaging. This has made it more clear than ever that imaging truly is everywhere. A few proof points are as follows.· Identity using 1-to-1 Match. Earlier this year, taxpayers looking to get a federal Identity Protection (IP) PIN from the IRS website found themselves transferring the process of biometric identification to their smartphone. The app, run by ID.me, does a 1-to-1 match that compares the photo of a government-issued ID to a selfie. Only after a match occurs are users sent back to the website for the issue of the IP PIN. · Layered Biometrics and Encrypted Coding. My first encounter with the CLEAR app was at CES2022, which required a similar matching process to confirm vaccination status to a government-issued ID.CLEAR, which is more prominently used as identification for airport security, layers both eyes and face detection to create an encrypted code used for identification as well as safekeeping of biometric data.· Classic image processing and UX. The entire imaging chain is only as good as what is coming in. In both ID.me and CLEAR, users may notice guide marks and provide suggestions on the positioning of the government-issued ID. This is an example of how the marriage of user experience and classic image processing--setting the region of interest--is used to increase the success of the more complex algorithms running above it. Ultimately, it is about making users more successful in the new experience.In closing, we, as product developers, need to determine the real level of recognition that is needed. What makes machine vision exciting is the ever-expanding applications that it can be used, and the breadth of options available to developers to make the experience successful.
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