The Pioneer in China’s Cloud Photography Industry Zhao Chen
The burgeoning development of AI technology has led people to bid farewell to the traditional photography industry and usher in a digital revolution, that is, the cloud photography industry, leading China into the 3.0 Internet Photography and Communication Era. As one of the most illustrious pioneers of the intelligent imaging industry based on cloud technology, Zhao Chen has been deeply involved in this industry for more than eight years and has participated in the development of various patents, such as cloud technology software for image live streaming, camera and mobile transmission devices, SasS cloud image data storage management software, etc. He has led the team to successfully break through the technical bottleneck of the timeliness of communication in the traditional imaging industry with relatively lower cost and has promoted the application of this emerging cloud photography technology to various industries in society.
With a comprehensive service management system and industry implementation of SOP standards as the core, Zhao Chen and his team have promoted the expeditious and widespread application of cloud photography technology in various commercial documentary fields, including conferences, cultural performances, sports events, etc. Resorting to satisfactory and high-quality service, their products have been selected for use by more than 10000 well-known brands worldwide. In China, their services have covered over 100 cities and regions, and their platform has accumulated more than 100000 registered photographers and institutions, as well as over 10000 registered cloud digitizers and editors. Their company participates in over 200,000 events every year and has continued to expand its market share in China with an annual growth rate of 10%.
In the interview with Zhao Chen, he gave detailed explanations of innovation and breakthroughs in the imaging industry in China 3.0 Internet Photography Communication Era.
What inspired you to throw yourself into the cloud photography industry?
Maybe the inspiration comes from both the “pain point” of the traditional photography industry and the emerging AI technology in recent years. In traditional photography activities, the photographer must spend at least two days completing his tedious work and then deliver these photos to organizers. However, at the event site, most of them often can’t wait to receive photos of the event immediately. Like many photographers, I have also faced many times being urged by them to ask for photos, which often makes me feel very distressed. When I saw that artificial intelligence was exerting its advantages in more fields, it also inspired me to think about whether we can apply this cloud technology to our industry.
What do you think of the innovation and breakthrough brought about by your products in the imaging industry?
To cope with the challenge faced by the traditional photography industry, we have introduced an app called PhotoPlus, a product of image live broadcast based on AI image processing algorithms. It can provide both photographers and users with exquisite photos within 5 minutes, and meanwhile, it supports full media transmissions instead of being limited to photo formats. What we are most proud of is its technology of automatic processing and classification of images based on AI. This technology has significantly improved its work efficiency to reduce manual pressures while ensuring the quality of image processing. The practice has proved that it can process 30000 ultra-high pixel images per day, which is roughly equivalent to 200 photographers’ work. Besides, cloud photography technology has a profound impact on the traditional imaging industry. For wedding imaging, cloud photography technology enables photographers to complete the delivery of images and share the joy of the wedding scene for the first time, which brings the wedding imaging industry greater value space. It also ensures the timely control and dissemination of image data for each event, which improves the effectiveness of the event’s image data release. Therefore, we believe this is just an innovative breakthrough in the imaging industry.
How do you view the market value of the cloud photography industry today?
From my perspective, cloud photography technology has increasingly become an urgent demand for various industries in society, and it will truly maximize the value of imaging assets. Taking the New Year’s Eve party of one of the top three most-watched televisions as an example, we were surprised to find that social media image dissemination has reached millions of times. In today’s society, social networks have become the main battlefield of commercial marketing, with images and short videos accounting for over 90% of it. The cloud photography industry, in recent years, has penetrated into all walks of life in society, such as the consumer upgrading industry, sports event industry, pan-tourism industry, etc. Related closely to the photography industry, albeit the global tourism market had been severely hit by the COVID-19, the entire pan-tourism market has experienced explosive growth after the lift of COVID-19 in 2022, so I believe the cloud photography industry will also usher in a broader market.
What are your expectations for the future?
The development of digital imaging is not limited to these technologies today. With the popularization of AI and the development of intelligent robots, we can boldly imagine that in the near future, at events or weddings, the workers who provide image shooting services may not be photographers, but will be those intelligent robots with automated cloud platforms and robotic arms. By utilizing advanced technologies such as cloud transmission and AI processing, a fully automated work scenario can be achieved. Even by combining AR virtualization, 3D animation, special effects, and other means, virtual studios or scenes can be established so that any form of online dissemination can be achieved through virtual AI characters and scenes. In short, the future imaging industry has ushered in a new era of digital technology.
As an expert and pioneer in the cloud photography industry, I have been committed to driving the transformation of the traditional imaging industry and advancing the entire industry, resorting to technological innovation.