Sensing technology acquires various information, analyzing the data, and based on the analyzing results mechatronics technology outputs it as movement,
and AV technology outputs it as video and audio.
Using the cutting edge AI technology, Sony has developed through its products and services to date, inimitable innovations are made possible.
When Sony's AI technology is translated into products and services, it functions as closely as possible to the users in real time, expands their creativity, and spurs the evolution of lifestyles that seek enjoyment from entertainment.
Sony has begun investigating applications in fields integrally connected to everyday living and social life-that is, an array of fields rooted in the real world.
Sensing
Like human senses such as sight and hearing, sensing technology a crucial "gateway" for AI technology to acquire massive amount of information (data). Sony's miniaturization technology lets sensors get closer to humans to collect data, and in the IoT era. Miniaturization also makes it possible to equip devices with large numbers of sensors for gathering various information (data). In addition, improving the quality of sensing allows more precise data to be acquired, which leads to AI with a more accurate understanding of humans and object awareness.
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Shinji Nakagawa(Left) Platform Technology Div.
Sony Semiconductor Solutions CorporationMasaki Kitano(Right) Mobile & Sensing Systems Business Div.
Sony Semiconductor Solutions CorporationProviding high-performance sensors together with edge AI execution environments
Sensing AI Platforms
Shinji Nakagawa (Left) Platform Technology Div.
Sony Semiconductor Solutions CorporationKatsumi Kitano (Right) Mobile & Sensing Systems Business Div.
Sony Semiconductor Solutions CorporationPlatform development for AI is proceeding on both the hardware and software fronts. By providing sensors and edge AI execution environments simultaneously, we can speed up AI development and realize higher performance. In addition, platforms able to process input data from multiple sensors will make it possible to synchronize various types of high-performance sensors and utilize their data, realizing AI use that is closer to people.
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Sayaka Nakamura Fundamental Technology Research and Development Div. 1
R&D Center
Sony Group CorporationHighly precise face detection without heavy processing
Face detection
Sayaka Nakamura Fundamental Technology Research and Development Div. 1
R&D Center
Sony Group CorporationSony has developed a deep learning network that supports high-performance face detection with components that are compact enough to embed in products. This makes shooting more enjoyable and enables even better shots on our flagship Xperia 1 smartphone. It's also used in aibo. As we continue this R&D, we'll be looking for ways to introduce the technology in a range of other applications.
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Yasutaka Hirasawa Fundamental Technology Research and Development Div. 1,
R&D Center
Sony Group CorporationUsing imaging information that humans can't see in AI applications
Polarization image sensor
Yasutaka Hirasawa Fundamental Technology Research and Development Div. 1,
R&D Center
Sony Group CorporationThrough advanced semiconductor technology, Sony has developed original image sensors that capture characteristics of polarized light not apparent from typical RGB sensors. Combining these original sensors with signal processing/machine learning algorithms will add a new dimension to AI capabilities.
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Kyoji Yokoyama System Solutions Business Div.
Sony Semiconductor Solutions CorporationAI improves picture quality at the image sensor level
Picture Data Quality Improvement with AI
Kyoji Yokoyama System Solutions Business Div.
Sony Semiconductor Solutions CorporationSony is using AI in efforts to improve picture quality and conduct research and development on completely new image sensors that exceed conventional range. We are not stopping at picture quality for the human eye; we are aiming for image sensors that deliver data quality from machine's standpoint (for machines to recognize) in an effort toward the further evolution of the AI development environment and performance.
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Yuichi Kato Mobile & Sensing Systems Business Div.
Sony Semiconductor Solutions CorporationFurther enhancing rangefinder through AI
Distance Image Sensor
Yuichi Kato Mobile & Sensing Systems Business Div.
Sony Semiconductor Solutions CorporationThree-dimensional sensing technology used in facial authentication for payments and security. Sony is developing high-performance depth image sensor for installation in smartphones and other devices. We are making efforts to search for the utilization of AI to further improve the precision and energy-saving performance of the sensor.
