Robots Are Producing More of What You Eat

Being able to see is a major frontier in robotics and automation--crossing it is key to autonomous vehicles that can navigate obstacles, humanoid robots that can more closely integrate with humans and drones that can fly more safely. Companies world-wide are investing in computer vision-based technology. Chip maker Intel Corp. bought Mobileye NV for $15.3 billion in March 2017, in part for the Israeli company's vision-based driver-assistance technology. In April, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. led a $600 million funding round in startup SenseTime Group Ltd., which specializes in facial- and image-recognition technology. The sensing and imaging market will grow about 10-fold to $18.5 billion by 2023, market-research firm Yole Développement forecasts.