NetDragon Collaborates with Pearson, Expands Education Library with Agreement to License Digital Content

HONG KONG, Nov 4, 2020 – (ACN Newswire) – NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited ("NetDragon", Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is pleased to announce that NetDragon has signed a licensing agreement with Pearson Global Schools, part of Pearson, the world's leading learning company. Pearson's high-quality interactive math and science content from its Quikik app will be distributed through NetDragon's global learning community, led by subsidiaries Edmodo, Promethean, and JumpStart among others.

Pearson's multimedia learning tools focus on the individual needs of learners. For digital native students (ages 10-15), Pearson's Quikik app provides interactive content that is highly visual with real-life applications to make learning more engaging and fun for today's students.

According to the World Economic Forum, around 1.2 billion children were out of school classrooms this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With blended learning now center stage, educators are realizing the potential for online interaction. Bringing together market-leading content from Pearson with NetDragon's AI and Machine learning technologies, lessons can be tailored for each individual student to work at their own pace for improved learning outcomes.

Dr. Simon Leung, Vice Chairman of NetDragon said, "Digital transformation was already moving education into an age of personalization, but COVID-19 has made it a priority. We are delighted to bring Pearson content into the NetDragon community. This partnership will allow us to meet each student where they are by applying performance insights that help guide recommendations to the best content for them at that moment."

Blended learning programs can engage users in the classroom, at home, or anywhere in between. With the right content, self-assessment tools, and practice resources, students are able to learn at their own level and pace. At the same time classroom delivery is made easier when educators have direct access to content and question banks that make generating quizzes, creating lesson plans, and monitoring individual progress simple.

As NetDragon and Pearson continue to reimagine education, there's a shared understanding among both companies for the potential to extend the partnership as demand for lifelong learning continues to grow.

To learn more about NetDragon's Blended Learning Solutions, visit https://edu.nd.com.hk. And for more on Pearson's education tools and content, visit https://www.pearson.com/us/.

About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users, including previous establishments of China's first online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China's most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless. NetDragon was included in the Hang Seng TECH Index on 27 July 2020.

Established in 1999, NetDragon is one of the most reputable and well-known online game developers in China with a history of successful game titles including Eudemons Online, Heroes Evolved and Conquer Online. In recent years, NetDragon has also started to scale its online education business on the back of management's vision to create the largest global online learning community, and to bring the "classroom of the future" to every school around the world.

About Pearson
We are the world's learning company with more than 22,500 employees operating in 70 countries. We provide content, assessment and digital services to learners, educational institutions, employers, governments and other partners globally. We are committed to helping equip learners with the skills they need to enhance their employability prospects and to succeed in the changing world of work. We believe that wherever learning flourishes so do people. Visit Pearson.com

For enquiries, please contact:
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
Ms. Maggie Zhou
Senior Director of Investor Relations
Tel.: +852 2850 7266 / +86 591 8390 2825
Email: maggiezhou@nd.com.cn
Website: ir.netdragon.com

For media enquiries about Pearson, please contact:
Pearson
Josephine Bradley
josephine.bradley@pearson.com

Copyright 2020 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com

Olympus announces acquisition of FH ORTHO, an international orthopedics company in France

Tokyo/Hamburg, Nov 2, 2020 – (ACN Newswire) – Olympus Corporation (Director, Representative Executive Officer, President and CEO: Yasuo Takeuchi) today announced that it has acquired FH ORTHO SAS, an international orthopedic company headquartered in Heimsbrunn, France, following the close of a definitive agreement the two companies signed in the summer of 2020. The acquisition underscores Olympus' commitment to expanding in the growing field of orthopedic minimally invasive surgery (MIS) both organically and through mergers and acquisitions, with the overarching goal of developing innovative solutions that improve clinical outcomes, reduce overall costs and enhance quality of life for patients.

By acquiring FH ORTHO, Olympus builds on its portfolio of innovative and patient-focused solutions that are used in MIS procedures in ligament repair, foot & ankle, and trauma surgery.

Olympus is already active in orthopedics in Japan, where its joint venture Olympus Terumo Biomaterials Corp. distributes products such as bone substitutes and high tibial osteotomy (HTO) plates and screws. Beyond this, Olympus has also developed the first ultrasound device indicated for arthroscopic surgery, supporting more accurate and safer cutting of bones.

The acquisition of FH ORTHO will strengthen Olympus group's sales channels by enabling it to expand the distribution of both Olympus' orthopedic products via FH ORTHO's existing distribution channels, as well as to sell certain FH ORTHO key products in Japan.

By expanding its distribution network, Olympus will reinforce its position as a leading global medtech company as it continues to innovate and create solutions across all areas of the MIS workflow.

