ProfessorOmid Kavehei

While the human brain remains unparalleled in its ability to perform highly sophisticated information processing on extremely limited energy resources, Prof Omid Kavehei's research in the field of nanoelectronics aims to lead to the development of a new breed of tiny intelligent devices to collectively emulate this capability in hardware more closely than ever. Such devices are expected to be able to solve a wide range of issues involving sensory perception.

"A healthy human brain delivers an impressive information processing capability on very limited energy resources. Unlike modern artificial intelligence (AI) models, the brain does not require excessively high amounts of data to achieve an optimum learning point. It can learn 'on the fly' from experience, memory and multisensory data streams, using input from our auditory, visual, olfactory, gustatory and tactile senses.

"Despite massive improvement in today's AI models and their successful practicality, they are still far from being truly intelligent or closely brain-inspired. They require excessively large training datasets and a form of supervised approach, and they consume a lot of energy.

"I believe low-power nanoelectronic devices that mimic operation of biological neurons and synapses could lead to truly intelligent brain-inspired systems that could learn from experience.

"Tiny intelligent devices that can run on batteries could revolutionise several industries, from medical devices to the internet of things. For instance, one potential application is epileptic seizures forecasting. Most people who are diagnosed with refractory epilepsy are not responsive to medication. Other than surgery, a possible step forward to improve these people's lives could be the development of an intelligent system that forecasts seizures using brain signals. Such a system must be ultra-low-power, run on batteries and learn from patients' neural activity over time to be truly effective. The system could either warn the patient about the possibility of an upcoming seizure or, as part of a responsive implant, activate neural stimulation to avoid seizures.