Coolest technologies at 5th World Internet Conference

(Chinanews.com/Wu Tao)

A minibus with no driver or driver’s cab, a customized anchorperson, and a mobile phone with a screen that can be folded…, these are not movie scenes, but the creations on display at the 5th World Internet Conference which kicked off on Nov.7 in Wuzhen, a famous ancient river town in east China’s Zhejiang province, the WeChat account of Chinanews.com reported on Nov.7.

430 internet companies have brought their latest and coolest creations together with their vision for the future at the expo.

AI “virtual” news anchor

Getting tired of watching news anchors that all seem to be monotonous? You might like try this artificial intelligence virtual anchorman displayed at the 5th World Internet Conference (WIC) by Sogou Inc., the Chinese internet company that developed the Sogou search engine, Sogou Input, and the Sogou browser.

(Chinanews.com/Wu Tao)

The news anchor can read texts just like a professional human anchor. And a more exciting fact about it is that it can be customized and duplicated in bulk, which means whatever style of an anchorperson you want, it can meet your personalized needs.

Flexible screen

A company at the expo displayed some flexible screens which are quite different from the conventional ones, with some rolled into a ring like shape, some in the form of a book, and some can even be folded like paper.

The minimum bend radius of the flexible screens on display reached 1.6 mm, which is a breakthrough within flexible screen technologies.

The coolest creation in the whole spectrum of flexible screens is a bendable mobile phone that has a flexible screen. The screen can be folded up and unfolded as needed, and when it’s unfolded, it’s twice the size of other mobile phone screens.

Fully autonomous minibus

While with no driver’s seat or steering wheel, a vehicle can still run smoothly as long as you connect it with an iPad and input the starting point, destination, as well as the specific times you want the door to be opened or closed.

(Chinanews.com/Wu Tao)

Developed by China’s major AI and internet company Baidu Inc., the fully autonomous minibus named Apolong, which is 4.3 meters long, 2 meters wide, and has seating capacity for 14 people, attracted many viewers at the event.

The minibus can understand not only oral instructions, but also the gestures of passengers. Furthermore, with car windows that are both glass and screens, passengers can watch movies, play video games, enjoy karaoke, and do work.

It’s told that so far the intelligent minibus can only be used on semi-closed roads such as those found in parks and communities.

Intelligent gardening

Connected to an app, a special flowerpot can monitor the growing conditions of a plant and tell you when to water your plant and when to apply fertilizer. The app can allegedly monitor nearly 100 varieties of common plants.

And, more remarkable, as long as you update the variety of your plant on the app, the flowerpot that is connected to the app can be reused many times.

AI Doctor

No need to make an appointment with a doctor or wait in a long queue, the AI Doctor on display at the event can help people get diagnosed within a few minutes.

(Chinanews.com/Wu Tao)

The AI Doctor receives the patient first and provides a diagnostic scheme after communication. Then the real human doctor will meet the patient and make further judgments, and after this, the AI Doctor can make a prescription based on the human doctor’s diagnosis.

Smart bed

This smart bed displayed at the expo can be adjusted to fit different needs, like different angles for using computers, reading books, and having fun with mobile phones.

(Chinanews.com/Wu Tao)

With the mattress of each bed containing four sections, four levels of supporting force, four types of comfortable surfaces and over 1,000 possible configurations, the smart bed can record your sleeping time duration, monitor your heart rate, respiratory rate and how many times you turn over in bed.

As it’s controlled by means of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies via an intelligent terminal, the bed can provide warnings about your health conditions based on big data sleep reports. Furthermore, if you snore during sleep, the bed can intervene to help stop your snoring.