Lenovo to leverage Movidius vision processor for virtual reality products

June 20, 2016
Movidius has announced a strategic partnership to provide advanced vision processing technology to a variety of virtual reality-related Lenovo products. 

Movidius has announced a strategic partnership to provide advanced vision processing technology to a variety of virtual reality-related Lenovo products.

As part of the deal, Lenovo will source the Myriad 2 vision processing unit (VPU) and custom computer vision algorithms for various virtual reality (VR) projects. Myriad 2 is an ultra-low power chip designed specifically for handling vision-based tasks such as head tracking, gesture recognition, and blending multiple video streams into interactive VR video.

"Our technology was built to maximize machine vision performance in a sub-1 Watt power budget," says Movidius CEO, Remi El-Ouazzane. "In selecting Myriad 2 for their VR products, Lenovo is building devices designed from the ground-up for VR. We’re very much looking forward to these no-compromise devices that will push VR adoption into the mainstream."

Myriad 2 features a configuration of 12 programmable vector cores, allowing Lenovo to implement custom algorithms. It features a built-in image signal processor and hardware accelerators, and offloads all vision related tasks from a device’s CPU and GPU.

"Lenovo has a long tradition of bringing innovative products to the market. Myriad 2 is unique in its ability to deliver the kind of vision compute performance we need for our next generation VR products," says Lenovo’s Shanghai Research & Technology group Manager, Li Xiang. "We can build the products we want, without compromising on cost, size, performance or battery life."

The first Lenovo products featuring Myriad 2 are expected in the second half of 2016.

View more information on Movidius.
View more information on Lenovo.

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About the Author

James Carroll

Former VSD Editor James Carroll joined the team 2013.  Carroll covered machine vision and imaging from numerous angles, including application stories, industry news, market updates, and new products. In addition to writing and editing articles, Carroll managed the Innovators Awards program and webcasts.

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