MWC 2023: Petal Search Unveils the Latest Multimodal AR Search for Fast Object Recognition and Text Translation

Huawei showcased the latest AR search function and On-screen Lens function of its mobile search engine, Petal Search, at MWC Barcelona 2023. These functions allow Petal Search to assist users by serving in roles like interpreter and product narrator, meeting user requirements for text, image, and object recognition across multiple scenarios including travel and entertainment. Based on deep learning and large-scale machine learning technologies, Petal Search can recognize hundreds of thousands of objects from dozens of categories in centiseconds, while also supporting translation between multiple mainstream languages. The search engine can quickly identify content on the screen, display search results, and then translate them, delivering a convenient and intelligent mobile search experience to consumers.

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Constantly enhance AR search to expand application scenarios

According to Statista, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of global paying users of AR-related services reached 64% during the 2020 to 2022 period. This year, Petal Search upgrades its AR search capability. The function trains models based on hundreds of millions of data records to learn the abstract features of images and builds an online index library of tens of billions of images. This function, combined with the efficient and stable online retrieval capability, allows the system to complete retrieval and return accurate results in just centiseconds. The AR search function built into the app means that users do not need to take photos anymore when they want to recognize an object. Instead, they simply need to tap the visual search icon and point their Huawei phone camera at the content they want to recognize in order to receive real-time results. This greatly increases recognition speed while ensuring stability, and expands application scenarios. For example, users can utilize AR search to quickly recognize unknown plants while outside, or seamlessly translate restaurant menus while traveling abroad. Currently, the AR search function can recognize hundreds of thousands of objects, including celebrities, animals, plants, and landmarks. In addition, with the support of Huawei-developed optical character recognition (OCR) and machine translation technologies, many major languages can be translated into multiple others.

Aside from helping users quickly learn more about the world in front of their cameras, Petal Search offers the On-screen Lens function to help them discover even more. In general mode, this function identifies content on the screen and displays related search results, such as information about the object in the image and similar images. In translation mode, users can translate screen content and save translation results on the go, making browsing websites and reading news in foreign languages a hassle-free experience.

Aggregate tools, content, and services to elevate the one-stop search experience

To bring users a better one-stop search experience, Petal Search offers a comprehensive search capability that integrates tools, content, and services. With Petal Search, users can securely download a plethora of apps, use daily tools to check the weather, translation, and exchange rates anytime and anywhere, in addition to viewing trending news, video, images, and academic knowledge. Petal Search is tailored for users in different countries and regions. The app has already launched wide-ranging localized features, such as the load shedding card in South Africa and earthquake information card in Latin America. In addition, Petal Search has joined forces with more than 3000 ecosystem partners to provide users with one-stop services that cover scenarios like shopping, travel, and local life.

Currently, Petal Search offers services to users from over 170 countries and regions, supports more than 70 languages, and complies with the local General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) standard. As a key component of Huawei’s “1+8+N” strategy, Petal Search will constantly utilize cutting-edge technologies based on Huawei’s software and hardware capabilities, fine-tune localized search services, and evolve towards a more convenient and intelligent one-stop search experience.

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