‘Autonomous tech’ will surge in 2016 — keep an eye on these 8 players
We’re about to see a surge in “autonomous devices” — devices that are aware of their environment, their state, and incoming data and that have the ability to learn and make decisions on their own.
By 2020, an estimated 50 billion devices will be connected to the Internet. Objects you’ve never even considered will become smart devices – dog collars, coffee makers, windows. That’s billions of devices and trillions of sensors, too many to manage through human manipulation or the stimulus-response commands of the past. It will become a practical necessity for devices to operate autonomously, and all the signs point to 2016 being the tipping point for the emergence of the Age of Autonomy.
I’ve been watching this space since 1994, when I first focused my attention on artificial intelligence, and the companies behind autonomous technology aren’t necessarily the big names you’re familiar with.
私は初めて人工知能に関心を集中させ、自動テクノロジー（技術）の企業が、必ずしもあなたがよく知る大手のものではない、1994年からこの分野を観てきた。
この分野については1994年から見ていたが、初めて人工知能に注目したとき、こういった自立的な技術の背後にいる会社は必ずしも大企業の有名どころとは限らない。
Here’s a handful of key players you’ll want to be aware of:
1. VIV
Called the intelligent Siri replacement, San Jose-based Viv is an intelligence platform that will soon connect millions of apps to its global brain. Viv has the flexibility to process complicated commands, countering the limitations of current voice-navigated systems, including predecessor, Siri, the voice interface that Viv cofounders Dag Kittlaus, Adam Cheyer, and Chris Brigham helped to create.
1.VIV
インテリジェントSiriの代替と言われている、サンホゼ 拠点のVivはこれから何百万ものアプリをグローバルな脳に繋ぐインテリジェンス プラットフォームである。Vivは、複雑な指令を処理する柔軟性があり、先発のSiriなどの現在の音声ナビシステムの限界に対抗している。Siriは、Viv共同設立者のDag KittlausにAdam Cheyer、またChris Brighamが製造支援した音声交流である、
1.VIV
Siriの賢い後継者と言われるVivは、サンホセに拠点を構え、その賢いプラットフォームは近々何百万個のアプリとその世界的な脳を接続するであろう。Vivは複雑な命令を実行する柔軟さを持ち、先人であったSiriを含むこれまでの音声による操作に限定されたインターフェースシステムに対抗する。Vivの共同創設者であるDag Kittlaus氏、Adam Cheyer氏、Chris Brigham氏はSiriの音声操作インターフェース開発に携わった。
Viv is an open system, enabling businesses and applications to develop its brain. The engineers behind Viv have created it based on pillars, one of which is that it will learn something new every day. Viv’s founders would have you think of their artificial intelligence service as a utility, not unlike how you think about accessing electricity. Theirs will be a ubiquitous brain that powers millions of apps, devices, and machines simply through the human voice. The ability for devices to have a remote service providing this knowledge growth is one of the many autonomy trends we will see emerge in the next 12 months.
2. Wit.ai
Similar to Viv and on its way to becoming a leader in intelligent language processing, Wit.ai software uses a voice interface to turn speech into actionable data for developers building applications and devices. The software learns human language as it goes, building an extensive natural language platform for its community of developers – a group of more than 10,000 users at present. Wit.ai is already making many things possible, from voice-controlled appliances, drones, and robots to automated homes.
Wit.aiソフトウェアはVivと同様に優れた言語処理能力において先導している。Wit.aiソフトウェアは音声インターフェースを利用し、言語を開発者などがアプリや機器開発などで活用可能なデータに変換する。このソフトは人の言語を学習しすることができ、それにより現在10000人以上のユーザーがいる開発者のコミュニティーのために広大な自然言語のプラットフォームを構築する。Wit.aiは音声操作される家電、ドローン、ロボットや自動化された家と既に様々なところで活用されている。
This Palo Alto company, backed by Andreessen Horowitz before being acquired by Facebook early this year, is making just another case that open platforms will rule in the Age of Autonomy. Given its initial traction, Wit.ai is well-positioned to deliver some practical solutions in the near-term, moving the needle forward.
3. Cohda Wireless
With Cohda Wireless vehicle-to-vehicle (V2X) technology out of Australia, vehicles are able to communicate with each other as well as with smart road infrastructures to share information on safety, mobility, and the environment. Device self-recognition and collaboration with other devices and the environment will be a defining feature of devices in the autonomous space. Cohda Wireless communicates via cellular, Wi-Fi, and DRSC to reduce congestion and avoid accidents. This will ideally play a role in reducing the large number of injuries that occur in the United States each year as a result of roadway accidents.
The company has also been involved in efforts to standardize car-to-car communication. These types of direct machine-to-machine radio technologies are key to supporting the inter-machine communication fundamental to optimized device awareness and autonomy.
4. Saffron
Saffron technology, newly acquired by Intel, is spanning across industries, including aerospace, insurance, healthcare, and manufacturing to improve decision making. The San Francisco company was initially founded in 1999 by former IBM Knowledge Management and Intelligent Agent Center chief scientist Manuel Aparicio and is led by former PeopleSoft executive Gayle Sheppard.
4. Saffron
Intelが新しく買収したSaffronテクノロジーは航空宇宙産業や保険にヘルスケア、また製造業など様々な業種に手を広げ、意思決定を改善しようとしている。このサンフランシスコ企業は、初めは前IBM知識管理及び知能エージェントセンター チーフサイエンティストのManuel Aparicio氏によって1999年に創設され、前PeopleSoft取締役Gayle Sheppard氏が舵をとっている。
Saffron takes data from disparate sources and works quickly and intelligently through a contextual memory to identify thousands of connections. This type of intelligent 360-degree view is going to be the game changer for bringing real-time autonomy to the device. Intel’s focus on baking this type of intelligence directly into its chips suggests that the future may allow devices to do the bulk of their learning and decision-making on board, without having to engage outside services.
申し訳ありません。訳文下から2行目、「自動」（テクノロジー）を「自立」（テクノロジー）に変更願います。