NSERC COHESA: Computing Hardware for Emerging Intelligent Sensory Applications

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NSERC COHESA is the Research Network for 'Computing Hardware for Emerging Intelligent Sensing Applications (ISAs)'. NSERC COHESA is motivated by the need and the opportunity to advance the state-of-the-art in ISAs, which are helping computing devices to "think", "see", "hear", "read", "write" and "interact" with the physical world in ways that we typically associate only with humans and high intelligence. ISAs promise to rival human abilities and enhance our facility to discover, learn and benefit from information; the application areas are limitless, ranging from science, medicine, health, and commerce, to civil planning, security, and so on. But the emerging ISA field is hampered by the limitations of existing computing devices. These have been designed to be general purpose and so are grossly inefficient and far from capable of supporting the current needs of ISAs. Moreover, the underlying technology trends are such that existing device designs will continue to fall short of ISA needs, stalling further advances. The NSERC COHESA Network will bring together an interdisciplinary team of experts and Canadian-based industries to advance ISAs by taking the full technology stack into consideration: from application software down to silicon circuits. NSERC COHESA's target application is an Intelligent Co-Pilot (i-CP) platform that will demonstrate the overall benefits of a specific ISA. The i-CP uses a live video feed from a conventional or a computational camera mounted on an automobile and interacts with the driver through natural language, providing valuable information the same way a co-pilot sitting on the passenger side would. By taking a holistic view, NSERC COHESA will seek to produce fundamental advances in core algorithms, digital device building blocks, and systems software that will sustain ISA advances for the next 5-15 years. NSERC COHESA's efforts will build on Canada's existing strengths in computer technology to train highly qualified, interdisciplinary personnel who can lead the ISA workforce and ensure Canada's leading position in the ISA revolution.