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Imec-built microchip teaches itself how to compose music

12 May 2017

World leader in nano-electronics and digital technology imec has developed a self-teaching microchip. It is inspired on how the human brain works, learns from its own experiences and can compose its own music, a world's first.

Scientists have always been inspired by the human brain when it comes to data processing and energy efficiency. Researchers at imec have made a significant step towards the ultimate microchip by developing one that optimizes the built in patterns based on its experiences, a so-called 'neuromorphic chip'.

This new chip is capable of associating past experiences with new experiences. The more experiences the chip has, the stronger the associations become. That's how the microchip learned how to compose its own music.

Neuromorphic chips of this kind can be used in an array of domains such as the Internet of Things (IoT), healthcare, energy, intelligent data management and so on. For instance, neuromorphic chips used in heart monitors can sense subtle heart rate changes which possibly imply health risks. By doing so, these chips could learn to recognize different patterns of electrocardiogram (ECG) patterns.

Visit this page to listen to the chip's composed song.

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