Top of the big era

The choice of technology development direction is actually a game of rock-paper-scissors between scientists and the times. Capital institutions don't like to hold stocks of R\u0026D companies for a long time, because this thing is too risky and involves too much luck.

For example, when the world's top chip companies enter the mobile Internet era, most of them will die in the rapid iteration of 3G, 4G, and 5G.

Zhou Buqi has an advantage.

For him, in this rock-paper-scissors battle with the times, the times come out first and he comes out last.

Therefore, he could conclude that the scientific research ideas of this multimedia laboratory were correct and promising, and he could 100% confirm that this laboratory was the later famous SenseTime Technology.

However, this multimedia laboratory currently lacks a leader. Professor Tang, the director of the laboratory, is a pure scientist who leads some professors and students and has far less understanding of marketization.

Zhou Buqi was different. He was able to quickly integrate their image processing technology with the market and play a very important role.

This technology still has a long way to go to transform uncertain blurry pictures into definite clear pictures, and it may take 10, 20, or 30 years of struggle.

However, they can basically make blurry pictures clear within a certain range of the human eye.

This is enough to have a great positive effect on the social level.

Zhou Buqi was very happy and felt that he had made a lot of money by coming to Hong Kong this time. Shen Xiangyang must be notified immediately and asked to come over and start in-depth and all-round cooperation with this multimedia laboratory.

After leaving, Superboy was still in a daze and didn't seem to understand anything.

Zhou Buqi laughed and said, "Thank you for helping me fund this team in the past few years. Thank you!"

"What?"

Superboy was shocked. This is the scientific research team I funded. I funded the establishment of this multimedia laboratory.

Listening to this tone, does it become yours?

Even if it's not mine, it still belongs to the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Do you want to have anything to do with me?

Zhou Buqi said: "Little Superman, it's not that I want to cut it off half way. The scientific research topics in this laboratory are actually too cutting-edge. Not to mention you, few companies in the world can take up the topic. In the Eastern Hemisphere, only Purple MSI is qualified to cooperate. Don’t worry too much.”

"What am I worried about?" Superboy was angry and funny. "I fund these scientific research teams for public welfare, and I never intend to gain anything."

Zhou Buqi gave a thumbs up, "Yes! This pattern is right!"

Superboy invited: "Will you come to my house when you have time?"

"ah?"

"My father wants to talk to you."

"Okay, I'll definitely pay you a visit and go study."

"When the time comes, please explain today's events in detail."

Zhou Buqi raised his eyebrows, "What did you say?"

Superboy said: "Let's just say that this is a scientific research team that I have funded for many years and am very optimistic about. Because of its own lack of strength, I will transfer it to Ziweixing for continued follow-up."

Zhou Buqi lowered his voice, "Is your family's investment in the high-tech industry yours or your eldest brother's?"

Superboy half-smiled, "Mr. Zhou, your question is very rude."

Zhou Buqi hooked up with him boldly and said, "We are friends. I am from the Northeast. I don't care about these details... Well, you are from the Northeast, do you know?"

Superboy said: "I know. He drinks harder than a white devil and fights harder than a triad."

"I'm talking about character, okay?" Zhou Buqi snorted and vowed, "We Northeasterners are all hospitable and loyal. If you need my help, just ask."

"OK."

Superboy smiled and said nothing about the internal affairs of the family.

Zhou Buqi said: "Businesses such as docks, real estate, retail, transportation, and tap water are actually similar. They are all traditional industries. But the ideas of high-tech industries are different. I think your investment and industry in the high-tech field are different. It’s right to leave it to you.”

Superboy was very happy.

As a group of people walked on the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Superboy deliberately wanted to get closer to him and whispered, "Don't you like Miss Wen Yongshan this morning?"

Zhou Buqi coughed lightly, "Not very familiar."

Superboy said, "I've made all the arrangements. It's no problem for you to take her out and get a room."

"I'm not that kind of person."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Zhou Buqi coughed a few more times and whispered: "She may be very popular here on Hong Kong Island, but I have never heard of her at all. In the mainland, our understanding of Hong Kong Island's entertainment industry , or old Hong Kong movies and the Four Heavenly Kings."

"If Ganduo doesn't die, you will die!"

Superboy said something in Cantonese and a curse word.

Of course Zhou Buqi knew that he was not scolding him, so he was very surprised and said something in English, "What did you say?"

