Neurala Announces Lifelong-DNN™ for Self-Driving Cars, Drones, Toys and Other Machines: Deep Learning That Can Learn on the Device Without Using the Cloud

Lifelong-DNN™ (Lifelong-Deep Neural Networks), Neurala's Patent-Pending Software, Overcomes Catastrophic Forgetting—the #1 Problem Limiting the Growth of Deep Learning Neural Networks for Real-Time Use

SAN JOSE, CA —May 8, 2017— Neurala today announced a major advance in deep learning with software that can learn with or without the cloud and eliminates the risk of forgetting its previous knowledge. The new patent-pending approach means that for the first time a self-driving car can be personalized by each owner or dealer to a specific neighborhood; a parent can teach a toy to recognize a child, without infringing on privacy; and industrial machines can be updated in the field for specific tasks.

Until now, if an AI system had learned a certain number of objects and needed to learn one more, it would have to be retrained on all of the objects. This traditional method requires using powerful servers that are often located in the cloud. Neurala Lifelong Deep Neural Networks (Lifelong-DNN™) enable learning of the incremental object on the edge.

Neurala’s breakthrough solves the “catastrophic forgetting” problem for deep learning neural networks instantly at the computing device. New objects can be added to the deep learning AI system on the fly, on the edge and without a server. Systems do not need to be retrained from the beginning, and new information can be added without risk. Neurala accomplishes this by combining different neural network architectures in a way that was previously considered impossible.

“Neurala’s Lifelong-DNN™ breakthrough approach is the enabler that automotive companies, consumer electronics companies and others have needed to make deep learning useful for their customers,” said Massimiliano “Max” Versace, CEO of Neurala. “The ability to learn on the fly and at the edge means that the Neurala approach enables learning directly on the device, without all the drawbacks of cloud learning. In addition, it eliminates network latency, increases real-time performance, and ensures privacy where needed. Most importantly, it will unlock the development of a sea of cloud-less applications.”

“The NVIDIA Jetson AI platform enables Neurala to develop innovative deep learning solutions for inferencing and learning at the edge,” said Murali Gopalakrishna, head of product management, intelligent devices, at NVIDIA. “This enables a new class of intelligent machines.”

Neurala will incorporate the new capability at no additional charge into the Neurala Brains For Bots™ SDK (software development kit). It is expected to ship in Q3 2017.

Neurala is debuting and demoing this update at the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, May 8-11. Neurala CTO Anatoly Gorshechnikov will also lead a session at the conference, "Forget Catastrophic Forgetting: AI That Learns After Deployment," at 4:30 p.m. on May 10 in Room 210F.

Software that works like human brains

Neurala’s neural network software uses a bio-inspired approach to mimic the way the human brain learns and analyzes its environment. This software enables a variety of smart products—from industrial drones to consumer electronics and cameras—to learn, adapt and interact in real time. For example, toys can learn to identify their owners, security cameras can identify specific threats, drones can “learn” how to diagnose problems at the tops of cell towers, saving humans considerable danger and drudgery, and self-driving cars can be safer and learn to avoid obstacles.

Neurala pioneered the development of deep learning neural network software for NASA to use in planetary exploration, where processing power, battery life and communications are limited. Instead of designing deep learning neural networks for super computers, as other companies do, The Neurala Brain was designed to work where the decisions need to be made.

About Neurala

Neurala, Inc. (https://www.neurala.com) is a software company that developed The Neurala Brain—deep learning neural network software that makes smart products like robots, drones, toys, self-driving cars and smart cameras more autonomous, engaging and useful. Neurala provides off-the-shelf and customized solutions ranging from high-end applications to inexpensive everyday consumer products. With the Neurala Brains for Bots Software Development Kit (SDK) and an ordinary camera, products can learn people and objects, recognize them in a video stream, find them in the video and track them as they move. The Neurala Brain is based on technology originally developed for NASA and the U.S. Air Force. Current customers include Motorola Solutions, Parrot and Teal Drones. Follow Neurala on Twitter at @Neurala and on Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Contacts

for Neurala, Inc.
Alessandra Nagy, 714-310-4439
Alessandra@bospar.com