In the opening address at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), Intel CEO Brian Krzanich highlighted new products, tools and programs that support the personalization of computing and described the trends creating new opportunities for developers across a breadth of technologies. Krzanich said computing has become increasingly personal, enhancing nearly all aspects of life. "Computers are on our desks, in our bags, in our clothes, in our homes and on our bodies. They are not only growing smarter and more connected, but gaining senses and becoming an extension of ourselves."

Krzanich detailed many of the essential products, technologies and tools from the company that will help developers make the differentiated experiences possible.

He unveiled a number of updates to Intel RealSense technology that will bring depth sensing to more devices and applications, and announced new collaborations for securing the Internet of Things (IoT), in addition to programs and toolkits for developers to help speed industrial IoT solutions to market. And, for the highly personalized world of wearable computing, Krzanich provided updates on the Intel Curie module and previewed a new reality competition program called "America's Greatest Makers," produced by United Artists Media Group CEO Mark Burnett and appearing across leading networks and properties of Turner Broadcasting.

IDF 2015 News Highlights:

• Intel RealSense technology will be available on a wide-range of platforms, opening up more opportunities for developers to create new depth-sensing hardware and software. In addition to Windows and Android, developers will be able to use Intel RealSense technology with Mac OS X, ROS, Linux, Scratch, Unity, XSplit, OBS, Structure SDK, OSVR, Unreal Engine 4 and Google's Project Tango. Also, a number of developers, including Razer, XSplit and Savioke announced new platforms, peripherals and other solutions based on the Intel RealSense technology.

Demos Showing Intel RealSense Technology

Combining ultra-realistic driving simulator iRacing with one of the advanced hardware simulators from VRX, Intel demonstrated a highly immersive gaming platform using Intel RealSense technology-based head tracking and running on the upcoming 6th generation Intel Core processor. Attendees were able to try the multi-sensory simulation first hand at the Intel
RealSense pavilion. The head-tracking functionality was enabled by a plugin for opentrack, a tracking platform that supports over 500 gaming titles and now enables Intel RealSense Camera users to navigate their driving and flight simulators with real-time head tracking.

The plug-in will be made available for gamers later this year.

During his keynote, Krzanich also demonstrated an evolved version of a "floating display" product that he first introduced earlier this year at CES. This pseudo-holographic interactive display now features haptic feedback. The product was demonstrated at the Intel RealSense pavilion.

Ending Krzanich’s opening keynote was a clutter of mechanical robot spiders, including a giant"mother" spider that featured an Intel RealSense Camera as "eyes", giving the spider the ability to sense depth.

• In collaboration with Google, Intel is combining Google's Project Tango and Intel RealSense technologies into an Android smartphone developer kit. The Intel RealSense Smartphone developer kit featuring Google's Project Tango enables new experiences, including indoor navigation and area learning, virtual reality, 3-D scanning, and more.The developer kit is targeted for release to select Android developers by the end of this year.
• Intel is also collaborating with Mark Burnett's United Artists Media Group and Turner Broadcasting to create a reality competition called "America's Greatest Makers" that will premiere in the first half of 2016 and showcase makers competing for a $1 million prize by inventing wearable technology and smart connected consumer devices powered by the Intel Curie module.
• Intel introduced Intel Optane technology, which is based on the 3D XPoint non-volatile memory media and combined with the company's advanced system memory controller, interface hardware and software IP, to unleash performance potential in a range of forthcoming products. Intel Optane technology will first come to market in a new line of high-endurance, high-performance Intel SSDs beginning in 2016. The new class of memory technology will also power a new line of Intel DIMMs designed for Intel's next-generation data center platforms.
• Fossil Group previewed three Intel technology-based products resulting from its wearables collaboration with Intel first announced in September 2014, including a connected watch running Android Wear. The products will be available in the fourth-quarter of this year.
• Intel's Enhanced Privacy Identification (EPID) technology will be implemented by IoT sensor and microcontroller vendors including Atmel and Microchip to help secure an increasingly smart and connected world.

Intel Curie module

The Intel Curie module is a low–powersolution comes with compute, motion sensors, Bluetooth Low Energy, battery charging capabilities, and pattern matching capabilities for optimized analysis of sensor data. The module is packaged into a very small form factor and runs a new software platform created specifically for Intel Curie module.

Powered by the Intel Quark SE SoC, the Intel Curie module includes:

• Low-power, 32-bit Intel Quark microcontroller 384kB flash memory, 80kB SRAM
• Low-power, integrated DSP sensor hub and pattern matching technology
• Bluetooth Low Energy
• 6-axis combo sensor with accelerometer and gyroscope
• Battery charging circuitry (PMIC)

Intel announced a new software platform created specifically for the Intel Curie module, which includes all of the hardware, firmware, software and application SDK needed to enable a variety of device experiences. Intel IQ Software Kits will support future versions of this platform.