Amazon Web Services Inc. is introducing ‘the world’s first’ deep learning-enabled video camera designed primarily for developers. The product bears the name of AWS DeepLens and is fully programmable while also providing a variety of tools including pre-trained models, tutorials, and code. According to the OEM, the AWS DeepLens allows developers of all skill levels to get started in less than 10 minutes, while AWS developers can run any deep learning framework including Caffe and TensorFlow.
The AWS DeepLens camera is powered by an Intel Atom processor providing an Intel Gen9 Graphics Engine, and according to the OEM the device benefits from over 100 GFLOPS of compute power, which is enough for the camera to be able and process deep learning predictions on high-definition videos in real time. The aforementioned Intel processor is coupled with 8GB of RAM and the device also has 16GB of on-board memory expandable through a microSD card slot. The camera sensor has a resolution of 4-megapixels and is capable of 1080p video recording, and lastly, as far as ports are concerned, the AWS DeepLens features two USB 2.0 connectors, a micro HDMI, and what appears to be a 3.5mm audio output. Hardware specifications aside, the camera is designed to run deep learning models locally, analyze the images and take appropriate action. It’s capable of object detection and classification, and for example, it can tell the difference between a cat and a dog. Furthermore, the camera has face detection capabilities and can recognize more than 30 activities ranging from brushing one’s teeth or applying lipstick to playing the guitar. While it provides a collection of pre-trained deep learning models, the device also relies on Amazon SageMaker and thus it allows users to build custom deep learning models in the cloud.
At the moment Amazon claims this is the world’s first deep learning video camera for developers but it’s important to note that the product is not yet available for purchase, though prospective buyers can pre-order it from Amazon (see banner below) for the price of $249. According to the store page, the AWS DeepLens camera is set to be released on April 14, 2018, so it remains to be seen whether the product will see any competition by the time it will be ready for shipment.
