Carnegie Mellon scientists working on Gabriel, a cognitive assistant Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are working on artificial intelligence software that could one day act like a personal assistant, whispering directions to get to a restaurant, put together a book shelf or repair a manufacturing machine. The software is named Gabriel, after the angel that serves as God’s messenger, and is designed to be used in a wearable vision system – something similar to Google Glass or another head-mounted system. Tapping into information held in the cloud, the system is set up to feed or “whisper” information to the user as needed. At this point, the project is focused on the software and is not connected to a particular hardware device. “Ten years ago, people thought of this as science fiction,” said Mahadev Satyanarayanan, professor of computer science and the principal investigator for the Gabriel project, at Carnegie Mellon. “But now it’s on the verge of reality.” The project, which has been funded by a $2.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation, has been in the works for the past five years. “This will enable us to approach, with much higher confidence, tasks, such as putting a kit together,” said Satyanarayanan. “For example, assembling a furniture kit from IKEA can be complex and you may make mistakes. Our research makes it possible to create an app that is specific to this task and which guides you step-by-step and detects mistakes immediately.” He called Gabriel a “huge leap in technology” that uses mobile computing, wireless networking, computer vision, human-computer interaction and artificial intelligence. Satyanarayanan said he and his team are not in talks with device makers about getting the software in use, but he hopes it’s just a few years away from commercialization. “The experience is much like a driver using a GPS navigation system,” Satyanarayanan said. “It gives you instructions when you need them, corrects you when you make a mistake and, most of the time, shuts up so it doesn’t bug you.” One of the key technologies being used with the Gabriel project is called a “cloudlet.” Developed by Satyanarayanan, a cloudlet is a cloud-supported data center that serves multiple local mobile users. Cloudlets can be set up close to users, located, for instance, on a cell tower or in an office building or manufacturing planet. Their close proximity to users makes them just one wireless hop away. By “bringing the cloud closer,” cloudlets reduce the roundtrip time of communications from the 70 milliseconds typical of cloud computing to just a few tens of milliseconds, or less, according to Carnegie Mellon. Right now, researchers are working to improve the computer vision and location sensing needed for the project. The first applications are expected to focus on specialized tasks, such as repairing an industrial machine, but ultimately the cognitive assistant should be applied to tasks such as cooking, navigation directions and performing CPR. Related content news analysis Apple earnings: About that iPhone 'slump' in China Based on information from Thursday's earnings report, it seems that data pointing to an iPhone slump in China were over-baked. By Jonny Evans May 03, 2024 9 mins iMac iPhone Apple news Microsoft begins to phase out ‘classic’ Teams Microsoft is encouraging Teams customers to move to the new, faster version of the collaboration app; the older version will be switched off next year. By Matthew Finnegan May 03, 2024 3 mins Microsoft Teams Collaboration Software Productivity Software news analysis Apple confirms it will open up the iPad in Europe this fall The latest efforts to comply with Europe’s Digital Markets Act mean developers can offer to side load apps to both iPhones and iPads in the EU. Apple has also taken steps to improve what it offers to smaller and non-commercial developers in the By Jonny Evans May 02, 2024 6 mins iPad Apple Mobile Apps news Udacity offers laid-off US workers free access to its courses for 30 days Sign-ups will be available over the next 30 days By Lucas Mearian May 02, 2024 4 mins Technology Industry IT Jobs IT Skills Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe