AMD’s New Buzz Word “Surround Computing”

Mark Papermaster, the IBM executive who was named AMD’s chief technology officer last year, prompted discussion on Tuesday at the Hot Chips conference in Silicon Valley to promote “surround computing” a concept that will usher in an era where the intelligence delivered through microprocessors becomes a built-in functionality that integrates into all devices around us.

Papermaster described a world in which natural user interfaces such as gestures, fingerprints and facial recognition replace keyboards, touchscreens and mice for interactive experiences on tablets and other devices. That integration can help users connect in a more natural way with their hardware but ultimately would require more power for servers to keep up with the increased flow of information being processed.

While everyone is always intrigued with the hologram keyboard that is often used in movies or the slick hand movements that pull up video and content, like in the minority report, the reality is that we are a few years away from that and probably a decade away before it becomes something you would see in a home.

I enjoy the competition that AMD and Intel have built over the last decade, and chip performance has certainly improved over that time, but the amount of data and processing needed to deliver these types of enhancements may make the financial cost somewhat impractical, not to mention the peripheral devices needed to interact with the user and the machine. Speech recognition programs have been around for years and despite the best technical minds and improved processing speed, they still do not function at the level that we have come to accept in our movies.

Perhaps the most comical example come from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, when Scotty is trying to build the glass needed to contain the water to transport the whale and he starts off by saying, “computer”, and the owner looks at him and points to the mouse and he picks it up and says “computer”. The irony is that we have envisioned computer interactive designs for over 50 years, so I guess another decade is probably to be expected, at least the chip manufactures are thinking along the next generation of productivity.

Frank Toscano is a 15+ year specialist in cloud based services focusing on Product Management, Marketing and Security within the Cloud. He has worked for EasyLink Services and Premiere Global Services in a global role providing hosted services to Fortune 1000 clients. He is currently seeking employment with a cloud based provider in a senior level Product/Marketing role.