When most people with normal vision walk down the street, they can easily differentiate the things they must avoid – like trees, curbs and glass doors -- from the things they don't, such as shadows, reflections and clouds. Chances are, most people also can anticipate what obstacles they should expect to encounter next -- knowing, for example, that at a street corner they should watch out for cars and prepare to step down off the curb. The ability to differentiate and anticipate comes easily to humans but it's still very difficult for artificial intelligence-based systems. That's one big reason why self-driving cars or autonomous delivery drones are still emerging technologies. Microsoft researchers are aiming to change that.

When most people with normal vision walk down the street, they can easily differentiate the things they must avoid – like trees, curbs and glass doors -- from the things they don't, such as shadows, reflections and clouds. Chances are, most people also can anticipate what obstacles they should expect to encounter next -- knowing, for example, that at a street corner they should watch out for cars and prepare to step down off the curb. The ability to differentiate and anticipate comes easily to humans but it's still very difficult for artificial intelligence-based systems. That's one big reason why self-driving cars or autonomous delivery drones are still emerging technologies. Microsoft researchers are aiming to change that.