Two professors get NSF grant to study how machines process visual information

Ryad Benosman, professor of ophthalmology at the Pitt School of Medicine who holds appointments in electrical engineering and bioengineering, and Feng Xiong, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Swanson School of Engineering, received $500,000 from the National Science Foundation to conduct research on better, more efficient way for machines to process visual information..

The Pitt research will develop a neuromorphic vision system that takes a new approach to capturing visual information that is based on the human brain, benefitting everything from self-driving vehicles to neural prosthetics.

“We believe this work will lead to transformative advances in bio-inspired neuromorphic processing architectures, sensing, with major applications in self-driving vehicles, neural prosthetics, robotics and general artificial intelligence,” Benosman said. 

The grant will begin July 1 and is expected to last until June 30, 2022.