At Computex in Taipei this week, Intel held a Technology Open House and debuted its 10th generation Intel Core processors and prototype devices that combine ambient computing, artificial intelligence and modular computing. Project Athena to bring AI to the PC was also on display, and the company unveiled its Intel NUC Compute Element, available for several processors. Intel corporate vice president of client engineering Jim Johnson stressed that the company is putting “a new class of compute performance and intelligence in people’s hands.”

VentureBeat reports that “ambient compute or ambient intelligence refers to electronic environments that are responsive to the presence of people,” or, more simply put, “PCs that are always on, aware, and sensing so they can adapt to people’s needs.” Dubbed Mohawk River, the Intel ambient PC prototype is a laptop that is “always ready and proactively adapting to users,” and can anticipate their needs via “human presence sensors, 180-degree cameras, exterior secondary displays and Intel local voice ID.”

The prototype can “connect with people using closed-lid intelligence, allowing for seamless transition from open lid to closed lid and back again,” and stay connected even in closed-lid mode when in transition. Intel also mentioned “hands-free login with Windows Hello and Intel Context Sensing Technology.”

Intel’s AI on PC Development Kit, created in partnership with Microsoft and Asus, will debut in July 19, and is comprised of “an Asus ZenBook Pro 14 UX450FDA laptop with the latest AI software and hardware technologies for developers.” Powered by an Intel Movidius Myriad X VPU, the laptop has “a 14-inch display, 16GB of RAM, and a 512 GB SSD,” and comes loaded with “Windows 10, Windows ML libraries, Intel Distribution of OpenVINO toolkit, Intel Distribution for Python, and a 30-day trial of Visual Studio 2019 Enterprise.”

Intel stated that, “the three hardware engines will be able to run a diverse range of AI workloads.”

In addition, the first Intel NUC Compute Element products are slated for release in the first six months of 2020. It “incorporates an Intel CPU, memory, and connectivity … [and] is capable of powering laptops, kiosks, smart TVs, appliances, and so on.” No prices were announced. Intel also stated that the Intel Optane memory M15 will be available in Q3 2019.