Microsoft Build 2018: New AI strategy and a more open Microsoft

“With the advent of intelligent cloud and intelligent edge computing, these developments present tremendous opportunities for developers, but also a huge responsibility to ensure that the technology we build is trustworthy, reliable, and beneficial to society.”

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's keynote speech announced the opening of the Microsoft Build 2018 conference held in Seattle, USA from May 7 to May 9 this year.

Next, NetEase Intelligence will be the first to tell you about Microsoft’s Build 2018 this year.

In summary, this year Microsoft has open-sourced Azure IoT Edge Runtime and announced collaborations with Qualcomm and DJI; launched Project Kinect for Azure, a sensor suite including Microsoft's new generation of depth cameras and mixed reality technology; and enabled developers to use the languages ​​and frameworks of their choice to build new applications across Azure, Microsoft 365, and other platforms.

Currently, different types of smart devices are rapidly emerging in homes and commercial settings, and the total number is expected to exceed 20 billion by 2020.

To this end, Microsoft Build 2018 brings their latest progress in intelligent edge computing and intelligent cloud. The first is to announce the open source of Azure IoT Edge Runtime, allowing users to modify and debug edge applications with greater transparency and control.

This will allow customized visual services to run on Azure IoT Edge. Drone manufacturer DJI has partnered with Microsoft to launch a new development kit (SDK) for Windows 10 computers, and has selected Azure as the preferred cloud platform. DJI and Microsoft will also use Azure IOT Edge and Microsoft artificial intelligence services to jointly develop solutions for agriculture, construction, public safety and more application scenarios.

At the same time, Microsoft announced a collaboration with Qualcomm to create a visual artificial intelligence development kit running Azure IoT Edge. Developers can use Azure machine learning services and the hardware acceleration of Qualcomm Visual Intelligence Platform and Qualcomm AI Engine to develop application solutions. Cameras can also be used for more advanced Azure services such as machine learning, stream analysis, and cognitive services, and can be downloaded from the cloud to the edge environment and run locally.

Early this morning, Microsoft also announced Project Kinect for Azure, a sensor suite that includes Microsoft's next-generation depth camera and the ability to perform artificial intelligence computing in edge environments.

According to reports, Project Kinect for Azure can help developers better utilize environmental intelligence to create rich and colorful application scenarios. A variety of sensors including Microsoft's time-of-flight (TOF) depth sensor are integrated into a small, low-power device. According to information, it can track the movement of all hand joints and draw high-definition spatial maps, which will make higher-precision solutions possible.

Project Kinect for Azure

Microsoft hopes to fully leverage the power of data, machine learning, and cognitive intelligence so that developers can build and manage solutions with built-in artificial intelligence.

They also bring some developer tools for this.

1. The Voice Device Development Kit (SDK) released today provides advanced sound processing for multi-channel audio sources to achieve more accurate speech recognition, including noise reduction, far-field sound recognition, etc.

2. Azure Cosmos DB upgrade adds a new global-scale asynchronous multi-master database that supports cloud and edge deployment, and deployment in commercial VNETs will bring better security;

3. Project Brainwave is now available in preview. This architecture for deep neural network processing can be used in Azure and edge environments. Project Brainwave makes Azure the fastest cloud platform for running artificial intelligence in real time;

4. Updates to Azure Cognitive Services include a unified speech service;

5. The latest upgrades to Bot Framework and cognitive services will bring richer conversations, more complete personality and voice customization capabilities to the new generation of conversational robots.

It has to be said that Microsoft is working hard to make Azure the best development platform for artificial intelligence conversations.

At the event, Microsoft also talked about the upgrade of mixed reality technology many times. Similarly, Microsoft's newly launched Project Kinect for Azure, which we just talked about, is a sensor suite that includes Microsoft's time-of-flight depth camera. It can help developers better use environmental intelligence to create rich and colorful application scenarios.

In addition, with Microsoft Remote Assist, users can achieve remote collaboration through head-up visible, hands-free video calls, image sharing, and mixed reality annotations; with Microsoft Layout, users can combine the actual environment with mixed reality to design spaces. Simply import a 3D model to create a room of real size, and then experience the actual effect of the design through holographic images in a real physical space or in a completely virtual reality world, and share and change these designs with others in real time.

It is foreseeable that these upgrades will bring more possibilities to Hololens.

Microsoft also wants to enable developers to build new types of applications across Azure, Microsoft 365 and other platforms using the languages ​​and frameworks of their choice.

It is understood that the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) released today can greatly simplify the process of developers building and running container-based solutions without the need for extensive Kubernetes configuration experience; Visual Studio IntelliCode is a new feature that uses artificial intelligence capabilities to improve the efficiency of daily software development; and Visual Studio Live Share is now available in preview, which allows developers to collaborate with team members in real time more easily and securely. Other members can use their existing tools such as Visual Studio 2017 and Visual Studio Code to directly edit and debug the code.

In addition, based on the mutual commitment of both parties to developers and the open source community, Microsoft announced a new collaboration with GitHub to bring Azure development and operation integrated online service capabilities to GitHub users. Today, the integration of Visual Studio App Center and GitHub was released, and GitHub developers can experience the automated development and operation process that is seamlessly connected with GitHub when developing mobile applications for iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS devices.

At the Build conference, Microsoft also allows developers to flexibly choose their favorite programming languages ​​and frameworks for development and design. Microsoft 365 will also bring new opportunities for developers. Microsoft announced a series of upgrades to bring a different experience to Microsoft 365, especially for developers.

Microsoft's open source platform's current "circle of friends"

Not only will it serve more developers, the information Microsoft released this time will be more open. They hope to work with more partners to develop technologies such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

In addition, Microsoft announced today the launch of the "AI for Accessibility Initiative", which will invest $25 million over the next five years to develop artificial intelligence technology that can enhance human capabilities.

We noticed that there were more Chinese faces at Microsoft Build 2018 this year.

Based on the cooperation, DJI Innovations from China released a software development kit (SDK) for Windows, expanding commercial drone technology to the enterprise developer community, which is equivalent to opening up drone technology to nearly 700 million Windows 10 users worldwide. They also announced that they have selected Microsoft Azure intelligent cloud platform as their preferred cloud computing partner.

In addition to DJI, Microsoft also talked about Huawei and Beijing Smart Butler Company in its speech. Nadella believes that AI in chat requires new applications, and developers need to build robots and agents that are truly suitable for their business. Microsoft is launching "more than 100 new features" for conversational robots, and Huawei is equipped with Azure AI technology.

The cooperation between Beijing Smart Butler (ROOBO) and Microsoft is mainly based on the artificial intelligence solution platform ROS.AI. Now this platform has begun to apply the research results in the fields of Microsoft Azure intelligent cloud and voice and image recognition. ROS.AI is an integrated AI solution that includes necessary functions such as hardware, software, and background AI cloud services. All hardware is provided in the form of standard modules.

Source: NetEase Intelligence

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