Hardware acceleration refers to the use of specialized hardware, such as graphics processing units (GPUs) or field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), to improve the performance of certain tasks or applications. This approach offloads specific computations from the CPU to the dedicated hardware, allowing for faster processing and improved efficiency. Hardware acceleration is commonly used in tasks such as video encoding, scientific simulations, machine learning, and cryptography. It is often employed in parallel computing environments to speed up complex calculations and optimize data processing.