BEIJING: Liu Wenfeng, Chief Technology Officer and President of Infrastructure and Intelligent Content Distribution Business Group (IIG) of iQIYI (“iQIYI” or the “Company”), an innovative market-leading online entertainment service in China, attended the APOStech 2019 Conference held in Indonesia on November 19-21. The event is an annual technology conference attended by leading companies such as iQIYI, Amazon, Google Cloud, Astro and many others to foster the communication and collaboration in the technology field.
In Liu’s speech, he shared iQIYI’s journey in deploying technological innovation to drive the growth and formulating global partnerships to provide premium entertainment experiences for users around the world.
5G+AI Drives the Growth of iQIYI’s New Entertainment Ecosystem
The convergence of 5G and AI creates new opportunities for various industries. For the entertainment industry, Liu believes that it upgrades the industrial chain in all dimensions from content creation, distribution, to broadcasting and monetization. With high bandwidth, low latency, and ubiquitous connectivity, 5G technology will further enhance the power of cloud and remote cooperation, facilitating upgrades in content collection and editing patterns.
The development of smart devices will further simplify the video creation process. In addition, improved transmission efficiency and broader connectivity create opportunities for new formats of videos such as 4K, 8K, 3D, and VR/MR, enabling users to have more personalized and immersive viewing experiences. This year, iQIYI launched its Interactive Video Guidelines (IVG) to accelerate the standardization of the interactive video production and launched His Smile, the first domestic interactive film and television work in June. The show uses IVG‘s “branching plot” interactive function, creating 5 preset storyline options and 17 possible endings; on average, each viewer watched 2.5 endings. “According to audiences’ behavior, the more interactive the content, the more immersed the viewing experience will be,” said Liu.
The 5G technology now allows a wider deployment of AI-based applications such as smart search, smart language processing, content comprehension, and smart production. iQIYI has already utilized technology to accelerate content production, improve viewer experience, and innovate its existing business models. This has helped the film and TV industry increase efficiency in aspects such as content production, distribution, and commercialization. For example, iQIYI’s smart advertising tracking system can track the time and location of the advertisements in videos and it’s three times faster than manual tracking, ensuring the program meets the needs of advertisers.
Technological innovations have greatly enhanced iQIYI’s capacities in monetization. iQIYI has launched “interactive native video advertising” in The Rap of China 2019, iQIYI’s original youth rap music reality show. The interactive features helped improve the efficiency of brand exposure, as ad-exposure time increased by 30%. Liu noted, “5G and AI have become the cornerstones for iQIYI to gain in-depth understandings of users and to create premium content. These technologies help broaden the boundaries of iQIYI.”
Globalize with Technology and Localize with Products and Services
As entertainment can’t be confined within national borders, iQIYI hopes to share its achievements in technological R&D with the whole industry and provide a high-quality entertainment experience to global viewers. Recently, iQIYI formed a strategic partnership with Malaysia’s leading media brand Astro to launch localized operating and marketing campaigns based on Malaysia’s market environment and users’ needs. By globalizing the technological and content productions and through establishing localized teams and partnerships, iQIYI is committed to exploring customized operational modes and serving users of different markets.
At present, iQIYI provides global operation supports on its iQIYI App through its middle-end. The company has already established multiple overseas data centers and content distribution channels to conduct system optimization based on different markets’ environment, to ensure the highest playback quality for all users. The iQIYI App provides subtitles and intelligent search features that run in multiple languages, including Chinese, English, Malay, Thai, Indonesian, and Vietnamese among others. In the future, iQIYI will share its technological capabilities with partners around the world in relation to media database management, smart content production, smart distribution, and smart operation so as to offer a premium entertainment experience for users all around the globe.
At APOStech 2019 Conference, iQIYI Chief Technology Officer Liu Wenfeng spoke about the various technologies that are running IT industries. Best1tech, a Katalyst Technologies subsidiary, has helped integrate AI-based entertainment platforms and offer leading edge tech solutions for enterprises.
