DeepMind and Unity will work together on AI research

Alphabet's DeepMind division is partnering with Unity to accelerate machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) research. The collaboration will focus on "virtual environments" that DeepMind and others can use to test and visualize experimental algorithms. Otherwise, little is known about the partnership. Today's announcement is basically a broad agreement, or statement of intent, between the two companies. "I couldn't be more excited to be collaborating with Unity, creating virtual environments for developing and testing the kind of smart, flexible algorithms we need to tackle real-world problems," Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of DeepMind said in a press release light on detail.

The partnership makes sense. Unity is one of the largest and most popular video game development platforms. Countless studios leverage AI to fill large, immersive worlds with enemies that behave in smart, challenging ways. The medium, therefore, shares an obvious connection with the broader AI and machine learning community, which is trying to tackle everything from self-driving cars to medical diagnoses. Unity has been trying to nurture this link with an open-source plugin called the Unity Machine Learning Agents Toolkit. The free software, hosted on GitHub, helps developers to train entities, or intelligent 'agents', with sample environments and machine learning techniques inside the Unity engine.

DeepMind also has roots in video game development. Hassabis, for instance, worked at Lionhead Studios on the popular god and creature simulator Black & White before founding Elixir Studios and developing BAFTA-nominated titles such as Evil Genius and Republic: The Revolution. DeepMind, which Google acquired for a reported £400 million ($650 million) in 2014, has also used Atari games and champion Go players to test its AI algorithms. Unity is an obvious step forward because it supports 2D games and highly sophisticated 3D experiences alike. "It provides [DeepMind] with a rich and scalable environment for doing their work," Danny Lange, Unity's VP of machine learning and AI told Engadget.



via Engadget RSS Feed https://ift.tt/2QYXIB1
RSS Feed

If New feed item from http://www.engadget.com/rss-full.xml, then send me


Unsubscribe from these notifications or sign in to manage your Email Applets.

IFTTT

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Evernote cuts staff as user growth stalls

Image
Note-taking app Evernote has fallen on hard times of late, culminating in its latest spate of job cuts impacting 15 percent of its workforce (54 employees). CEO Chris O' Neil -- an ex-Googler who took the reins in 2015 -- announced the firings at an all-hands meeting earlier today, reports TechCrunch . In a message on the Evernote blog , O' Neill admitted he'd set "incredibly aggressive goals" for the company in 2018. He continued: "Going forward, we are streamlining certain functions, like sales, so we can continue to speed up and scale others, like product development and engineering." The layoffs follow an exec exodus just weeks ago and the company's recent brand refresh (complete with a refined logo and wordmark). But critics are more concerned about its product, especially the free tier, which they claim lacks the perks to...
Read more

The best air conditioner

Image
By Liam McCabe This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter . When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here . After six summers of researching, testing, and recommending window air conditioners, we've learned that quiet and affordable ACs make most people the happiest—and we think the LG LW8016ER will fit the bill in most rooms. This 8,000 Btu unit cools as efficiently and effectively as any model with an equal Btu rating, and runs at a lower volume and deeper pitch than others at this price. Little extra features like a fresh-air vent, two-axis fan blades, and a removable drain plug help set it apart, too. The LG LW8016ER is a top choice for an office or den, and some people will find it quiet enough for a bedroom, too. If our main pic...
Read more

We won't see a 'universal' vape oil cartridge anytime soon

Image
Pre-loaded cartridges of cannabis concentrate are currently among the most popular means of consumption, and for good reason. They're discreet to use and easy to handle, a far cry from the dark days of 2016 when we had to dribble hash oil or load wax into narrow-mouthed vape pens by hand. But, frustratingly, an ever increasing number of oil cartridge manufacturers employ one-off design standards so that their products won't work with those of their competitors, thereby locking customers into proprietary ecosystems. We've already seen this with nicotine vaporizers -- which has a seen a massive rise in "pod systems" in the last few years, each outfitted with a unique canister and battery built to be incompatible with those of their competition. Is it too late for the burgeoning cannabis industry to set a universal standard for their product designs? ...
Read more