There's a chance a chalk board making its way around Rice University could end up in a museum one day.
Seriously.
Likely next to other milestones in technology like the Ipod or Digital camera.
That's because the chalk board is a mock-up for a solar powered classroom-aid called the I-Slate. A hi-tech chalk board that will teach basic math skills to kids in third world countries. It's made possible with a computer chip developed by Dr Krishna Palem. A computer chip that makes mistakes on purpose.
"You are trading off accuracy in chip design for energy design," says Dr. Palem.
Dr. Palem is talking about "Probabilistic chips". The chips use 30 times less electricity than standard processors. So its kind of like powering a device with a trickle of water instead of the "faucet" turned completely on.
The chips create tradeoffs in quality of performance for better energy efficiency. So if you watched a movie on a laptop powered by one of these chips--you may notice some glitches in the video. However, the laptop could go for days without a charge. There is talk about putting these chips in things like cell phones one day.
Putting them in a device like the I-Slate could mean kids without access to basics like electricity would get a self-sustaining learning tool.
A prototype should be ready in less than a year. Dr Palem and his team plan on giving the first one to a rural school in India.
