Science fiction tends to be viewed as fanciful, but its power for guiding the development of the real world is beyond doubt.

As a tech company with scientists who tend to think seriously and circumspectly, we believe the import of ideas from fiction authors who have original imagination and a sense of human and life will produce better innovative products to benefit human.

We invited six top-level science fiction authors, including Liu Cixin, author of The Three-Body Problem, to launch the Baidu Verne Institute. Spearheaded by our scientists, this initiative aims to explore the future of human life. It is a platform for meeting of minds of fiction authors and scientists to produce innovative AI products.

By turning science fiction into reality, the Baidu Verne Institute shows our determination to explore the future with technology.

As a platform for meeting of minds, Baidu Verne Institute has contained six top-level science fiction authors, including Liu Cixin, author of The Three-Body Problem and a group of our scientists for the time being.

In the first stage, Andrew Ng, Chief Scientist of Baidu, and Liu Cixin, attended an AI-themed open talk to discuss what AI is and what it will be.

Currently the platform is still at the early stage and is developing.

Scientists and authors under the institute hold discussions over original ideas from time to time.

The first AI product from the institute was born, and now in the test phase.

The product is called Dulight, a device to enable the blind understand their surroundings through image recognition technology.

For more information for the product, please refer to this link: http://dulight.baidu.com.

Since being revealed, the Baidu Verne Institute has received extensive attention.

The video of the first talk between scientist and author has been played for over 10 million times.

The Baidu Index of our institute (a tool like Google Trends) has soared to 1,430,000.

Over 200 reports and 1,690 pieces of news by well-known print, online and television media outlets have appeared commentating on it.The Baidu Verne Institute boasts an amazing power of self-dissemination, with over 30 million reads via WeChat and Sina Weibo.

More than 20 financial consulting websites have followed suit by recommending AI-benefited stocks for free.

More innovative and beneficial products are coming.