Speaker: Dr. Nikhil Balram, President and CEO of Ricoh Innovations Corporation
Title: Making Computer Vision Work for Humans
Abstract: Image recognition using feature matching has existed for well over a decade. But it has not seen large scale mainstream use because of the gap between what different variants of the technology can deliver versus the kind of natural usage people have in mind for their personal or business tasks. Bridging that gap has required the use of the Deep Innovation model to produce computer vision solutions that can be used by ordinary people to enhance their work and lives. This seminar will provide an overview of the state of the art in these techniques and illustrate, with demonstrations, how these are being implemented into useful and natural solutions. It will also provide a vision of the future.
Speaker Biography: Dr. Nikhil Balram is President and CEO of Ricoh Innovations Corporation (ric.ricoh.com), a Silicon Valley company that develops innovative technologies and creates glo bal new businesses for Ricoh Company Ltd. With over 20 years of experience, Dr. Balram is widely hailed throughout industry and academia as an expert and innovator in advanced information technologies and has been an officer of five publicly listed companies. He has won numerous awards including a 2012 Gold Stevie® Award for Executive of the Year in the Electronics category in The 9th Annual International Business Awards, a 2012 Fellow Award by the Society for Information Display (SID) and the 2011 Alumni Achievement Award by Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Balram is an adjunct professor of electrical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, visiting professor of vision science at the University of California, Berkeley, a guest professor of design and innovation at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Gandhinagar, India, and serves on the Industry Advisory Board (IAB) at the School of Engineering at Santa Clara University. He has over 100 US and international patents granted or pending, more than 40 technical publications, including two invited book chapters, and has given over 25 keynote speeches at major conferences and events worldwide, including the 2013 Silicon Valley Business App (SVBA) Awards and the International Business Forum at the 2013 Ricoh Women’s British Open at St. Andrews, UK. He received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.