PROJECT NAME: NON-STANDARD DATA AND IMAGE PROCESSING - FROM NONLINEAR OPTICS TO QUANTUM COMPUTING (OptiQ)  

PROJECT TYPE: HORIZON TMA MSCA Staff Exchanges, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

 

PROJECT DURATION

01/01/2023– 31/12/2026

 

PROJECT COORDINATOR

POLITECHNIKA SLASKA (PL)

 

EU PARTNERS:

SBA RESEARCH GEMEINNUTZIGE GMBH (AT) 

BOSON ENERGY (LU) 

LG NEXERA BUSINESS SOLUTIONS AG (AT) 

UNIVERSITE DU LUXEMBOURG (LU)  

UKRAINIAN PARTNERS:

DNIPRO UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Project website: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101080374 

EU GRANT:

1 196 000,00 €

 

PROJECT SUMMАRY

The OptiQ project is focused on non-standard data and image processing methods which will lead to advances in quantum computing (QC). The project is designed as a platform for collaboration of academia (Silesian University of Technology in Poland), research (Austrian Institute of Technology and Security Business Austria) and industry (Boson Energy from Luxemburg, LG Nexera from Vienna, and Envelo from Warsaw) in a common purpose to achieve beyond state-of-the-art progress in applications of quantum optics phenomena for quantum communication and computation, in particular for quantum image processing and security. The deployment potential of these latter applications will be exploited by Boson Energy in green energy sector and by Envelo in digital secure communication, respectively. Through common implementation of an ambitious research programme, the project will generate novel skills for all consortium participants. Interdisciplinary and intersectoral staff training will serve as a basis for technology transfer and knowledge sharing between participants leading to elaboration and implementation of desired solutions. In this way, the project will strengthen collaboration between Beneficiaries in quantum computing and communication (QCC) and in optical image processing (OIP). In particular, the Consortium will focus on technology of entangled photons production and its application to Qbit building, quantum security, quantum block-chain technology and quantum communication. To facilitate contact with quantum optics, an Augmented Reality aided simulator & designer of optical quantum setups will be also developed. Particular attention will be paid to wide and efficient dissemination and communication. Due to these measures, OptiQ project will strengthen career perspectives of participating scientists, become the foundation for lasting collaborations in exploitation of results, and increase competitiveness of European Research Area and industry on the world’s QCC scene.

 

IMPACT:

In the area of quantum processing on NISQ computers, the proposed project will contribute to scientific advances across the quantum computation and computer vision by creating new branch of quantum methods for image and video processing. Those methods will be characterised by three advantageous properties: (1) they will not have classical part (non-hybrid), (2) they will not be merely implementations of classical methods, and (3) they will be founded on quantum sampling-based computation. Therefore, this approach by utilising the most of the quantum nature of quantum computers (i.e. both, the model and generation of the results), gives the scientific advantage as compared to hybrid or classically inspired methods. Hence, we can expect that such methods will outperform hybrid models (where a part of computations is done on a classical computer) or models inspired by classical methods (e.g., CNN) and mapped to the quantum computer (which is not always possible or efficient and needs additional assumptions, often times). Creation of the modules for those methods in commonly known programming language python and making them available (through open science), will spread the knowledge among computer scientists and software developers, making quantum technologies more common, and available to use in practical solutions as well as in further research in computer vision and machine learning.

 

OBJECTIVES:

The research objectives in global scale, are: 

1) optical based QC protocol targeted for image processing – to elaborate and implement experimental proof-of-concept at TRL3; 

2) Bell’s inequality with humans’ presence – to validate through experiments a proof-of-concept at TRL3; 

3) Image representation in quantum optical circuit – to validate through experiments a proof-of-concept at TRL3.

 The innovation objectives in global scale, are: 

1) Augmented Reality aided tool for designing, visualizing and simulation of the quantum optical circuit – to demonstrate prototype in relevant environment at TRL6; 

2) Object detection and recognition from images on real, NISQ (Noisy, Intermediate Scale Quantum) computer – to demonstrate quantum software in relevant environment at TRL6. 

Contact person: Kateryna Priazhnikova priazhnikova.k.v@nmu.one