Ambitions « 360Photography

RSS

Posts Tagged ‘Ambitions’

Canon purchases new supercomputer system to further its ‘no-prototype’ product development ambitions

29 Sep

Fujitsu Limited announced last week that Canon Inc. has ordered a new supercomputer. The purchase signals that Canon is progressing with its plans to develop products without the need for prototypes, thereby reducing development costs and increasing development efficiency.

The system Canon ordered includes a Fujitsu Supercomputer PRIMEHPC FX1000 unit. Canon has previously used Fujitsu PRIMEHPC FX10 and PRIMEHPC FX100 supercomputer systems. The new FX1000 unit includes class-leading technology from Fugaku, the world’s fastest supercomputer. Fugaku, a petascale supercomputer, was jointly developed by RIKEN and Fujitsu starting in 2014. Fugaku is scheduled to begin operation next year. When tested in June, it became the fastest supercomputer in the world. Fugaku has an expected theoretical computational performance of 648.8 teraflops.

Fujitsu Limited also announced that upon its completion, the supercomputer headed to Canon will play a critical role in Canon’s ‘no-prototype’ product development plans. The supercomputer will allow for ‘enhanced capabilities and scope of applicability of analysis in Canon’s product development process.’ Fujitsu and Canon anticipate the supercomputer to begin operations during the first half of 2021.

Sample image of a simulation created using an existing supercomputer. This is a simulation of a Canon inkjet printer being dropped while in its packaging. With the new FX1000, Canon will be able to perform much more complicated simulations of impacts and much more. Image credit: Canon.

Canon’s ‘no-prototype’ initiative applies to the development of numerous products, including cameras. Canon is utilizing 3D CAD data in ‘analytical simulations to evaluate multiple facets of proposed products, including functionality, as well as ease of manufacturing.’ The PRIMEHPC FX1000 system, which includes 192 nodes, will allow Canon to produce larger scale analyses and simulations, including simulations with over 100 million total elements. The new system will also Canon to produce analyses of simulated airflow and electromagnetic waves.

In its coverage of this announcement, PetaPixel speculates that Canon is working hard to catch up to the fast and furious development cycle of Sony and its mirrorless cameras and that a new supercomputer can speed up Canon’s development cycles.

Fujitsu PRIMEHPC supercomputer have numerous applications, including aiding in establishing a product development and manufacturing cycle that isn’t reliant upon prototypes. Image credit: Fujitsu

It stands to reason that if Canon can quickly simulate many iterations of a product it is developing rather than need to construct real-world prototypes, the revision process will be quicker. Further, leveraging a class-leading supercomputer may allow for deep analyses of products that may have otherwise taken Canon far too long or been outright impossible.

Ultimately, how the FX1000 supercomputer system will impact Canon’s product development cycles remains to be seen. The system should be operational in the first half of 2021, but of course, the development cycle of something like a new camera is quite lengthy.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Blind Ambitions: 11 Assistive Ideas for the Visually Impaired

12 Jun

[ By Delana in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

technology concepts for the blind

Technology to assist visually impaired people is progressing far beyond the dog and cane. These technology concepts – all of which are still in the design stages and not available for purchase – could someday bring the world into focus for those who can’t necessarily see it unassisted.

The Tactile, Temperature-Enhanced Wristwatch

rub-feel-know-watch-concept

Watches for blind folks are all about feeling, rather than seeing, the time. This concept from designer Jung Hoon Lee is known as the Rub Feel Know watch. It puts a rather unusual twist on the expected raised bumps on the watch face. The hour hand is represented by an indentation near the center of the watch. The minute hand is a small bump which is situated closer to the outside of the face.

temperature-watch-for-the-blind

If feeling the positions of the indentation and the bump doesn’t give enough haptic information, there is another helpful element. The hour indicator feels warm when you touch it, and the minute hand feels cool – along with the concave and convex indicators, the temperature lets users feel exactly what time it is.

The Finger Mounted World-Seeing Camera

eyering

The 3D-printed EyeRing, developed by a team at MIT, is worn on the finger like a ring. It’s equipped with a tiny camera, a processor, a Li-ion battery, and a Bluetooth module.

eyering-2

To identify an object, the user only has to point the EyeRing at it and then press a small button on the side of the device. It snaps a picture, which it then sends to the user’s smartphone. After giving it a simple voice command, the app can then identify colors, currency, text, or price tag information and relay the information to the user’s Bluetooth earpiece.

The concept still needs a lot of development to be viable as a real-world product, but the creators think that they’ll be able to produce the module at a consumer cost of less than $ 100.

The Solar-Powered Retinal Implant That Could Restore Sight

solar-powered-retinal-implant

Retinal implants are nothing new, but current iterations aren’t perfect. They’re often painful and need to have a physical link between the implant and a pair of sunglasses – an arrangement that doesn’t sound pleasant at all. Researchers at Stanford took the traditional retinal implant idea a step further by making the implant wireless.

The user still needs to wear sunglasses which contain a small camera. The camera projects images directly onto the user’s retina so – while they won’t be able to see perfectly – it will restore at least some of their vision. As a bonus, the entire setup is solar-powered so there’s no need to wear a bulky battery.

The Smart-Talking, Walk-Guiding Brick

blind-guider-concept

Using a white cane to navigate sidewalks is a huge help to people who can’t see well enough to navigate by sight alone, but the cane can’t tell you where you are or how to get to your destination. The Blind Guider concept works by embedding “smart bricks” into city sidewalks that work with sensors on an electronic cane.

guide-brick

The cane comes with a Bluetooth earpiece that fits into the cane’s top when not in use. When the earpiece is in use, it relays information from the smart bricks. Each brick is equipped with an RFID tag that transmits information when the cane makes contact. It tells the user what intersection they are standing at and, when moved around to other parts of the brick, can give information about the surrounding areas as well.

visually-impaired-guide-brick

Using this system, visually impaired walkers could easily find their way around a city with minimal knowledge of its layout. It seems that this product is just a dream, though, because the infrastructure needed to make it work would be expensive and complex for cities to install.