UK entrepreneur to promote his computer vision on TED Talks in India

London, January 14

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan will host a new Indian show by an augmented reality UK company to highlight how computer vision can empower more than 750 million people globally who cannot read or write.

Ambarish Mitra, an AR pioneer who was named UK Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young in 2016 and a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2017, will appear on the new show hosted by Shah Rukh Khan.

“This show is helping Indians think about the world around them in a completely different way, in particular how diverse ideas can interrelate and create something brand- new. It highlights how successful ideas demand not only technical excellence, but a willingness to be creative and challenge convention,” said Mitra.

“I hope that this show inspires the next generation of Indians to explore opportunities and careers that they may not have known ever existed, to dream big and ultimately create a better tomorrow,” he said.

Mitra, born and raised in India, was inspired to create his firm Blippar when sitting in a pub in the UK.

He joked to a friend about how incredible it would be if the Queen of England could come to life from a 20-pound bank note.

His friend and co-founder, Omar, made the first prototype and out of this throwaway remark Blippar was born in 2011.

The company specialises in AR and computer vision, a cutting-edge field within artificial intelligence (AI) that understands sight and enables computers to see, identify and process images in the same way that human vision does, and then provide appropriate output.

Harnessing these technologies, Blippar claims to have built an entire suite of tools and products that bridge the physical and the digital world, push the boundaries of visual search and allow anyone to take advantage of these technologies on their own.

Launched on December 10, ‘TED Talks India: Nayi Soch’ is the first foreign TV series from TED, the media organisation made famous for its viral 18-minute talks.

Each episode sees Shah Rukh Khan introduce an inspirational speaker and thought leader who is tapping into emerging trends and helping spread new ideas.

TED is an acronym for Technology, Entertainment and Design, and the speakers are key influencers in these fields globally.

“This is one of my favourite places for inspiration and ideas, to understand the world around me and to understand myself too. As the host of ‘TED Talks India: Nayi Soch’, I’ve pulled together a wonderful programme of speakers — scientists, business leaders, artists and more — in the TED tradition to share with you,” said Khan.

Among the guests that have already been featured include Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who spoke of his vision for how India (and the world) can leverage tech to grow into its massive potential, and Professor Manu Prakash, the physicist and inventor creating low-cost scientific instruments that young people can use to explore real science themselves.

Mitra, CEO & Co-Founder of Blippar, becomes the latest guest this week as an active private investor in the field of AR, AI, Genomics and Food-Tech. PTI