Tokyo, December 16, 2016 - NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) today announced the development of a "remote gaze detection technology" that enables real-time detection of the direction an individual is looking, even when using existing cameras from remote locations. Conventional technologies estimate an individual's line-of-sight using specialized devices equipped with infrared lights and advanced cameras that detect light as it is reflected from an individual's eye. This new technology, developed as part of NEC's cutting-edge portfolio of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, NEC the WISE (*1), uses face feature point detection technology, the core of NEC's world leading face recognition technology (*2), to accurately identify characteristics in and around the eye, such as the pupil and the corners of the eye, from images taken with common cameras, including web, surveillance, tablet and smartphone cameras, without the need for specialized equipment. These images and technology enable highly accurate detection of an individual's line-of-sight, with a measurement error of less than 5 degrees from the left, right, top and bottom. Moreover, this remote gaze detection technology's advanced response to low resolution images and changes in brightness enable it to detect an individual's line-of-sight, even when they are separated from the camera by 10 meters, making it well suited for automatically detecting products that draw the attention of shoppers at retail stores. Furthermore, the high speed computations of its "feature value extraction technology" enable it to simultaneously detect the line-of-sight of multiple individuals, without compromising the accuracy of its results.

Tesla's new AI autopilot could roll out next week: Elon Musk says cars with latest hardware are set to get more self-driving features Tesla could be giving its customers a late Christmas present – an upgraded Autopilot that will add more self-driving features to newer Model S and Model X cars. CEO Elon Musk shared a tweet on Friday confirming that they'might be ready to rollout most of Autopilot functionality for HW2 towards the end of next week' Dubai police launch AI that can spot crimes BEFORE they... What humans will look like in 100 years: Expert reveals the... Travelling star heading towards Earth could cause a... Are aliens trying to contact Earth? Dubai police launch AI that can spot crimes BEFORE they... What humans will look like in 100 years: Expert reveals the... Travelling star heading towards Earth could cause a... Are aliens trying to contact Earth? Models built after October will have hardware capable of a long list of features, but have been waiting for a software update The latest update would push Tesla's autopilot capabilities even further towards full automation, enabling Level 5 automation of vehicles Guests throw chairs as huge fight breaks out during wedding Male guests in a Chinese wedding flock to harass a bridesmaid A young thug is filmed fly kicking a lady in the back Man's amazing backflip saves child from out of control car Girl walks around London with no jeans - can the public tell? Man's amazing backflip saves child from out of control car Girl walks around London with no jeans - can the public tell?

Chess is less complex than Go, but it still has too many possible configurations to solve by brute force alone. Instead, programs cut down their searches by looking a few turns ahead and judging which player would have the upper hand. In Go, recognizing winning and losing positions is much harder: stones have equal values and can have subtle impacts far across the board. To interpret Go boards and to learn the best possible moves, the AlphaGo program applied deep learning in neural networks -- brain-inspired programs in which connections between layers of simulated neurons are strengthened through examples and experience. It first studied 30 million positions from expert games, gleaning abstract information on the state of play from board data, much as other programmes categorize images from pixels.

Crime Prediction software analyzes existing patterns from police databases It uses the data to predict when and where an event is likely to occur next It's hoped this can alert patrol teams to which districts may need more attention It's hoped this can alert patrol teams to which districts may need more attention Nanotech'superbatteries' that can last longer and charge... Water discovery! Scientists find a new state of matter for... Travelling star heading towards Earth could cause a... Consumer Reports refuses to recommend Apple's new MacBook... Nanotech'superbatteries' that can last longer and charge... Water discovery! Scientists find a new state of matter for... Travelling star heading towards Earth could cause a... Consumer Reports refuses to recommend Apple's new MacBook... Minority Report-style crime prediction has edged closer to reality with a new AI software launched in Dubai. Guests throw chairs as huge fight breaks out during wedding Male guests in a Chinese wedding flock to harass a bridesmaid A young thug is filmed fly kicking a lady in the back Man's amazing backflip saves child from out of control car Girl walks around London with no jeans - can the public tell? Man's amazing backflip saves child from out of control car Girl walks around London with no jeans - can the public tell?

