Some of us carry backpacks for mandatory reasons, it might be for school, work, or holidays; the span is pretty wide. Looks like Microsoft is aware of this too, and the company wants to make human life easier by coming up with an innovative solution for all backpackers.
According to one of the patent applications filed by Microsoft, the tech giant is working on a new AI-powered backpack that could be useful in various ways.
What does Microsoft’s AI-powered backpack offer?
With its built-in AI, Microsoft’s backpack is like having a personal assistant on your back. It can help you with everything from finding your way around to finding the best deals.
Whether you’re on a business trip or just running errands, the backpack can be a valuable tool for staying organized and productive. Microsoft says that the backpack is designed to be more portable and context-aware than current digital assistants. This means that it would be able to follow the user around and provide assistance wherever they are.
As seen in the image above provided by Microsoft itself, the AI-assisted backpack can be very useful in certain aspects. It could even save lives as shown in the example above, in which a person is warned to return to their ski bounds, and the area that they are trying to go is out of bounds.
“The present concepts relate to an artificial intelligence assisted smart wearable that can function as a hands-free digital assistant. Moreover, the wearable may be context-aware such that a user can provide contextual commands that relate to the environment in which the user is situated and the wearable can understand the contextual command by sensing the environment and using artificial intelligence,” Microsoft’s detailed description read.
However, please be aware that these kinds of tech giants file many patent applications yearly, and most of them disappear in time as they decide not to continue with the project. It is unclear if the AI-powered backpack is one of those put on dusty shelves.
Microsoft’s investments in the field are getting bigger and bigger
Microsoft made its intentions in the artificial intelligence field very clear after the partnership with OpenAI. The tech giant invested a huge amount of money and cleared the way for OpenAI to dominate the scene with ChatGPT for the upcoming years. As a result, Microsoft implemented generative AI technologies into its tools, Copilot’s birth came thanks to this investment or partnership, however you want to call it.
Moreover, that is not the only investment the company made this year. KPMG and Microsoft have partnered to invest $2 billion in artificial intelligence (AI) over the next five years. The partnership will focus on developing AI tools that can help KPMG’s businesses automate tasks, improve decision-making, and identify new opportunities. KPMG and Microsoft will also work together to develop AI tools that can help KPMG’s clients comply with regulations.
This investment is part of a broader trend of consulting firms investing in AI. Rival consulting firms like PwC and Accenture have also made large-scale commitments to AI. This suggests that the use of AI is becoming increasingly important in the consulting industry.
The tech behemoth has even bigger plans in the field, and the executives are convinced that artificial intelligence will build the future. As mentioned, Microsoft’s AI-powered backpack patent might never see sunlight in the future, and the company might forget it just like hundreds of other patents. Either way, it is clear that Microsoft’s involvement in the AI industry will not be less than where it stands today.
