Like Oz in the Emerald City, engineers at Nvidia NVDA -1.69% , based in Santa Clara, Calif., are working to give the next generation of automobiles a brain capable of understanding the world around it. “The car is rapidly going to go from the most stupid electronic device a consumer owns to the most powerful supercomputer a consumer will ever own—way more powerful and sophisticated than your phone, tablet, or PC,” says Rob Csongor, vice president and general manager of Nvidia’s automotive business. The ability for a car to detect and understand will require a staggering amount of processing power as automakers add ever more sensors for driving assistance, infotainment, and navigation.

Read more here.