IBM'S C2S2 Project - Computer of the future based on brain insights

Tony Austin
Sunday, 23 November 2008 04:59

Opinion and Analysis

IBM Research and five leading universities are partnering to create computing systems that are expected to simulate and emulate the brain’s abilities for sensation, perception, action, interaction and cognition while rivaling its low power consumption and compact size.

The digital data explosion shows no signs of slowing down -- according to analyst firm IDC, the amount of digital data is growing at a mind-boggling 60 percent each year, giving businesses access to incredible new streams of information.

 But without the ability to monitor, analyze and react to this information in real-time, the majority of its value may be lost. Until the data is captured and analyzed, decisions or actions may be delayed.

Cognitive computing offers the promise of systems that can integrate and analyze vast amounts of data from many sources in the blink of an eye, allowing businesses or individuals to make rapid decisions in time to have a significant impact. 

For example, bankers must make split-second decisions based on constantly changing data that flows at an ever-dizzying rate. And in the business of monitoring the world’s water supply, a network of sensors and actuators constantly records and reports metrics such as temperature, pressure, wave height, acoustics and ocean tide.

In either case, making sense of all that input would be a Herculean task for one person, or even for 100.

A cognitive computer, acting as a “global brain,” could quickly and accurately put together the disparate pieces of this complex puzzle and help people make good decisions rapidly.

By seeking inspiration from the structure, dynamics, function, and behavior of the brain, the IBM-led cognitive computing research team aims to break the conventional programmable machine paradigm.

Ultimately, the team hopes to rival the brain’s low power consumption and small size by using nanoscale devices for synapses and neurons.

This technology stands to bring about entirely new computing architectures and programming paradigms.

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