Baidu Launches Augmented Reality Platform for Smartphones

Baidu’s new DuSee platform allows people to make use of augmented reality within the Chinese internet giant’s apps, such as Mobile Baidu search, and takes advertising to the next level.

In a demo of the technology, when a user of the Mobile Baidu app points their smartphone at a map of Shanghai, a virtual 3D representation of Shanghai appears on the smartphone screen — which demonstrates how AR can “unlock” a map, and present new kinds of information in applications such as advertising, entertainment, and tourism.

Baidu Launches Augmented Reality Platform for Smartphones

“DuSee is a natural extension of Baidu’s AI expertise. The platform uses sophisticated computer vision and deep learning to understand and then augment a scene,” said Dr. Andrew Ng, chief scientist of Baidu. “The path to better AR is through better AI.”

For the image recognition and classification work, the team trained its customized convolutional network with NVIDIA Quadro GPUs and CUDA on a database of 10 billion images.

The company has already developed interactive DuSee solutions for the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class Long Wheelbase search engine marketing campaign and Ultra DOUX, a new individual natural hair care brand of L’Oreal China.