BrainChip Partners with VVDN, Teases an Industrial "Akida Edge Box" for On-Device ML and AI

BrainChip, which offers neuromorphic processing technology for high-efficiency machine learning and artificial intelligence (ML and AI) at the edge, has announced that it will be opening pre-sales for its Akida Edge Box — the "industry's first edge box powered by neuromorphic AI IP" — in January next year, following a demonstration at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2024.

“BrainChip's neuromorphic technology gives the Akida Edge box the 'edge' in demanding markets such as industrial, manufacturing, warehouse, high-volume retail, and medical care," claims BrianChip's chief executive officer Sean Hehir of the company's impending launch. "We are excited to partner with an industry leader like VVDN technologies to bring groundbreaking technology to the market."

"There is a strong demand for cost-effective, flexible edge AI computation across many industries," adds VVDN Technologies co-founder and chief executive officer Puneet Agarwal, whose company partnered with BrainChip to bring the Akida Edge Box to life. "VVDN is excited to offer OEMs [Original Equipment Manufacturers] its experience and expertise in bringing the advanced, transformative technology integrations that meet market needs and eventually help them with faster time to market.”

BrainChip showed off the original brain-inspired Akida neuromorphic processing concept at the Linley Fall Processor Conference back in 2019, refining the ecosystem over the next two years before the public launch of development kits built around compact Intel and Raspberry Pi computing systems.

In January last year the company announced full commercialization followed by a partnership with Edge Impulse to make Akida more accessible, and in October this year placed Akida 2.0 in "early access" as what Hehir claimed was a "significant step in BrainChip’s vision to bring unprecedented AI processing power to edge devices, untethered from the cloud."

Technical details of the Akida Edge Box have not yet been disclosed, but the device is likely to take the form of a small form factor or single-board computer coupled with one or more of the company's Akida or Akida 2.0 neuromorphic processing units. This, the company says, will offer support for "cost-effective and low-latency" on-device artificial intelligence workloads like visual detection, patient monitoring, security and surveillance, and manufacturing.

BrainChip and VVDN Technologies plan to formally unveil the Akida Edge Box at the Consumer Electronics Show 2024 in Las Vegas between January 9-12 2024 with a live demo, after which it will go up for pre-order ahead of an unspecified launch date. More information on the company's technology is available on the BrainChip website.