Augmented reality, artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles took center stage at Day Two of the 2017 Sensors Expo and Conference, held in San Jose, California, on June 28.
More than 300 exhibitors opened shop on the expo floor, showing products in categories ranging from microelectronics to medicine to devices that harvest energy from heat, light or motion.
In his opening keynote, Ori Inbar of Super Ventures, an augmented reality fund and incubator, touted AR's "superpowers" to speed processes, provide education to workers, and bridge the gap between human and machine.
"Thousands of workers are using augmented reality to improve their work every day," he told the audience. Inbar predicted that "at some point in the future, there will be an inflection point where more smart glasses are sold than smart phones."
Several Day Two sessions focused on machine learning and artificial intelligence. Marion Le Borgne, formerly of Numenta and now with NeuroTechX, presented technology that mimics the neocortex of the human brain to detect anomalies in streams of data.
Applications, she said, range from detecting problems with servers to identifying "rogue human behavior."
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Meanwhile, speakers at a panel on machine learning for autonomous driving said that although engineers have cleared many hurdles for enabling self-driving vehicles, there’s still a need to refine the systems.
"It’s the level of refinement that turns a prototype into a product that’s the next challenge," said Josh Hartung, CEO of PolySync, which builds software for driverless vehicles. "How do we take this thing that is effectively a prototype ... (and) get these things to the public?" Part of the answer, he said, is to get vehicles on the road and amass data.
Talking about developing AVs at #sensors17
— Stacey Randecker (@drivingmzstacey) June 28, 2017
"We are at the dawn of the internet but we get to design it right." @joshuahartung @PolySync pic.twitter.com/ubNefaBwYi
Finally, for the second year at Sensors Expo, a half-day Women in Sensors Engineering program offered mentoring and practical advice for women who look to thrive in the decidedly a male-dominated industry. Among the panelists’ tips: take risks, develop confidence and above all, don’t give up.
The 2017 Sensors Expo & Conference continues through Thursday at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose.