Oppo and Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) signed a renewal agreement on Friday to further their cooperation and achieve technological breakthroughs. The Chinese smartphone brand has been partnering with PolyU for the last three years to develop new technologies adopted by the company. Now, with the latest agreement, Oppo will provide funding to the university for a period of five years to set up a research center focused on artificial intelligence (AI) imaging technology. It has been announced to build the research center in January next year.
Oppo and PolyU join hands to develop AI imaging technology
In a newsroom post, Oppo highlighted that representatives from Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Oppo held a signing ceremony to officially commemorate the occasion. Notably, it is a renewal of a previous three-year partnership that began in 2022. As part of the new deal, the smartphone maker will increase funding and technology investment in the university and help set up a research center dedicated to AI imaging technology.
The new agreement was signed by Professor Christopher Chao, Vice President (Research and Innovation) of PolyU and Mr Zheng Qin, Head of Industry-Academic Affairs of OPPO. The Chinese brand will provide funding of CNY 30 million (approximately Rs 35.5 crore) over the next five years.
Monetary funding will be given to establish joint innovation research centers and expand the scale of co-trained PhD and postdoctoral researchers. All efforts will be made towards achieving success in AI imaging technology.
Jin-Guang Teng, a professor at PolyU and a witness to the ceremony, highlighted that the university will officially establish the Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences in January 2025, which will house the Joint Innovation Research Center. The department will be created to “address the opportunities and challenges of the AI era”, meet growing technological needs and support talent nurturing.
While the company hasn’t provided specific details about the AI imaging technology it plans to develop, it likely refers to computer vision AI models that can capture images, videos, device screens, and even real-world information. Can observe and process the environment. Oppo may develop this technology to further enhance its AI offerings for users.