Elon Musk's Gigafactory is taking shape: Drone footage reveals world's biggest building has added 2.4 MILLION square feet in just six months New drone footage of Tesla's Gigafactory shows that it is now 30 percent complete The north end of the massive building has been finished, adding another 4.5 million square feet of space It's deemed the biggest factory in the world – but when Tesla opened the doors to its'Gigafactory' earlier this year, only 14 percent was complete. Fast forward six months later and new drone footage reveals that the electric carmaker has more than doubled the size by adding an additional 2.4 million square feet of space to the campus Are aliens trying to contact Earth? Six new mysterious... How to take better photos using your smartphone this holiday... Nanotech'superbatteries' that can last longer and charge... The bugs above you: Researchers find 3.5 TRILLION migrating... Are aliens trying to contact Earth? Six new mysterious... How to take better photos using your smartphone this holiday... Nanotech'superbatteries' that can last longer and charge...

The growing competitiveness of China and shifting political landscapes mean that 2017 holds some uncertainties for supercomputing. Yet familiar technologies remain strong and provide a stable foundation with fewer surprises. Here are four predictions of where the industry is headed in 2017. Despite gaining ground as a marketing term, and being a rich field for basic and applied research, it's highly doubtful we'll see the emergence of AI as a dominant force in the next 12 months. We're still far from the "singularity" that so many of us tech-geeks fear, so don't expect AI to jump out of marketing copy and begin hunting us down a la The Terminator by next Christmas.

FILE - In this Nov. 19, 2016, file photo, Mark Zuckerberg, chairman and CEO of Facebook, speaks at the CEO summit during the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Lima, Peru. Zuckerberg unveiled his new artificial intelligence assistant named "Jarvis" in a Facebook post on Dec. 19, 2016. FILE - In this Nov. 19, 2016, file photo, Mark Zuckerberg, chairman and CEO of Facebook, speaks at the CEO summit during the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Lima, Peru.

KFC is partnering with Baidu to open a smart restaurant which can make recommendations based on a customer's facial expression. KFC's restaurant ordering kiosks, which are powered by Baidu's tech, will look at the customer's age, gender and facial expressions to guess what the might be in the mood for. Baidu wrote in a press release that the KFC kiosks would suggest "a male customer in his early 20s" to order "a set meal of crispy chicken hamburger, roasted chicken wings and coke for lunch," while "a female customer in her 50s" would get a suggestion of "porridge and soybean milk for breakfast." Customers might not be a fan of the suggestions the system comes up with, but they are just suggestions. The setup has built-in recognition, so if you're a frequent customer, it can remember what you previously ordered before and suggest your favorite meals.

KFC is no stranger to getting funky in order to sell its chicken but this one is really out there. The company's Chinese division is partnering with Baidu to create a smart restaurant which will recommend meals based on the customer's looks. Specifically, the restaurant's ordering kiosks, which are powered by Baidu's computer vision systems, will look at the customer's age, gender and facial expressions to make educated guesses as to what they might be in the mood for. A guy in his 20s, for example, is far more likely to order a big meal with a large soda for lunch than, say, a 75 year-old granny who walks in at 8am. These are just suggestions of course, it's not like you have to eat what it recommends (yet) but if you're a regular, the kiosks will remember your previous order and recommend that as well. Don't get weird about that last bit, it's no different than the bartender at your local pub remembering your drink order from last time.

Warning: This story may contain links to and descriptions of explicit sexual acts as well as material some readers may find triggering. Isaac Asimov famously created rules that would prevent robots from harming humans. But at the second International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots earlier this week, that anxiety was turned on its head. Panelists discussed the ways in which giving robots personhood and consciousness may revolutionize our lives, but could also be catastrophic. Because, instead of worrying that we will be harmed by our creations, we're now much more concerned about causing harm to them.