Microsoft submitted a patent for a multi-purpose backpack powered by Artificial Intelligence(AI). Intel has released a backpack with an integrated GPS, but compared to that, this one is way ahead of the game. This backpack will be able to answer location-agnostic questions, like Siri, but also be able to help the user understand and react to the world around them, all hands-free. This backpack contains a microphone, camera, network interface, processor, storage, pressure sensor, a compass, GPS unit, and biometric sensor in the straps to be able to understand the user’s environment.
This could be useful for anyone who has bad eyesight or is completely blind because the backpack itself can interpret the environment it is in. It can provide information using speakers and haptics. It uses the compass, GPS unit, and biometric sensor inside the backpack to help answer the user’s questions. With these, it can answer questions from the directions to get home, to the safest route to take when skiing. When in a grocery store, you can use the camera to scan an item and compare the price of it where you are vs. other stores, see what the price has been in the last couple of weeks, and see if it is on sale.
To avoid other people nearby from asking questions prevent the backpack, you will be able to specifically recognize the user’s voice. It can use it’s own battery to charge the user’s devices, like a tablet or phone. According to Microsoft, if the user faces, for example, a concert poster , the backpack would be able to see all the information on the poster and add it to the user’s calendar.
The process of how the backpack performs a task or answers a question goes as follows. First, it will automatically sense its surroundings and send that information to the AI engine. Next, the server interprets that information through speech recognition. After that, the AI responds either with an answer, acknowledging that a task has been done, or a prompt to ask for more information from you.
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https://mspoweruser.com/microsoft-smart-backpack-patent/
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/microsoft-patents-sensor-filled-ai-assisted-backpack
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/microsofts-ai-powered-backpack-approved
