For five days in January, the Department of Energy’s Artificial Intelligence & Technology Office (AITO) and the Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) exhibited at the largest annual innovation showcase of consumer technology on the planet, the Consumer Electronics Show (#CES2020) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
While there, AITO and OTT staff literally rubbed elbows with more than 175,000 industry leaders and tech enthusiasts from more than 160 countries. And when we weren’t marveling at the staggering scale of a show this immense, or weaving our way through a seemingly endless sea of booths showcasing innovations from all facets of tech including 5G, VR, AI, automation, transportation, gaming, drones, smart cities, sports, robotics and more – we were talking with visitors to the joint OTT/AITO booth about everything DOE and our labs have done – and will continue to do – to accelerate the development and commercialization of technologies designed to improve daily life
The hundreds of visitors that stopped to talk to us were eager – and in some cases surprised – to learn about DOE’s leading role in AI’s development and how we are applying it to tackle some of our toughest challenges… not only in our energy and national security arenas, but across the entire breadth of DOE’s mission space. AITO staff spoke of the over 600 AI projects currently underway at DOE and its 17 national labs, and how with its unmatched computing capacity and legacy of scientific discovery, DOE is the natural leader to advance the smart adoption of AI to improve and literally save peoples’ lives.
Forpheus, the robotic ping pong tutor.
Among the AI exhibits was Omron Automation’s Forpheus – which is an AI-enhanced robotic ping pong tutor. Forpheus is not only tracking and volleying the ball, but it is tracking the human player’s emotions and reaction time to become a better coach.
While there, DOE Chief Information Officer Rocky Campione participated in a CES Government panel discussion on artificial intelligence and spoke about the importance of AITO’s efforts to coordinate and advance DOE’s work.
And on the final day, Deputy Under Secretary for Artificial Intelligence and Technology Dimitri Kusnezov sat down for a one-on-one interview with the host of the Killer Innovations radio show, Phil McKinney, to talk about data challenges and the transformative potential of AI innovations with the former CTO of Hewlett-Packard. You can hear the full interview when it airs on BizTalk Radio on January 26th, or download the podcast on January 28th at https://killerinnovations.com/.
All in all, it was a tremendously successful and fascinating week. We’re already planning for an even greater presence for DOE program offices and labs at CES 2021 that would showcase some of the technologies created and developed at DOE and continue to spread the word to this key audience about the essential role DOE plays in advancing technological innovation.