Artificial Intelligence 'Revolution' Driven by Intelligent Video

We now live in a world in which machines and devices are visually aware and able to make decisions based upon what they see. And, according to market researchers at IMS Research, it's all thanks to the rise of intelligent video. 

Analysts at IMS have been tracking the video analytics market for more than seven years. Of course, intelligent video has already been used in the security industry for years, and many new applications are already under development: cars that are able to see road conditions and warning signs and react accordingly; consumer devices and game consoles that can be controlled by, and interact with, users through gestures and facial expressions; and digital displays that can show different content depending upon who is viewing it and how they react to what they see.

Why are these ideas finally becoming a reality today? IMS Research’s President, Ian Weightman, explains:

“The basis of our prediction is that the key elements of an intelligent video solution, including compute engines capable of processing HD digital video streams in real-time, high capacity solid state storage capabilities, and advanced video analytic algorithms, have finally evolved to the point where performance has increased and costs have fallen sufficiently to enable commercial products to be developed.”

In the future, continuing improvements in facial and object recognition -- as well as spatial awareness -- will lead to more advanced intelligence. IMS predicts that before the end of the next decade, there is the very real possibility that many machines and robots will be able to see and interact with their environment, people and other visually intelligent devices.

But will companies be willing to make the huge R&D investment needed to make this happen?

“The innovative major corporations, such as Intel, IBM, Microsoft and Sony, are already making significant investment in intelligent video," Weightman said. "This is encouraging many other companies to join the revolution. I think the momentum has already reached the point that these things will happen, the only question now is how quickly.”