I believe the "approximate computing" (also "inexact computing" or "soft computing") to be one area. Computers always do exactly what you tell them, but that c

I believe the "approximate computing" (also "inexact computing" or "soft computing") to be one area. Computers always do exactly what you tell them, but that correctness is resource intensive. With the "approximate computing" you know you don't need an exact result because maybe you're showing it to a human who doesn't care about the difference between 3.40000 and 3.40001. What if you get that inexact result for half the power? (That's the level of claims I've seen). That is similar to "analog computation" you might perform in your brain, e.g. recognizing a face is not 100% accurate. Here's an article about it: http://news.rice.edu/2012/05/17/computing-experts-unveil-superefficient-inexact-chip/ http://news.rice.edu/2012/05/17/computing-experts-unveil-sup... A bunch of more serious resources: http://shakithweblog.blogspot.dk/2012/11/approximate-computing.html http://shakithweblog.blogspot.dk/2012/11/approximate-computi...