China's Baidu opens augmented reality lab to boost waning profits

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese search engine Baidu Inc on Monday launched an augmented reality (AR) lab in Beijing as part of a $200 million effort to revitalise the company's shrinking profits with cutting edge technology. The lab, which currently employs 55 people, will initially aim to drive revenue through AR marketing, though will later explore healthcare and education. "AR marketing is taking off," Andrew Ng, the chief scientist overseeing Baidu's artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality and deep learning projects, told Reuters. "There are few content formats where the content is evergreen - AR will be like that," he said. Popularised in 2016 by Nintendo Co Ltd's Pokemon Go game, augmented reality involves rendering virtual images over real life settings viewed on a smartphone, headset or other device.