Foreign sci-tech talent starts business in Beijing

China's reform and opening-up drive, along with other efforts to promote entrepreneurship and innovation, is motivating many people, including foreigners, to start businesses in the country.

China Daily website produced a series of Chasing Dreams videos that offer a glimpse into China's improving business landscape and how foreigners are starting businesses in a wide range of sectors.

This is the first in the series.

Five years ago, Forrest Fabian Jesse, a PhD student at Beijing Jiaotong University, decided to start a business in augmented reality(AR).

He had been doing AR research in New York before he came to China, and invented one of the world’s first laser-based wearable AR system in 2001, the "portable road".

He talked enthusiastically about AR technology.

"Using the phone to scan the environment, we have information of all the objects in the space and mark them in our system," said Jesse. "If a person wants to find something, he will 'remember' it in the system."

He expressed the hope that the technology will help improve the lives of older people and children.

"Beijing has taken the lead in some areas in supporting entrepreneur projects," Jesse said.

Over the past few years, his team has received a lot of support from the administrative committee of Zhongguancun science park and Beijing Jiaotong University.