Lenovo to leverage Movidius vision processor for virtual reality 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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