Need a computer that’s smaller than a single grain of salt? IBM has got you covered. The company a rel=”nofollow” target=”_blank” href=”https://mashable.com/2018/03/19/ibm-worlds-smallest-computer/#uENthH2CigqV”>recently unveiled what they’re calling the world’s smallest computer – and according to IBM, it “packs several hundred thousand transistors into a footprint barely visible to the human eye.”
The world’s smallest computer is one-by-one millimeter in size, according to The Verge. IBM says it can have as many as one million transistors and will cost under 10 cents to create. Features include an LED communications unit and photo-detector, static random-access memory (SRAM), and an integrated photovoltaic cell. The photo above is actually a set of 64 motherboards, according to The Verge, each of which contain two of the world’s smallest computers. Below is a solo computer on salt to give you an idea of its small size:
Related: IBM creates first-ever artificial neurons that behave like the real thing
The miniscule computer is among the IBM Research team’s 5 in 5 technology predictions, which they “believe will fundamentally reshape business and society in the next five years,” according to a blog post from IBM Research head Arvind Krishna. Krishna called the computer a cryptographic anchor, or crypto-anchor — defined in an IBM video as “tamper-proof digital-fingerprints” to be embedded into products to ensure authenticity and detect counterfeit items. The company is showing off their 5 in 5 at the IBM Think 2018 conference.
Mashable said testing of the first prototype is still underway, so there’s no word yet on when exactly the world’s smallest computer will be available, although Krishna said cryptographic anchors “will be embedded in everyday objects and devices” in around five years.
+ Changing the Way the World Works: IBM Research’s “5 in 5”
+ IBM 5 in 5: Crypto-anchors and blockchain
Images via IBM and IBM
