ORBBEC held a conference yesterday to promote cooperation and knowledge exchange in 3D sensing and AI between industry experts and scientists as well as students from higher education institutions.
ORBBEC CTO was giving a speech. PHOTO: Credit to ORBBEC
Jan 24, 2019 /EqualOcean/ - "The Eye for AI, to see the future - Conference on Advanced Technologies in 3D Sensing and AI" was successfully held yesterday in Nanshan (南山), Shenzhen, China. The forum was held jointly by CAA (Chinese Association of Automation) -PRMI (Pattern Recognition and Machine Intelligence) and CCF (China Computer Federation) –AI. ORBBEC (奥比中光) participated in the conference as an organizer.
The forum invited seven experts and scholars from Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, National University of Defense Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Xiamen University, Sichuan University, Beihang University to give speeches and share their views. The forum built a platform for the exchange of cutting-edge technologies and the latest developments in artificial intelligence and 3D sensing. Many professionals gathered to discuss the practical applications for these advanced technologies and future prospects of AI and 3D sensing. The scientists invited to give speeches in the conference presented their own research, discoveries and software they developed mainly in 3D scenario reconstruction and facial recognition, which enhances the conference participants' understandings of technologies in these fields, also inspired them in terms of potential industrial applications of these technologies.
ZHANG Hanguo (张汉国), executive vice chairman of Shenzhen Nanshan Science and Technology Bureau, attended the forum and said that the forum is of great significance for promoting the deep integration of artificial intelligence IAR (Industry-Academia-Research) in China, and the innovation and development of AI and 3D sensing technologies. He hopes ORBBEC can continue to actively act following national policies and regulations, give full play to the advantages of being a leading company in 3D sensing and AI industry, and strive to make AI 3D sensing into a signature technology in artificial intelligence in Shenzhen, and even in China.
Co-founder and CTO of ORBBEC, XIAO Zhenzhong (肖振中) said in the forum that ORBBEC pays great attention to maintaining close communication and timely synchronization with the research and innovation of universities and scientific research institutions, and continuously deepening the cooperation between industry, higher education as well as research institutions. This not only meets the demand for its own progress but also considered to be a crucial social responsibility for the company to promote the development of the industry.
Founded in 2013, ORBBEC is formed by a group of passionate engineers and researchers, the team's mission is to create the best 3D cameras to empower businesses in the smart home, robotics, 3D Scanning and Printing, entertainment, surveillance and safety, and maybe self-driving in the near future. Though the product portfolio of the company is not comprehensive at all, only includes three camera products, the company is for sure the industry leader in China. Their high-performance 3D cameras are already being used by innovative businesses to bring their ideas and solutions to life. The company has completed four rounds of financing by now, the latest one was led by Ant Financial (蚂蚁金服), the highest valued fintech company in the world.
According to TrendForce's survey, the market value for 3D sensor modules on mobile devices is expected to grow from USD 1.5 billion in 2017 to USD 140 billion in 2020. The compound annual growth rate is expected to reach 209%. Clearly, the 3D sensing market has entered into its booming recently and it's going to further grow at an astonishing speed in the near future as augmented reality and auto-piloting technologies continue to develop, and these industries start to adopt 3D sensing technologies. So the related supply chain will intensify research and development and expand production capacity, hence more opportunities will emerge for ORBBEC.
The company has cooperated with the No.1 company in 3D sensing, Lumentum, using the company's diode lasers in the manufacturing of its cameras. Cooperation resembles this is quite common around the world. Similar cooperations occur between German company Infineon and PMD Technologies AG, as well as AMS AG and Chinese company Sunny Optical Technology (舜宇光学科技集团) 's subsidiary Ningbo Sunny Opotech (宁波舜宇光电信息). STMicroelectronic is also developing laser sensors to achieve faster, farther and more precise measurement to equip businesses in self-driving, smart wearables, IoT and robotics. This reflects the fierce competition between ORBBEC and other foreign companies, which requires the company to conduct more advanced core technology R&D, to individually develop its own and more advanced diode lasers and sensors as soon as possible, as the market suggests the one with the advanced, self-developed core technologies (Lumentum) is the winner so far.