China's top Internet search engine firm Baidu Inc. and Paramount Pictures said Friday that they are rolling out new emoji features in Baidu's IME keyboard apps centered on Bumblebee, the latest film in the "Transformers" series.
The Bumblebee Augmented Reality (AR) Emoji is modeled on Baidu's sophisticated face-tracking AI, the hyper-realistic AR rendering of everyone's favorite Autobot, mirroring the user's expressions and enabling them to take selfies or create one-of-a-kind GIFs.
These Bumblebee-themed offerings for mobile phone apps are the latest additions to Baidu's extensive libraries of emoji, customizable themes and skins for Baidu IME keyboards, according to the tech giant.
A 12-foot-tall Bumblebee model standing in Potters Fields Park in front of Tower Bridge in London. /VCG Photo
The offerings also include two Bumblebee-themed Sticker Packs that bring immersive messaging features to the fans of "Transformers" movie series.
The new yellow Bumblebee-themed features are now made available for about 400 million Baidu IME users, who can download them via their mobile phone apps.
"This is the first partnership of its kind between Baidu's global business unit and a major Hollywood studio, and it couldn't be more fitting," said Jiang Feng, director of Baidu's global business unit.
"The Transformers films have nurtured a thriving community of fans, and Baidu prides itself on fostering a similar environment for its keyboard app users, where technology can be as fun as it is sophisticated," Feng said.
The two companies said users can interact with other Transformers fans within the app by downloading their favorite sticker combinations.