AI powers the way for improved lives

Cai Haijiao, co-founder of NextVPU, has worked in image-processing technology for more than a decade, has taken part in the Shenzhou manned space program and worked for a robotics company.

He joined his friend, Feng Xinpeng, in founding the company. "Visual-recognition technology has been widely used in autonomous cars and robotics, and we think it can also be applied in assistive devices," Cai Haijiao said. "This market is still a blue ocean."

He added that the chips in the "Angel Eyes" need to be very powerful to process images to ensure that the user receives quick and accurate responses.

"We are still using foreign chips, but they will soon be replaced by our own," he said. "Artificial intelligence chips is our core business."

The company said it has sold several thousand of the glasses, and has recently launched a small text reader that can be attached to the frame of the glasses to read books for the blind.

The China Disabled Persons' Federation estimates that more than 24 million people in the country have limb disabilities, and over 12 million have visual disabilities, accounting for 29 percent and 14 percent respectively of all those with disabilities nationwide.

Fan Yubo, director of the National Research Center for Rehabilitation Technical Aids, said at a conference in July, "China has the largest population that demands assistive and rehabilitation aid devices, and there is great potential in this market."

In recent years, domestic innovation has been pushed in this market.

In 2016, a guideline on developing the rehabilitation and assistive device market published by the State Council stated that China aimed to grow this industry by channeling more funds and providing more tax reductions. It estimated that the market would reach 700 billion yuan by next year.