Yuan Universe products are frequently released, and users have mixed reviews
At present, what is the hottest focus in the Internet industry? The "metauniverse" is undoubtedly one of them. The related "limited digital collections", "virtual real estate", and "trillion-dollar new market" have made the "meta-universe" hot topics from the technology world, the capital circle to the streets and alleys. Many domestic Internet companies are making plans, and the three major telecom operators are constantly increasing their investment in the Metaverse infrastructure, and many foreign technology companies are investing heavily. The social software , Facebook , which is familiar to everyone, even changed its name to tell people that they are committed to the "meta-universe".
All of this seems to be sending a signal to people: the metaverse is coming soon. Is this true? What exactly is the metaverse? Why did it suddenly become popular? How far is it from us?
enters "Metauniverse" in the mobile phone application store to search, and all kinds of meta-universe applications immediately pop up, including chat software created using workers' intelligent technology, immersive virtual games, etc., but these products under the banner of meta-universe do not seem to have high user satisfaction. With a full score of 5 points, most products only get 3 or 2 points.
"flashback" and "abnormal sound" frequently appear, and some users even question the rough product and the experience is not good.
China Mobile Communications Federation Chief Digital Strategy Officer Du Zhengping: I think it's still early. It's a sample-level version. I think (metauniverse products) are still in the process of development, and they are not really expressing the connotation of the metaverse.
Despite this, there are endless enterprises that chase Fengyuan Universe.
Over the past year, more than 10,000 Chinese enterprises have applied for the "Metaverse" trademark, involving more than 1,500 companies in various industries. Technology, entertainment and service companies are the main applications, followed by retail, automobile, education and Internet of Things companies.
But except for the industries in which some companies are located are related to the support technologies related to the metaverse, most companies have obvious signs of "hard rubbing". Some companies want to create "space experience scenarios of the metaverse", which is actually virtual reality exhibition halls and digital scenic spots that have been popular in the cultural and tourism industry for many years; some companies claim to layout the metaverse, and their main actions are just to develop virtual idols; and some companies propose "enterprise metaverse" solutions, which resulted in developing production visualization platforms.
In November last year, the China Mobile Communications Federation, approved by the State Council, announced the establishment of the Metaverse Industry Committee, which is also the first Metaverse Industry Association in the country to be approved. After their establishment, the first thing they need to do is to regulate the industry.
Du Zhengping, Chief Digital Strategy Officer of China Mobile Communications Federation: First of all, the concept of the metaverse has emerged. We must have an industry association to participate in it to regulate some developments in related industries.
Du Zhengping told reporters that the ideal concept of "metauniverse" will bring a "virtual world" that not only has words and images, but also has more sensory experiences and a more "real" feeling. At present, the concept of "meta universe" is in full swing, but the so-called meta-universe products on the market are still a certain distance from the real "meta universe".
News background: The past and present life of the "meta universe"
What exactly is the meta universe? What technical means do we need to support it?
What is the "metauniverse"? There are many statements, and a widely recognized view in the industry is that it is a virtual world composed of countless interrelated virtual communities where people can meet, work and play with virtual reality headsets, augmented reality (AR) glasses, smartphone apps or other devices.
This is not a new concept: in 1992, the meta-universe was described in "Avalanche" by science fiction writer Neil Stephenson; in China, in 1990, a similar description appeared in the manuscript of the famous Chinese scientist Qian Xuesen . He called it "spiritual realm", believing that this is the use of scientific and technological means to convey vision, hearing, touch and even smell to people, making the recipient feel as if he is approaching in person.
So, why is a meta-universe that is not a new concept becoming popular now? What exactly do those who pursue it really like?
This is a technical map related to the concept of the metaverse drawn by experts for reporters. There are mainly six categories: blockchain, Internet of Things, network and computing, artificial intelligence , electronic game technology, and interactive technology (including VR virtual reality, AR augmented reality, MR mixed reality , etc.).
It can be said that these are the hot cutting-edge technologies at present, and are also areas where countries are focusing on development. Some scholars even believe that the metaverse will become the next generation of Internet after the PC Internet and mobile Internet. It is precisely because of the so-called halos and gimmicks that the metaverse can quickly become the focus of pursuit by major giants.
Reporter's observation: The technological "dilemma" of the metaverse
Although various halos are added, if any concept only stays in the concept, it will eventually be a mirror and a water moon. Can the metaverse be implemented? "Construction of virtual scenes" and "manufacturing of immersive equipment" are two core technologies that cannot be avoided at present. So, how are the development of these two technologies?
At present, most companies believe that VR devices will become an important entrance to the "meta universe", and many well-known Internet companies have also begun to deploy VR devices. Not long ago, the head of the Metaverse Laboratory of Tsinghua University received such a touch vest.
Director of the Metaverse Culture Laboratory of the School of Journalism, Tsinghua University Shenyang: (After wearing the touch vest) it will produce vibration and pressure, and if the boxing is too heavy, it will feel pain. Therefore, in the metaverse, we must achieve the expansion of human sensory dimensions. When you interact with someone, if the other person pats you on the back, you can feel it.