Superboy said angrily: "I scolded Edison Chen."

Zhou Buqi said amusedly: "What's wrong with him?"

Superboy said: "The photo scandal he created has made the most popular female stars in Hong Kong notorious. I'll arrange it for you, but you won't be interested."

Zhou Buqi felt that what he said was too reasonable, and he said righteously, "I'm not interested in this kind of thing, so you don't have to worry about arranging it."

Together, we investigated 4 laboratories at the University of Hong Kong, the University of Science and Technology, and the Polytechnic University, and they were all really good.

Among them, there is a "data center high temperature" project done by an energy laboratory of the University of Hong Kong, which is particularly promising and meets the needs of Ziweixing.

Currently, the PUE of mainstream data centers around the world is around 2, which means that computing equipment such as servers consumes 1 kilowatt hour of power, and corresponding auxiliary equipment such as air conditioners also consumes 1 kilowatt hour of power. The effective power consumption is 1 and the real power consumption is 2.

But some data centers with excellent energy control can consume as little as 1.7. PurpleStar's cloud data center in the capital has a power consumption PUE of approximately 1.8.

Their research topic is how to make computers and servers run safely and stably at relatively high temperatures. If it is done, there will be no need to turn on the air conditioner at such high power, which will save electricity.

This topic is very important to the business of metacomputing.

No wonder Superboy is so frustrated. Hong Kong Island really has no shortage of talents. Among the top 15 universities in Asia, Hong Kong schools are ranked among the top 5. The level is really good.

It seems that Ziweixing's Hong Kong branch should take on a more important task. It should open a research institute and connect with Hong Kong schools. Retain talented people so that they don’t go to Britain, the United States and other countries.

In the evening, Zhou Buqi refused Xiao Superman's entertainment, accompanied Pei Yao and Sun Wanran to dine, and asked the Pengcheng branch to strengthen contact with the Hong Kong school.

Especially the multimedia laboratory is really great and can be directly commercialized.

"Direct commercialization?" Pei Yao was slightly startled and didn't quite understand, "Isn't it a little early?"

Zhou Buqi said: "If possible, I think it can be launched on the market next year. For this kind of thing, the sooner the better, it will benefit the country and the people."

"Well……"

Pei Yao is used to her boss's big mouth.

Zhou Buqi asked with a smile: "By the way, when we were in the multimedia laboratory, didn't Superboy mention a case? It was said that there are often such plots in Hollywood movies. The satellite captured a person in the city, but the face was too blurry. . Then, the blurred face is sent to the technical center for clear processing, and then compared with the personal information in the database, you can find out who the person is."

Sun Wanran said softly: "Professor Tang said, this is impossible."

"Yes, it's impossible." Zhou Buqi also knew that movies have misled the public too much, "I don't think it can be done without ten or twenty years of technological accumulation to transform uncertain images into definite images. So the question Come on, what if it’s a clear image? There are some plots in some movies and TV shows. There is a photo, and I don’t know who is in the photo. The police scan the photo into the computer, and then the computer can match the person with the identity. Combining the picture on the certificate, we can find this person."

Sun Wanran said tentatively: "This should be true, right?"

"Fake!"

Zhou Buqi is very decisive.

Sun Wanran looked suspicious, "Is this a difficult technique? It should be possible, right? If not, how will the public security department handle the case and investigate the person?"

Zhou Buqi said: "I don't know about the United States. It's definitely not possible in China. Isn't Meng Houkun's uncle the director? I've talked to him. They are using the stupidest method, which is to let the police use their eyes to match the information in the database. Compare the ID card profile photos one by one.”

"That would be very troublesome!"

"This is the importance of artificial intelligence. Forget it, neither of you understands technology. Let me teach you a lesson about the development history of image processing of artificial intelligence."

Without experts present, Zhou Buqi was enough to act as a boss in front of these two laymen.

Sun Wanran curled her lips, "Do you understand?"

Zhou Buqi snorted: "Why don't you understand? Listen! In the 1980s, computers were able to identify some simple objects. For example, cars, trees, and tigers. Computers could identify them through a priori knowledge base. That's it. First, these things are manually transferred to the database, and they are similar to what is in the database, and then they are recognized. However, the accuracy is very poor, and you may not be able to distinguish apples from cherries."

"oh."

Sun Wanran despised him and felt that he could really pretend.

