Chinese scientists help create a ‘machine eye’ that may be faster than human vision
A new type of hardware inspired by the brain increases machine vision speed by four times, bringing revolutionary safety breakthroughs
Chinese scientists have helped create a new safety system for automated driving systems that can sometimes react to hazards more quickly than the human brain.
The slower reaction time of machines compared with the human brain has been a long-standing safety concern.
For example, an automated vehicle travelling at 80km/h (50mph) will take half a second to respond to a hazard in front of it, compared with the 0.15 seconds the human brain needs to react – meaning the vehicle will have travelled another 13 metres (43 feet) before stopping.
Even advanced processors have been far slower than humans at analysing a high-definition image to discern what is moving and where it is going.
This delay has created a fundamental safety concern about robots, drones and autonomous vehicles.
However, researchers from Britain, mainland China, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and the United States said they had now developed a faster reaction system.