"We are pleased to integrate FH ORTHO's product portfolio, market reach and talented people to our orthopedics business," says Toshihiko Okubo, Senior Vice President, New Business Development, Global at Olympus. "By combining FH ORTHO's expertise and its excellent business presence with our products and solutions for the minimally invasive orthopedics surgery, the benefit of our offer to the patients and healthcare professionals will be further enhanced across the world."

Jean-Marc Idier, CEO of FH ORTHO, comments, "The FH ORTHO team very positively welcomes the arrival of Olympus as a recognition of our ongoing efforts and past accomplishments, whilst providing us with new means to accelerate the next phase of our international expansion."

About FH ORTHO

FH ORTHO develops and manufactures orthopedic devices and instruments for surgeons around the world. Founded in Mulhouse, France in 1964, FH ORTHO is represented in over 37 countries, with products focused on joint reconstruction, ligament repair, biologics, foot & ankle, and trauma surgery. R&D and factory are based in Quimper, France. Backed by 55 years of forward-thinking innovation in devices, techniques and product delivery, the company today is positioned for rapid expansion globally.

With an unrelenting commitment to innovation, research and collaboration, FH ORTHO continues to bring new ideas and techniques to advance the forefront of orthopedics globally. FH ORTHO products are developed and refined by surgeon experts who are among the world leaders in their respective fields. Prized for elegant design and distinguished by clinical sophistication and flexibility, FH ORTHO products help surgeons deliver ideal patient outcomes with devices, systems and tools that simplifies patient management for the surgeon, at an overall cost structure that is a benefit to the entire patient continuum of care.

About Olympus' Medical business

Olympus' Medical business uses innovative capabilities in medical technology, therapeutic intervention, and precision manufacturing to help healthcare professionals deliver diagnostic, therapeutic, and minimally invasive procedures to improve clinical outcomes, reduce overall costs, and enhance the quality of life for patients. Olympus' Medical portfolio includes endoscopes, laparoscopes, and video imaging systems, as well as surgical energy devices, system integration solutions, medical services, and a wide range of endotherapy instruments for endoscopic and therapeutic applications. For more information, visit www.olympus-global.com.

For questions or additional information, please contact:
Europe, Middle East and Africa
Matthias Gengenbach
+49 15142369420
matthias.gengenbach@olympus-europa.com

Japan
Yuka Horimoto
+81-90-2490-1071
yuka.horimoto@olympus.com

Copyright 2020 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com

NetDragon Collaborates with Pearson Expands Education Library with Agreement to License Digital Content

HONG KONG, Oct 23, 2020 – (ACN Newswire) – NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited ("NetDragon", Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is pleased to announce that NetDragon has signed a licensing agreement for K-12 education content with Pearson Global Schools, part of Pearson, the world's leading learning company. The high-quality interactive math and science content will be distributed through NetDragon's global learning community, led by subsidiaries Edmodo, Promethean, and JumpStart among others.

Pearson's classroom resources and multimedia learning tools focus on the individual needs of all learners. Primary/Elementary resources (ages 4-11) include the highly acclaimed Reading Street, Abacus Evolve, and enVisionMATH. For the digital natives (ages 11-18), interactive programs from Digits and Interactive Science are highly visual to make learning more engaging for today's students.

According to the World Economic Forum, around 1.2 billion children were out of school classrooms this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With blended learning now center stage, educators are realizing the potential for online interaction. Bringing together market-leading content from Pearson with NetDragon's AI and Machine learning technologies, lessons can be tailored for each individual student to work at their own pace for improved learning outcomes.

Dr. Simon Leung, Vice Chairman of NetDragon said, "Digital transformation was already moving education into an age of personalization, but COVID-19 has made it a priority. We are delighted to bring Pearson content into the NetDragon community. This partnership will allow us to meet each student where they are by applying performance insights that help guide recommendations to the best content for them at that moment."

Blended learning programs can engage users in the classroom, at home, or anywhere in between. With the right content, self-assessment tools, and practice resources, students are able to learn at their own level and pace. At the same time classroom delivery is made easier when educators have direct access to content and question banks that make generating quizzes, creating lesson plans, and monitoring individual progress simple.

As NetDragon and Pearson continue to reimagine education, there's a shared understanding among both companies for the potential to extend the partnership beyond K-12 content as demand for lifelong learning continues to grow.

To learn more about NetDragon's Blended Learning Solutions, visit https://edu.nd.com.hk. And for more on Pearson's education tools and content, visit https://www.pearson.com/us/.

About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users, including previous establishments of China's first online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China's most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless. NetDragon was included in the Hang Seng TECH Index on 27 July 2020.

Established in 1999, NetDragon is one of the most reputable and well-known online game developers in China with a history of successful game titles including Eudemons Online, Heroes Evolved and Conquer Online. In recent years, NetDragon has also started to scale its online education business on the back of management's vision to create the largest global online learning community, and to bring the "classroom of the future" to every school around the world.

