It was challenging in every way imaginable. There was no existing algorithm that could deliver the accuracy and robustness we required. It had to run within the limited power budget of a phone. And it had to be done quickly before the hardware became uncompetitive.
At the time it was given to me it was a rough demo with no clear path forward to shipping. We had no metrics to tell how good it was, how good it had to be, or whether we were even making progress. We had no team of computer vision experts to work on core algorithms. We had no idea if the problem was solvable at any amount of power consumption. There were more than a few people within the company who thought it couldn't be done.
I want to be very clear about credit. I put this as the hardest thing I have ever done but I was only the manager in charge of the project. While I built the team and owned the problem, I did not write the code or design the algorithms. I had incredible people who did outstanding engineering work and researchers who advanced the boundaries of computer vision. It was a privilege to work with them and I am proud of them.
At the time it was given to me it was a rough demo with no clear path forward to shipping. We had no metrics to tell how good it was, how good it had to be, or whether we were even making progress. We had no team of computer vision experts to work on core algorithms. We had no idea if the problem was solvable at any amount of power consumption. There were more than a few people within the company who thought it couldn't be done.
I want to be very clear about credit. I put this as the hardest thing I have ever done but I was only the manager in charge of the project. While I built the team and owned the problem, I did not write the code or design the algorithms. I had incredible people who did outstanding engineering work and researchers who advanced the boundaries of computer vision. It was a privilege to work with them and I am proud of them.