Market leader and popular chip maker Intel has just announced a new all-in-one chip module named “Intel Joule”. It’s a very sophisticated and powerful computer module which allows developers to create modern technological devices with ease. They can make a concept into the prototype, and then the prototype into the actual product at a fraction of cost and time.
Intel‘s CEO- Brian Krzanich unveiled the Intel Joule module at the company’s annual Developer Conference in San Francisco.
He said, “You get computing, extensive memory, and the ability to use human-like senses with the Intel RealSense technology. Joule will let you seamlessly transition from prototype to scale.”
Intel’s Joule is particularly a small computer on a small module. It is powered by the RealSense depth-sensing camera technology. It is the same technology which is powering its first VR (Virtual Reality) headset. Intel Joule can be fitted on any device which requires high computing power and memory such as augmented reality glasses or robotics.
For an instance, a France-based company called PivotHead has used the Joule module in safety glasses based on augmented reality. Airbus, which is an aircraft making company, is using these safety glasses in its factories. A technician who is wearing those glasses can find out any mistake or error while placing a rivet in a plane’s assembly line. The glasses will immediately send an error message/signal in case the technician has placed a rivet in the wrong hole.
Applications which require high-end computing can use Intel Joule. These include robotics, computer vision, drones, VR, industrial IoT, AR, micro-servers and others. Joule will be available in two models namely 550x and 570x. The company will begin the shipment of these models from September onwards. 570x developer kits can also be bought by the developers at the on-going Developer Conference at San Francisco.
It can be noticed that Intel is slowly expanding its chips and modules ranges to meet the latest demands of new technologies. Intel which was only limited to computer chips previously has shown a lot of interest in developing many chips for latest segments like augmented/virtual reality devices, IoT and data centres.
The company has recently acquired the machine learning start-up Nirvana Technologies for over $400 million. It also made one of the biggest acquisitions in the tech industry by acquiring ‘Altera’ whose main business was to deal in programmable chips.
Image Credit: Intel