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Yoshinori Oota IoT Solutions Business Div. / Platform Technology Div.,
Sony Semiconductor Solutions CorporationBoard computer that expands the possibilities of edge AI
SPRESENSE™
Yoshinori Oota IoT Solutions Business Div. / Platform Technology Div.,
Sony Semiconductor Solutions CorporationSPRESENSE is equipped with a compact, low-power-consumption, high-performance multicore processor. The processor Sony made has a capability of GPS receiving function, supports high-resolution audio codec, and more to enable advanced signal processing. Data gathering and robust processing (recognition/processing) by the sensors are integrated to provide outstanding opportunities in the field of edge AI.
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Atsushi Nose（left）・Keisuke Abe（right） Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation,
Mobile & Sensing Systems Division"Spinal reflex" enables rapid feedback and response
Real-time Image Data Analysis
Atsushi Nose（left）・Keisuke Abe（right） Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation,
Mobile & Sensing Systems DivisionIn today's automated, "smart" world, transportation, security, agriculture, healthcare and heavy industry all need things done in real time, with latency of just a few milliseconds or less. In an industrial workflow where image sensors collect data, image recognition platforms recognize/analyze data, and robotic systems handle control/movement commands, image sensors and AI handle advanced image recognition/analysis while high-speed vision sensors handle rapid feedback and response. It's almost like the relationship between the human brain (AI) and spinal cord (high-speed vision sensors).
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Christian Brandli Sony Advanced Visual Sensing AG CEO
AI eyes born taking hints from the human eye
Event-based vision sensor (EVS)
Christian Brandli Sony Advanced Visual Sensing AG CEO
By combining AI with a sensor that works like the retina in the human eye, we are expanding our field of view. Having this AI eye installed in various devices such as robots, drones, and automobiles increases their autonomy and brings unprecedented convenience and safety.
Data Analysis
Data analysis performs the functions of the human brain.
Sensors will proliferate to the point that they acquire enormous amounts of data that humankind has never before experienced, and will sift through that data to discover new value previously unable to be found by humans.
This should not only improve the real world, but also manifest experiences far richer than the real world that humans know.
In Sony's view, data is the resource for making a more creative world.
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Yoshiyuki Kobayashi R&D Center
Sony Group CorporationDeep learning tools drive AI development
Neural Network Libraries/Neural Network Console
Yoshiyuki Kobayash R&D Center
Sony Group CorporationSony has released two pieces of software-Neural Network Libraries, an open-source framework for creating deep learning programs, and Neural Network Console, the GUI based development environment for deep learning-to enable as many people as possible to quickly and easily work on AI development.
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Yuya Kanitani · Shigetaka Tomiya · Raku Shirasawa Materials Analysis Center,
Fundamental Technology Research and Development Div. 2
R&D Center, Sony Group CorporationApplying immense information processing technology to material development
Materials Informatics
Yuya Kanitani · Shigetaka Tomiya · Raku Shirasawa Materials Analysis Center,
Fundamental Technology Research and Development Div. 2
R&D Center, Sony Group CorporationCondensing a decade of materials discovery into one week. Materials informatics is the technology that holds the secrets to this seemingly magical possibility. Sony has accumulated a wealth of unique data through materials and device development to date, and will process it through AI to enable searches that are inimitable, and to dramatically increase the speed and efficiency of the development of next-generation imaging and sensing devices.
Mechatronics / AV Output
A function that produces real-world effects through video, audio, movements, and more, based on results derived from analyzing large amounts of information (data) acquired from sensors.
The foundation of this function is Sony's audio-visual and mechatronics technology cultivated for years.
With our audio-visual technology, Sony has begun our pursuit of new experiences and senses of immersion that supersede the boundaries of virtual and real. With our mechatronics technology, we have launched initiatives to formulate new types of human-robot cooperation, and to develop physical capabilities exceeding those of humans.
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Hiromasa Masuda · Kazuo Hongo Fundamental Technology Research and Development Div. 1
Sony Group CorporationRobotics technology to exceed the limits of the human hand
Bilateral control systems
Hiromasa Masuda · Kazuo Hongo Fundamental Technology Research and Development Div. 1
Sony Group CorporationExpectations are mounting for precise bilateral control systems that enable advanced remote control, for use in situations ranging from parts of outer space and disaster sites that humans cannot enter, to work that requires level of micro-precision exceeding human capacity. Sony is attempting to make it possible to perform remote operations with sensations so subtle that operators feel like they are touching the object with their own hands, by providing kinesthetic, tactile, aural, and other multimodal information.