This vest is equipped with a tactile sensor. The physical contact in the virtual world can also be felt by the human body in real life.
. This VR glasses are now widely used in many fields. Wearing them can achieve visual "immersive" to a certain extent.
But if you wear such a device for more than 30 minutes, it will not be very pleasant to experience it. Many people will experience dizziness or even want to vomit. Experts told reporters that this situation cannot be avoided at present.
Kunlun Wanwei CEO Fang Han: This is a hard indicator. Mobile graphics chips can achieve a refresh frequency of 120 Hz with 4K resolution. At present, the chip industry is not enough to support portable VR devices, and supports such high resolution. This has led to the problems of dizziness and low resolution in the mobile VR devices we currently use. This must be gradually achieved with the iteration of the chip industry, and our expectations may also be five to ten years later. Bottlenecks like
not only exist in VR devices. This virtual human is very close to the real person who is , Teresa Teng in terms of appearance and language. It is also trying its best to imitate it, and now it can also achieve "interaction" with users.
CEO of Digital Kingdom Xie An: From 2008 to 2018, there was a ten-year span. Our company began to use a large amount of artificial intelligence to let machines understand and deeply learn her speaking patterns and singing methods. When she was happy, she was angry.
It takes a series of complicated processes to create a virtual person. In order to make "Virtual Teresa Teng" infinitely close to the real prototype, 45 world-class special effects masters have revised hundreds of versions, but for thousands of users who want to enter the virtual world, it is difficult to capture single-person expressions in real time with the current technical level, let alone so many people have their own virtual clones. Once communication can only be done through voice, the effect can be imagined.
Nobel Prize in Physics winner and quantum electrodynamics expert Feynman inferred that only quantum computer can perfectly solve the problem of physical world simulation, and at present, classical computers can only make very simplified approximate simulations of this process.
reporter survey: The reality gap in the virtual world
immersive experience cannot be completely immersed in it, so what is the situation of the virtual world being built? The reporter found several meta-universe products that are being tested internally and conducted a physical experience in the virtual world.
, the social software for the "meta universe", started internal testing in December last year. There are still more than 100,000 users queuing up to participate in this "virtual world", and the reporter tried to log in. After completing the login on the computer, the reporter met the staff of this software.
Hongshi Product Director Liu Yusijie: I am responsible for receiving you today. We can see that there are mountains, rivers, sea areas, many cities, and many users have settled here.
is currently logged in through a computer or mobile phone, and there are already social software on the market that can log in through a headset device to allow users to get more interaction. However, the realistic level of the picture in front of you is still far from the real world.
CCTV reporter Zhu Huirong: Can we make it particularly realistic? After I go in, it seems like I am really like this in front of me? Liu Yusijie, product manager of
, Hongyun Universe: Of course, it is OK, but in this case, it will have relatively high requirements for hardware equipment, computing power, etc. The overall computing power of our commonly used mobile phones and tablets is not that high.
is not only this metaverse product, but this is the metaverse promotional video released by Facebook not long ago. It can be clearly seen that it is basically the "animation character" style with low precision. Experts told reporters that this is closely related to the current computer computing capabilities.
Director of the Metaverse Culture Laboratory of the School of Journalism, Tsinghua University Shenyang: To achieve a better metaverse application, its computing power needs to be increased by 1,000 times, which will take at least 10 years.
Although the application of underlying technologies such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence, blockchain, big data, 5G communication, wearable devices is becoming more and more mature, if you want to support hundreds of thousands of people online at the current level and complete voice communication at the same time, the clarity of the picture and the texture of the characters can only be like this. Once these images all achieve 3D realistic effects, the requirements for computing power will increase exponentially. During the
investigation, the reporter also noticed such a detail: building a meta-universe scene requires huge manpower and material investment, and also requires the realization of super-large-scale links. These are by no means possible for one company, and require many companies. These companies must also determine the same standard to operate. Compared with technological upgrades, this is even more difficult.
In addition, at this stage, most of the metaverse products are presented in the form of games, but with the development of the metaverse itself, a series of realistic problems such as virtual assets and virtual land purchases and sales will follow, such as how to supervise, how to define, and how to protect rights when there is dispute. All these practical difficulties have also made the virtual world of the metaverse slow.
At present, as the world's first company to transform into the "meta-universe", social media platform Facebook has already felt the chill that has been scraped from the capital market. In October last year, the company changed its name to "Meta". But nearly a year has passed and not come up with much practical technology. Now their vision for the metaverse is still stuck in the vision. In 2021, the company's Metauniverse business lost $10.19 billion, and its current stock price has fallen nearly half of the historical high in September last year.
Chief Digital Strategy Officer of China Mobile Communications Federation Du Zhengping: We should now look at the metaverse with a happy growth perspective, neither blindly following the trend nor hyping. We hope that in 10 or 20 years, in the deeply digital world, all Chinese companies, whether in infrastructure, content platforms, hardware platforms, and interactive software and hardware, can rise in all aspects.
Source: CCTV News Client
