Computers may soon be like brains

Stanford scientists work to develop new type of device

SAN FRANCISCO - Kwabena Boahen, a professor of bioengineering and of electrical engineering at Stanford University, has envisioned a new generation of computers to be brainlike, or neuromorphic, machines that are vastly more efficient than the conventional digital computers.

As conventional computer chips are not up to the challenges posed by next-generation autonomous drones and medical implants, "we have reached the point where we need to do something different", says Boahen, also a member of Stanford Bio-X and the Stanford Neurosciences Institute.