JD Cloud Expands Ecosystem into AR/VR Sector, Partners with Leading AR Firm LLVision

On January 13, JD Cloud and LLVISON, a provider of commercial AR solutions, signed the Matrix Cooperation Agreement. The two parties will join forces to build the “JD Cloud RuiMou” technology service platform, offering multi-scenario, customizable smart glasses solutions that meet the needs of various industries, including education, healthcare, industrial manufacturing, and security.

LLVISION, founded in 2014, is dedicated to achieving multi-dimensional connectivity, cognition, and collaboration through AR technology, promoting human-machine collaboration, and helping enterprises in industries such as industrial, security, and medical sectors achieve intelligent upgrades. Its hardware product, AR glasses, has already achieved large-scale application in various scenarios including industrial, security, and medical fields.

In June this year, LLVISION announced the completion of its RMB 100 million Series B+ financing round. This round was led by CCB International, with participation from BlueRun Ventures and Matrix Partners China. China Renaissance served as the financial advisor for this financing.

JD Cloud Expands Ecosystem into AR and VR Sectors

JD Cloud Ruimou Technology Platform provides industry solutions based on smart glasses, offering users first-person live streaming of video, audio, images, and text. It incorporates innovative interactive features such as speech recognition, gesture recognition, and augmented reality (AR), enabling real-time situational awareness anytime, anywhere. Additionally, leveraging JD Cloud’s big data and deep learning technologies, the platform intelligently analyzes accumulated data to build a knowledge base.

The platform enables zero-deployment integration into various scenarios, including telemedicine, mobile security, and intelligent maintenance. It caters to the needs of multiple industries such as industrial manufacturing, security and surveillance, healthcare, energy, and education, offering flexible customization based on specific use cases. This solution will leverage JD.com’s “Cloud Matrix” ecosystem strategy and resources to empower partners and drive the development of the AR/VR industry.

Another significant implication of this collaboration is that it marks the expansion of the JD Cloud ecosystem into the AR and VR sectors, initiating the development of cutting-edge applications in these fields.

The 5G era is imminent, and AR/VR technologies are poised to rapidly enter the next phase of application. By leveraging cloud computing, AR/VR can address computational demands and efficiency challenges related to CPUs and GPUs, thereby enabling genuine interaction between edge devices and the cloud. Furthermore, the application of big data can enhance workforce productivity and efficiency, thereby creating demand for novel application scenarios.

Wu Fei, Founder and CEO of LLVISON, stated that the essence of the AR/VR sector lies in interaction, with AR representing a new "what-you-see-is-what-you-get" interactive paradigm. However, enhancing user interaction experience relies on more than just front-end AR/VR applications; it also requires extensive data collection, analysis, processing, computation, and storage. This necessitates integration with emerging technologies such as cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence (AI). JD Cloud will provide LLVISON with comprehensive technical support at the infrastructure layer, offering full-stack services spanning IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS; all-scenario services including public, private, hybrid, and dedicated clouds; and full-spectrum services covering IDC operations, cloud computing businesses, and integrated business solutions.

Furthermore, JD Cloud stated that in addition to providing cloud computing capabilities, it would also leverage industry resources to help LLVISON identify partners and implementation opportunities.

Wu Fei stated, “When AR/VR truly serves end customers, it becomes evident that in addition to requiring infrastructure support such as cloud computing, big data, and AI, it is also necessary to embrace a broader ecosystem, because users often desire not just an interactive AR headset, but a complete solution.”

Liu Zihao, Vice President of JD.com and Head of JD Cloud Ecosystem, stated, “In enterprise-level and large-scale applications, AR/VR can truly unlock its potential only when tightly integrated with cloud computing, big data, and AI. We (JD Cloud) respect the industry, and we will not manufacture AR glasses. The JD ecosystem is built through collaboration with industry-leading partners like LLVISION, where each party specializes in its respective domain, mutually supporting and integrating with one another.”

Therefore, the collaboration between JD Cloud and LLVISION will not be limited to empowering AI solutions on the technical front; it will also leverage the strength of the JD Group, harnessing the advantages of big data and cloud computing, while empowering LLVISION at the sales level.

Liu Zihao stated that, compared with other cloud computing competitors, JD Cloud’s advantage lies in its backing by JD.com Group, which provides profound insights into many industries, including e-commerce, logistics, and finance.

“Compared with companies that operate purely as platforms, we have accumulated expertise in certain industries, possessing not only platform technology but also industry-specific technology. JD Cloud aims to achieve ecosystem empowerment through brand, sales, and channel enablement, working together to pioneer new developments in the AR field.”

Wu Fei also stated candidly that the decision to partner with JD Cloud was driven by two key factors: first, the high degree of team compatibility, and second, the resource integration capabilities offered by the entire JD Group, particularly in logistics, where JD can provide highly specific, practical application scenarios.

“JD.com itself has many scenarios where AR can provide immediate assistance, including logistics and sorting. We have been deeply engaged in the AR field, basically visiting most manufacturers domestically and internationally. We have always believed that there is significant potential to improve efficiency through AR in the logistics process, especially in human-involved operations. This is inherently an internal scenario.”

JD Cloud Ecosystem 3.0 Launching Soon

In 2018, JD Cloud rapidly evolved from a newcomer in the cloud computing sector into an industry leader, with its cloud ecosystem also experiencing rapid growth.

Last May, at the 2018 Guiyang Big Data Expo, Liu Zihao told TMTPost that JD Cloud was building JD’s IoT ecosystem technical architecture based on its cloud computing platform. In the future, it will join hands with major partners to create a new IoT ecosystem.

Six Months Later, JD Cloud’s Ecosystem Has Expanded into Multiple Sectors: Smart Office, Gaming, Smart Education, E-commerce, Smart Cities, Media Cloud Migration, Tourism, and More.

Given such a diverse array of ecosystem partners, what are JD Cloud’s plans? What are the “thresholds” for selecting partners?

In response, Liu Zihao explained that the JD Cloud ecosystem is currently in its early growth stage, facing rapid expansion, with enriching the ecosystem as the primary objective. Moving forward, in the JD Cloud Ecosystem 3.0 phase, more planned efforts will be made to strengthen partner development.

“2018 was a year of rapid growth for JD Cloud, during which we strove to enhance the richness of our ecosystem. In 2019, JD Cloud will consciously strengthen the development of select partners as part of its ecosystem-building efforts.”

Liu Zihao revealed that JD Cloud will release its Ecosystem 3.0 strategy after the Chinese New Year, with a more structured approach to empowering its partners.“This plan is not about selecting partners; rather, following the ecosystem development in 2018, we will identify the resources most needed by our partners and provide empowerment accordingly. In JD Cloud Ecosystem 3.0, our empowerment efforts will be more focused, with specific emphasis tailored to the industries in which our partners operate.”

Liu Zihao emphasized that JD Cloud has always maintained an open attitude, seeking possibilities of “Cloud + Industry” with more partners.(This article was first published on TMTPost; Author: Zhao Yuhang)

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