How OPPO uses robotics and AI to innovate in the smartphone space
Here's a peek inside OPPO's R&D facilities that make use of robotics and AI.
Recently, OPPO hosted a Tech Insider event for journalists and content creators that shows how the brand develops innovative tech through robotics and AI.
Over the past years, OPPO has introduced a wide array of products with interesting tech. Back in 2018, OPPO launched the Find X with its innovative pop-up camera module. Just recently, there’s the Find N3 Flip which is the first clamshell foldable with a triple-rear camera setup. On top of phones, OPPO has also released wearables and is working on various exciting tech like extended reality headsets.
To develop these devices, OPPO has several Research & Development facilities which they showcased to attending journalists and creators at their event in China. We got to be a part of the event, and there, we saw the different OPPO labs which are focused on testing specific technologies through the use of robotics and AI.
A Peek at the OPPO Intelligent Imaging Lab
To start, there’s the OPPO Intelligent Imaging Lab. Here, OPPO created replicas of various scenes for photography and videography testing. These tests are done on smartphone to ensure proper camera image quality.
What’s cool about the lab is that, instead of featuring staff to take photos, the lab has smart robots that roam the various scenes (including a restaurant, a bar, a karaoke room, and a shopping mall). Thanks to this robot, these tests can be done in only a few hours instead of days if done manually.
OPPO Communication Lab: Testing in Various Environments
Next, we have the Communication Lab. Here, phones undergo tests which simulate different network environments such as crowded places, high-speed trains, and more. These are done to test out solutions for challenging network conditions that smartphone users can encounter. Plus, the lab is used to test networks of different international operators to ensure proper connectivity in various countries.
Along with networks, there’s also a dedicated NFC Lab where phones undergo tens of thousands of tests to ensure proper read and write accuracy on different types of NFC terminals.
Much like the Imaging Lab, the Communication and NFC Lab tests are made with the use of robotic arms which allow for uninterrupted and consistent testing.
OPPO XR Lab Uses Robotics to Test Extended Reality Devices
OPPO might be known more for phones, but the brand is also developing expanded reality (XR) devices such as headsets. These technologies are being developed thanks to the XR Lab which features a robotic arm that’s used to simulate various positions and angles of the head-mounted device. This is important so that the virtual space presented in this headset is consistent to what the human eye sees.
OPPO Health Lab: Testing Smartwatches
OPPO also has a wide range of wearables, including the Watch 4 Pro which has been announced in selected markets. These health-focused wearables are tested in the Health Lab where various sports and monitoring equipment are used to analyze health data so that smartwatches are accurate with their health and exercise monitoring.
The health lab is kind of like a high-tech gym where lots of monitoring equipment are used. Of course, as smartwatches are health and wellness trackers, this lab features various tests performed by humans instead of purely robots.
OPPO’s large-scale AndesBrain (Binhaiwan Bay) Datacenter
Finally, there’s the OPPO AndesBrain datacenter which was built due to the growing demand for AI, data storage, and high-performance computing.
This datacenter is made to support OPPO’s hardware and software engineering, as well as to provide strong computing power for AI tasks and AI solutions.
These are just introductions to OPPO’s R&D labs. Watch out for a more detailed report on our OPPO Tech Insider event experience soon.