Partnering with Baidu
Hyundai Motor will join hands with Baidu, the largest Internet company in China, to develop connected cars. Through collaboration with Baidu, Hyundai Motor is poised to spearhead connected car technology in China and take the lead in the Chinese car market in the future.
Hyundai Motor announced a plan to load its cars with “Baidu Map Auto,” a communication-type navigation system and “Duer OS Auto,” an interactive voice recognition system at “CES Asia 2017,” the largest home appliance show in Asia at the New International Expo Center in Shanghai, China. Baidu is a technology leader in guidance services, voice recognition and artificial intelligence in China. Baidu has been strengthening its collaboration with Hyundai Motor since it loaded Hyundai cars with its “Car Life,” a mobile phone-connectivity service, in 2015.
The Baidu Map Auto is a telecommunication-type navigation system connected with Baidu's map service and will be applied to Hyundai Motor vehicles for the first time among cars. Based on a telecommunication service, the navigation system provides various useful information such as quick directions based on real-time traffic information, surrounding area information including parking lots and restaurants, and information on areas with a large number of violations of traffic regulations. Developed specifically for vehicles based on interactive speech recognition technology, the Duer OS Auto is focused on vehicle control and operator-tailored services. Baidu's networked AI server provides optimal answers to or information about driver's orders. The Duer OS Auto tells drivers current weather, movies showing in town, and offers general Q&A services, and a customized music service will be launched in the future.
Hyundai plans to expand models equipped with the Baidu Map Auto and Duer OS Auto after applying the two technologies which were first introduced this time, to new cars to be launched later this year. Hyundai Motor and Baidu are considering ways to expand the technologies to smart homes, voice recognition-based personal assistant services, artificial intelligence, connected cars and autonomous drive technologies after this technological cooperation.