NERVES OF STEEL
Intel loves a good codename. Who remembers Dragontail Peak? Or Lizard Head Pass? Or even 2008’s White Salmon? Great days. All of those refer to motherboards, but Pohoiki Beach is different—it’s a new way of building computers that’s based on the human brain. Neuromorphic computing—literally ‘nerve shaped’—uses insights from neuroscience to create chip architectures.
By simulating the way human brains work in silicon, calculations can be carried out faster while using less energy. The training of neural networks can be carried out more efficiently too, with only one viewing of an object necessary for the net to recognize it forever.
Mike Davies, director of Intel’s Neuromorphic Computing Lab, sees
