Chinese search giant, Baidu teamed up with Ainemo Inc to build an AI digital assistant named Little Fish (Chinese: Xiaoyu Zaijia) for China. The tiny family robot, which will be looking to compete with the likes of Amazon Echo and Google Home, was showcased at the CES 2017, Las Vegas back in January.
Based on Baidu’s AI Assistant platform – DuerOS (which can run on cars, phones, smart speakers, robots, televisions, wearables and many other devices), the Baidu Little Fish (Xiaoyu Zaijia) taps into Baidu’s massive local services platform and supports voice commands (currently only recognises Chinese languages).
The robot sports a tablet-like touch screen and a front facing camera (for focusing on the user’s face). It can answers questions, find local and on demand services, play music, explore news, manage calendars, control smart home appliances and lots more.
Unlike other AI assistants, the tablet-like touch screen gives it a bit of edge as it assists and engages the user using visual aids along with text and the usual voice replies. It also streams visual content (videos) and makes video calls. Saying the word “Xiaoyu” or “Xiaoyu Zaijia” prompts (wakes) the robot.