Zhou Buqi continued: "In the 1990s, new algorithms appeared, which can describe local features. This is the origin of contemporary artificial intelligence image recognition technology, and our CTO Shen Xiangyang is the founder of relevant theories. However, , this process also requires manual input or manual setting of recording rules for some local features, and then the computer can distinguish them.”

"Can it be automatically entered now?"

"Yes, after entering the 21st century, machine learning methods have been widely used, and computer vision has developed rapidly. Computers can automatically summarize the characteristics of items from massive data, and then identify and judge them."

"oh."

Sun Wanran and Pei Yao looked at each other, both a little confused.

Zhou Buqi sighed, "Forget it, you are all technical novices, and you don't understand even if I tell you. Let me tell you, Shen Xiangyang is leading a team on a project, which is image recognition."

"Pornography identification program?"

"Yes, loess recognition is relatively simple. What's more important is face recognition. This is not a blurry picture, it is a very clear photo. For example, take pictures of your face at different angles. This is a 2D photo. Then use the 2D photo to 3D modeling. Then determine whether the faces in these photos are the same person."

Sun Wanran was a little surprised, "It's so complicated!"

Zhou Buqi said: "I've made it simple. Human faces are so complicated. For example, let the computer recognize your faces. The computer can easily determine that this is a woman. You can let the computer determine whether you are a woman or not. They are not the same person, which requires very detailed judgment.”

Pei Yao said: "So what you just said, as seen in many movies and TV dramas, scans the photo into the computer, and then the computer can automatically connect with the database to find out who the person is. This is not possible yet."

Zhou Buqi nodded, "Yes, the level of artificial intelligence in the past could not distinguish in too much detail, especially faces. Different ages may have different changes, and 3D modeling is needed to reduce errors. Remember, I’m talking about clear photos versus clear photos.”

"Can it be done now?"

"Isn't porn recognition done very well? Face recognition is a step further. It can basically be done now, but the accuracy is too low, it seems to be only 16.7%."

"So low?"

Sun Wanran slapped her forehead and felt that the distance between film and television dramas and reality was so far away.

With current technology, personal photos are uploaded to the computer of the public security system, and then compared with the ID card photos in the citizen database... This technology does not exist yet, and we can only rely on the police to continuously identify each person in the database. Check it on the ground and compare it with the human eye.

The efficiency of this case handling is very poor, and it also delays things!

Fortunately, listening to what he meant, it seemed that Ziweixing could help solve this problem.

oops!

If you really do it, it would be really meaningful.

Unfortunately, the accuracy is too low.

"Low?" Zhou Buqi snorted, "This is artificial intelligence. No matter how low the accuracy is, it is still better than human eyes judging one by one, right? The accuracy rate of 16.7% is equivalent to increasing the police's screening efficiency by more than 80%. . Combined with the human eye, it can basically connect the face in any photo on the Internet with the ID card information in a few minutes."

Sun Wanran nodded repeatedly and said happily: "Yeah! It makes sense! It's such a good thing!"

Zhou Buqi laughed, somewhat proudly. At his level, he felt that doing this kind of thing was more enjoyable than making money, "However, what Shen Xiangyang did was to compare clear pictures with clear pictures. But many of today's surveillance resolutions They are all very low, and what you get are blurry pictures, which can be combined with Professor Tang’s research.”

Sun Wanran blurted out, "First convert the blurry pictures into clear pictures, and then compare them for picture recognition."

"Yes." Zhou Buqi nodded, "But this blurry picture can only be a blurry picture within the tolerance of the naked eye. It can only be relatively blurry, not too blurry."

"But this direction is correct." Pei Yao was also very happy and felt that working at Ziweixing was very fulfilling. "The current stage is about the clear transformation of deterministic pictures. With the iteration and upgrading of technology, it can be transformed into uncertainties." The picture has developed. This project can be launched first, and then help the police update equipment and upgrade the system bit by bit until it reaches what is shown in Hollywood movies."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said: "Yes, that's right!"

Pei Yao said: "There are various printed pictures posted in the streets and alleys, saying that they are missing children or missing women, but how to check this? It is also difficult for the police to check. With our technology, there is computer screening Possibly. As long as photos of the missing children or women are uploaded to the Internet, or corresponding images are intercepted from surrounding cameras, comparison, matching, and confirmation can be completed, and then the person can be found through the source of the photos."

Zhou Buqi sighed, "It's not that simple."