About Pearson
We are the world's learning company with more than 22,500 employees operating in 70 countries. We provide content, assessment and digital services to learners, educational institutions, employers, governments and other partners globally. We are committed to helping equip learners with the skills they need to enhance their employability prospects and to succeed in the changing world of work. We believe that wherever learning flourishes so do people. Visit Pearson.com

For enquiries, please contact:
NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited
Ms. Maggie Zhou
Senior Director of Investor Relations
Tel.: +852 2850 7266 / +86 591 8390 2825
Email: maggiezhou@nd.com.cn
Website: ir.netdragon.com

For media enquiries about Pearson, please contact:
Pearson
Josephine Bradley
josephine.bradley@pearson.com

Copyright 2020 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com

Olympus to Support Endoscopic AI Diagnosis Education for Doctors in India and to Launch AI Diagnostic Support Application

TOKYO, Oct 20, 2020 – (ACN Newswire) – Olympus Corporation took part in a ground-breaking project as a business promoter, in cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), entitled, "Survey Study for International Expansion of AI Diagnosis Support System Using Ultra-High Magnifying Endoscopes in India." The project aims to develop advanced endoscopy diagnostics in India, where there are relatively few endoscopists.

In collaboration with CYBERNET SYSTEMS CO,. LTD., Olympus has established an AI diagnostic support system at a major medical institution, the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology (AIG) based in Hyderabad, India. Specialist lecturers and physicians from Showa University Northern Yokohama Hospital provided expert guidance to AIG doctors. In addition to training AIG doctors in techniques for detecting diseases and differential diagnosis by colonoscope, they also trained the doctors on how to instruct the next generation of endoscopists.

The project started on October 12. At the kick-off meeting, Satoshi Hemmi, Deputy Director-General of the Information and Communications Bureau, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications commented, "We hope to contribute to the spread of AI endoscopy systems and the development of medical care in India through training future leaders in AI endoscopy systems in India. We also hope that the cooperation between India and Japan in the field of healthcare ICT will continue to develop."

In addition to the ultra-magnifying scope Endocyto(*1) released last year, Olympus will release endoscopic diagnostic support software equipped with AI in India from December. The endoscopic diagnostic support software EndoBRAIN(*2) and EndoBRAIN-EYE(*3) will be utilized for physician training in India. Olympus intends to assist in the development of physicians and promote the use of endoscopic diagnostics.

(*1) An endoscope that enables observation at the cellular level in real time with up to 520 times optical magnification.
(*2) AI real-time in-vivo analysis of colon lesions taken with ultra-high magnifying endoscopes, numerically indicating the possibility of neoplastic and non-neoplastic polyps to assist physicians in the differentiation and detection of polyps through figures.
(*3) AI endoscopic diagnostic imaging support software that assists physicians in diagnosing lesions by alerting if a polyp or other lesion is detected using regular colonoscope images.

Background of Olympus' Participation

In India, the rate of cancer morbidity is expected to increase as the economy grows. On the other hand, there is a severe shortage of doctors who can conduct precision diagnostics with endoscopes, which are essential for early detection and treatment of cancer. Olympus participated in this project to support trained AIG specialists to train doctors in India and neighboring countries and to contribute to the popularization and development of endoscope diagnostics using the latest AI technology.

Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Project

– Purpose:
The MIC aims to realize the sustainable development goal and SDG pledges to ensure "no one will be left behind." To this end, the MIC aims to realize a model that contributes to SDG through digitization and to disseminate and promote an SDG + ICT model domestically and overseas between both public and private sectors. This project aims to contribute to the introduction and dissemination of Japan's endoscopic AI diagnostic support system to India and neighboring countries in response to the social issue of increasing cancer prevalence in India.

– Projects:
1) Survey on the Current Status of Policies in the Medical Health Sector in India and the Current Status of the Introduction of Medical ICT in India:
Collecting information from major medical institutions and external research institutions and investigating the spread of medical systems, including endoscopic systems.

2) Verification through proof-of-concept tests in India:
Physicians from the Showa University Northern Yokohama Hospital will train AIG physicians, from the detection of disease utilizing a colonoscope to discriminatory diagnosis, and train them as lecturers to train instructors. MIC provided equipment and training courses.

For questions or additional information, please contact:
Yuka Horimoto
+81-90-2490-1071
yuka.horimoto@olympus.com

Copyright 2020 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com

WIMI’s Dr. Guo Songrui: Holographic technology and light fields

BEIJING, Oct 19, 2020 – (ACN Newswire) – Holography comes from the Latin vocabulary, and its meaning is: all, compound. According to the current common knowledge in mainstream technology filed, holography specifically refers to "holographic technology", which is a technology for reproducing diffracted light emitted by objects. Holographic technology uses the principle of interference to record the light wave messages of the object, and uses the principle of diffraction to reproduce the light wave messages of the object, helping users to store all the light information of the object. Thus, the observer can observe the different positions of the object in all directions, and the stored light information records all the light distribution in the three-dimensional space. Therefore, holographic technology is also a kind of optical storage and reproduction technology.

