Baidu Introduces DuSee, New Augmented Reality Platform for Smartphones

Dr. Andrew Ng: "DuSee Is a Natural Extension of Baidu's Expertise in Artificial Intelligence; The Path to Better AR Is Through Better AI"


BEIJING, CHINA--(Marketwired - Aug 3, 2016) - Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), China's leading search engine, today announced DuSee, a new augmented reality (AR) platform developed for smartphones.

DuSee will be integrated into Baidu's flagship platform apps, such as the Mobile Baidu search app, which has a vast user base of hundreds of millions of monthly active mobile users.

DuSee is a collaboration between Baidu Research's Institute of Deep Learning (IDL) and Baidu's search products, sales and marketing teams. It is the culmination of a 3D vision research project that began nearly two years ago.

The DuSee platform can be used for a range of applications, including interactive advertising and marketing. For example, Baidu has developed DuSee-based solutions for:

  • The All 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.

The announcement was made at the 2016 Baidu Smart Marketing Solutions Conference, held today in Beijing.

At the event, Andrew Ng, Chief Scientist of Baidu, described how DuSee leverages artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

"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. Ng. "The path to better AR is through better AI."

Rather than building the specialized goggle hardware traditionally used in augmented reality and virtual reality applications, Baidu has focused on developing advanced software that leverages existing smartphone hardware.

IDL Director Yuanqing Lin stated: "Many smartphone AR apps today work by 'pasting' a cartoon on top of the camera image, regardless of that image's contents. The next generation of AR apps will use AI to understand the 3D environment, and create virtual objects that have rich interactions with the user and the real world. We are excited about future directions such as integrating AR with speech recognition and natural language processing."

Zeng Hua, Baidu's Key Account Department Senior Director, commented: "DuSee is a great fit for many applications, from interactive advertising and education to manufacturing and interior design. DuSee will enable our customers to deliver a delightful real-time AR experience to the millions of people who use Baidu's mobile apps every day, thus quickly bringing AR to a huge population."

About Baidu
Baidu, Inc. is the leading Chinese language Internet search provider. As a technology-based media company, Baidu aims to provide the best and most equitable way for people to find what they're looking for. In addition to serving individual Internet search users, Baidu provides an effective platform for businesses to reach potential customers. Baidu's ADSs trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "BIDU". Currently, ten ADSs represent one Class A ordinary share.

Contact Information:

Contact Information
Calisa Cole
press-baidu-usa@baidu.com

An augmented reality demo from Baidu shows a poster with a map of Shanghai. When users of the Mobile Baidu app point their smartphones at the map, a virtual 3D representation of Shanghai appears on the smartphone screen. This demonstrates how AR can "unlock" a map,  and present new kinds of information in applications such as advertising, entertainment and tourism.