Applied Brain Research

Company profile

Applied Brain Research company profile

Applied Brain Research Inc is the maker of Nengo, a neuromorphic artificial intelligence interactive development environment for building neural computing applications. Neuromorphic computing is an emerging computing architecture which uses artificial neurons to compute like the brain does, massively parallel and low-power. AI networks built on neuromorphic hardware and software compute with less power and use more continuous states as opposed to discrete weight updates as machine learning algorithms do. The benefit is that applications built this way can use less power, be more responsive and more accurate. The neuromorphic architecture allows real-time integration of multiple AI networks into integrated, large, functional systems. Full-loop AI systems can be built with Nengo such as Spaun, the world's largest functional brain simulation. Spaun is ABR's research platform for full-loop service robotics. ABR is first commercializing Nengo as the compiler and runtime for the new generation of neuromorphic chips such as the Intel Loihi, Spinnaker and BrainDrop, as well as ABR's library of neuromorphic applications for these chips such as Reach for robotic reaching, Vision, Speech built on ABR's neuromorphic AI algorithms (spiking deep learning, reinforcement learning, adaptive control, ....). ABR's long run goal is to build its neuromorphic platform into a truly functional service robotic operating system, starting with ABR Reach and guided by the learnings from ABR's research into Spaun. ABR was spun out of Dr Chis Eliasmith's lab at the Center for Computation and Theoretical Neuroscience at the University of Waterloo.