The earliest holographic technology was discovered by Denise Gabor (1900-1979), a Hungarian physicist, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1971. However, this technology was first used in electron microscopes to record and display electronic holograms. The earliest use in the field of optics was after the invention of laser technology in 1960.

The holographic recording is different from ordinary photography. An ordinary camera only records the intensity of the object's light field. The hologram records the intensity of the reference light and the object light after interference. When it needs to be reproduced, it is only necessary to use the reference light to show the amplitude of the object light that fully characterizes the object information.

The hologram production process uses a laser. The laser beam is strictly split 1:1 by a beam splitter. One beam of light shines on the surface of the object to be photographed, and the other beam directly shines on the photosensitive film (holographic dry plate). Moreover, this light is also called the reference beam. When the object beam is reflected by the object, its reflected beam is also irradiated on the film, completing the hologram shooting process.

There are several major characteristics of holograms: 1. Omni-directional information recording. The holographic picture records the omnidirectional and comprehensive illumination information of the object, so that the object can be observed from different angles during observation. 2. Learning the whole picture from the parts. When part of the holographic picture is damaged, the whole picture of the object can still be seen from the remaining part. 3. The amount of stored information is huge, and multiple holographic photos can be recorded hierarchically on the holographic film. Moreover, they will not interfere with each other when displaying the picture.

Based on the characteristics of holograms mentioned above, the application prospects of holograms are quite broad, but it is not an easy task to collect light fields to form a hologram in the early stage of technological development. Early technical methods were either expensive, such as using the aforementioned laser to irradiate objects, or using camera arrays; or collecting information was limited and inefficient, for example, the light field acquisition systems based on a fixed turntable. After 2000, with the development of digital camera shooting technology and light field shooting technology gradually attracted the attention of researchers, the light field collection technology of the single camera came into being. Until now, the light field collection technology has truly reached the civilian level.

The common light field shooting techniques are divided into two categories: integral imaging and aperture coding imaging.

Integral imaging is achieved by adding a microlens array or a micromirror array in front of the sensor to realize the collection of images of the light field viewpoints in different directions. There are more well-known integral imaging devices, including the lens array lens launched by Adobe, the Pelican lens array camera on the mobile phone, the Lytro light field camera, the R series light field camera of Raytrix, and so on.

The shooting based on the compressed light field is to add an optical mask between the camera lens and the sensor to achieve compression encoding of the light entering the camera aperture. The more well-known equipment is the prototype of the light field camera developed by Babacan et al. They proposed to use the method of encoding mask and programmed aperture to capture light field viewpoints in different directions, which can obtain light field with high spatial resolution.

The microlens array has the advantages of low cost and small size, but its disadvantage is that the image resolution loss is serious. The coding imaging technology has the advantages of small size, no loss of resolution, but its advantages are low signal-to-noise ratio and low light field quality.

From the perspective of the development of light field cameras, encoding-based light field acquisition equipment breaks the mutual restriction between angular resolution and viewpoint image resolution. The redundant information in the light field can be removed through machine learning, and the light field can be restored from a small amount of information. In the future 4K era, the advantage of not losing resolution will be the focus of this technology.

In the near future, when light field acquisition equipment develops to a sufficiently high resolution, as well as has fast enough acquisition speed, and cheap, the light field data, as a kind of rich media data, is stored in a large amount of non-overlapping data that can be passed through a single point. The complete picture of data information will become a new data treasure house for data scientists to research and mine. In particular, unexpected achievements may be obtained in many fields, such as holographic recognition, holographic payment, holographic authentication, and so on.

Guo Songrui:
Doctor of Computer Science and Technology Engineering from Hunan University, studied mixed reality and augmented reality technology at the State Key Laboratory of Scientific Computing of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and participated in the research and development of multiple key projects.

About WIMI Hologram Cloud Inc.
WiMi Hologram Cloud, Inc. (NASDAQ: WIMI), whose commercial operations began in 2015, operates an integrated holographic AR application platform in China and has built a comprehensive and diversified holographic AR content library among all holographic AR solution providers in China. Its extensive portfolio includes 4,654 AR holographic contents. The company has also achieved a speed of image processing that is 80 percent faster than the industry average. While most peer companies may identify and capture 40 to 50 blocks of image data within a specific space unit, WiMi collects 500 to 550 data blocks. For more information, please visit http://ir.wimiar.com/.

WIMI Hologram Cloud Inc.
Name: Tim Wong
E-mail: pr@wimiar.com
Tele: +86 10 89913328

Copyright 2020 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com