LG and Microsoft: automotive market at the heart of new agreement
It was during the Las Vegas Trade Fair, CES 2019, that LG and Microsoft announced their new partnership. The companies will share their knowledge and technologies to "accelerate the automotive revolution" by working together on infotainment and autonomous driving systems.
LG and Microsoft have signed a new agreement and no, we're not talking about smartphones this time. The two companies will work together in the automotive market. LG's infotainment and driver assistance systems will leverage Azure's cloud and Microsoft's AI technologies.
The press release details how the two companies will share their knowledge:
"LG will apply Microsoft’s AI knowhow to its Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), Driver-Status Monitoring Camera (DSM) and Multi-Purpose Front Camera products and incorporate Microsoft’s Virtual Assistant Solution Accelerator in LG’s infotainment systems. And with Azure Data Box service, data captured on the road can be uploaded automatically to create a library that helps the self-driving software grow even smarter.
In addition, LG plans to build innovative digital development and testing grounds employing state-of-the-art technology. High-performance computing (HPC) and graphics processing unit (GPU) supported by Microsoft Azure will drastically reduce the time required for LG AI self-driving software to learn and evolve. Road and traffic patterns in cities that would normally require more than a full day for self-driving systems to comprehend would take only minutes with Azure.
And Azure can help AI self-driving software learn diverse patterns displayed by drivers as well as recognize and distinguish between pedestrians and other objects. By embedding AI self-driving software enhanced by Azure within the ADAS, performance of the DSM and Multi-Purpose Front Camera can be dramatically improved.
In addition to its ability to train AI self-driving software, Azure also has a voice-enabled Virtual Assistant Solution Accelerator with its AI services. With help from Azure, LG’s vehicle infotainment system will allow drivers to easily and quickly check traffic conditions on the road, search for nearby restaurants, call up favorite songs and more.
Kim Jin-yong, president of LG's Vehicle Component Solutions Company, said he was confident that the combination of LG and Microsoft technologies would become a benchmark in the AI-driven vehicle industry.
"Our expectation is that the combination of Microsoft’s advanced cloud infrastructure with LG’s fast-growing automotive components business will accelerate the self-driving auto industry as a wholee" - Kim Jin-yong
How do you imagine an entertainment system resulting from this collaboration? For now, we hope not to have to fight with the blue screen of death also on our future cars...
