Baidu AI, Augmented Reality and The Du Series

Note also Baidu's work on Virtual Assistants.   Its a natural connection to AR, since the augmentation can include required levels of assistance.  Don't see why other practitioners of the space do not combine the two.   The Pokemon explosion has alerted people to the possibilities of visual augmentation.    Another layer of augmentation is possible today.

Baidu Is Bringing Intelligent AR to the Masses
An augmented-reality system powered by computer vision and deep learning will add an extra layer to the real world for millions of people.   by Jamie Condliffe   

The Chinese Internet giant Baidu has announced a new AR platform that will allow people to make use of the technology from within many of the company’s own apps.

The system, called DuSee, is claimed to make use of "sophisticated computer vision and deep learning" to “understand the 3-D environment, and create virtual objects that have rich interactions with the user and the real world.” The platform seems to sit somewhere between basic AR systems, like those used in Pokémon Go, and more advanced technologies, such as Google’s Tango. The former simply drops animations onto a device’s screen to make it look like they’re in situ without any analysis of the real world; the latter uses special 3-D camera technology to map the local environment and overlay visual graphics.

Instead, DuSee seems to make use of a smartphone’s single camera, using computer vision software to detect and interpret what it sees in order to add a layer of extra information for the user  ... " 

See also Duer, DuLight and DuSee ...  Apparently other Du- efforts of Baidu.

More AI in the Everyday World

In Wired:  Which starts by describing work that Chinese group Baidu is doing in this space, still in early prototype:   " ... one of the company’s latest prototypes. It’s called DuLight. The device contains a tiny camera that captures whatever is in front of you—a person’s face, a street sign, a package of food—and sends the images to an app on your smartphone. The app analyzes the images, determines what they depict, and generates an audio description that’s heard through to your earpiece. If you can’t see, you can at least get an idea of what’s in front of you. ... " 

Note its relationship to their personal assistant system Duer.