Overview of this article: From September 1 to 3, with the theme of "Intelligent World, Yuansheng No Boundary", the 2022 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) kicked off at the Shanghai World Expo Center.
The metaverse is the protagonist of the 2022 World Artificial Intelligence Conference. The metaverse venue, the planet of the real and virtual interaction, and the metaverse digital collections make the audience linger. The metaverse has become the core entrance of people's digital life .
The meta-universe is gradually moving from the concept stage to the industrial exploration stage. Its business forms and development trends all show its potential huge business opportunities. However, the business monetization model of the meta-universe is still elusive, and practical application scenarios are still needed.
1, fashion and social, interactive experience augmented reality
2, games and live broadcast, reshape entertainment everything can be "go"
3, promotion and publicity, interactive advertising penetrates Z generation
In January 2022, Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard for US$68.7 billion in cash. This move not only set a new acquisition record in Microsoft's history, but also the beginning of the commercialization of the meta-universe.
The implementation of the meta-universe application has become a key topic of the 2022 World Artificial Intelligence Conference. Its huge role in boosting the real economy has gradually become a broad consensus, and the future of the meta-universe commercialization is promising.
What are the application prospects of the meta universe? What kind of brand new commercial space is hidden behind its popularity?
Fashion and socialization, interactive experience of augmented reality
"In the near future, we will live in the world of augmented reality." This is the foundation of the meta-universe that shakes people's current lifestyle. It has a new identity and image in the online world and experiences a lifestyle that is difficult to experience in the real world, which makes countless people yearn for it.
moves from concept to commercialization, and the meta-universe has only used the world for just two years. , scientist of the computer vision chairman of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a member of the British Royal Academy of Engineering, mentioned that the world's cutting-edge AI and the meta-universe have promoted each other, and there have been many related implementation cases.
Among them, digital collections and digital clothing have already sold at amazing prices.
In May 2019, the first digital clothing "Iridescence Rainbow Dress" was born on the Ethereum blockchain, with a transaction price of US$9,500.
After that, with the concept of the meta-universe emerging, virtual clothing has become a new trend. Virtual clothing that once existed in the concept has room for implementation and promotion in the meta-universe concept.
Under the concept of the meta-universe, digital assets generate value, while virtual clothing meets the needs of beauty. At the same time, virtual clothing is given uniqueness by merchants and has become a limited edition virtual collection with its own social attributes.
Fashion brands have smelled business opportunities and devoted themselves to the metaverse to design digital fashion products. Balenciga released the 2021 autumn series through VR games; Gucci created a limited-time virtual space for Gucci garden exhibition; Nike acquired virtual sneaker design company RTFKT and cooperated with Roblox to launch the "Nike Park" Nikeland virtual experience.
But unlike virtual clothing, the metaverse breaks through the transaction of digital assets and realizes the iteration of experience from the integration of digital to the real and virtual.
Due to the impact of the epidemic and changes in retail formats, the data currently shows that about 81% of consumers around the world believe that branded digital stores are as important as physical stores, and the rapid development of digital space is fundamentally affecting all walks of life.
According to IBM 2020 US Retail Index, the epidemic has greatly accelerated the transformation of physical stores to digital shopping. The meta-universe that is closely integrated with virtual and reality is gradually building the virtual shopping experience into a complete ecosystem that integrates into life.
Metaverse AR virtual shopping provides a comprehensive interactive experience that integrates color, sound, taste, touch and other sensory depth, allowing people to gain real perception beyond reality obstacles without going out, and complete online clothing browsing, touching, trying on, placing orders, booking or making appointments.
Obsess and beauty brand Dermalogica cooperated in July 2021 to launch an immersive VR experience store where consumers can "shop in person" like in physical stores. In March 2021, Burberry collaborated with Elle Digital Japan to perform a digital model copy of its physical store in Ginza. In February 2021, Tumi launched a 360-degree panoramic virtual store where shoppers can render products of real size to their homes.
Meta-cosmic e-commerce shopping combines the authenticity and convenience of offline trials. Through highly realistic sensory restoration and online immersive experience, in this new business model, merchants provide immersive, interactive, and emotional ways, which can make the process of customers obtaining products and services more anthropomorphic, interactive and content-oriented.
Merchants are actively exploring the added value in the creation process of virtual scenes, virtual customer service, etc., and accelerating the transformation of physical stores to digital immersive shopping.
Games and Live Streaming, reshaping entertainment, everything can be "go"
In China, the widely accepted "meta universe" is closely linked to the currently popular games and live Streaming.
December 24, 2021, Tencent Music Entertainment Group New Year's Eve, Mayday, the world's top 100 DJs Anti-General, Vicetone, Luminn, DEXTER KING and other musicians used a "immersive" new method to create the first virtual music carnival in China, attracting more than 1.1 million music fans to interact with meta-universe characters in the live broadcast room. The success of
The success of meta-universe live broadcast has allowed platforms to increase their investment in virtual live broadcast rooms, and games are the best way to add interaction to the virtual live broadcast rooms.
Game creation is not just about games and entertainment, games in the meta-universe world, but more about "socialization". What’s more important is that the gaming industry has room for growth beyond imagination. According to GlobalData, the market value of the gaming market may rise to $300 billion by 2025, which is almost triple the record $101 billion in the global film market in 2019. Combining the two major money-making fields of gaming and live streaming is one of the best paths for commercialization of the metaverse.
In early 2022, a number of "meta-universe games" live broadcast rooms emerged on platforms such as Douyin , Kuaishou. After users enter the live broadcast room, they will see a virtual scene where users are given a virtual identity in the virtual scene. As long as they post relevant instructions and comments, likes or give gifts, they can interact with other viewers in the live broadcast room.
Among them, the more popular tower guarding game is similar to "Defend Carrot", but as a weapon, "Carrot", becomes a user. The user needs to join the battle according to the live broadcast prompts, the user interacts in a virtual identity, and provides revenue for the platform through traffic and gifts.
connects metaverse games with live broadcasts, which can stimulate the guiding role of the anchor and the interactive social appeal of the audience. It is easier to sink to users than metaverse products with complex operations. In the meta-universe live broadcast, there is no real person in the camera, but only the immersive interactive service experience and the interactive feeling hidden behind the virtual image.
Metaverse live broadcast can quickly become popular in the live broadcast circle, and also utilize the platform's push mechanism. Users can accumulate popularity in the live broadcast room by likes, comments and other behaviors in the game.
Internet giants have also realized the possibility of personalized metaverse live broadcasts. The organizers of metaverse live broadcasts have gradually moved from large manufacturers and platforms to individuals. According to data from B station, a total of 32,412 virtual anchors have been broadcasting on B station in the past year, with increasing by 40% year-on-year. In the process of commercialization, the
platform is more like a provider of supporting equipment and technology, responsible for building the meta-universe space and providing services to the "live broadcast room" that constitutes the platform meta-universe.
Kuaishou launched an APP called "Kuaishou Virtual Playing Assistant" to provide relevant functional support for virtual live broadcasts; Bytes has launched a Pico VR all-in-one machine, allowing users to watch A-SOUL VR night talk live broadcasts, breaking the "screen" barriers of traditional live broadcasts and moving from outside the "fourth wall" to the VR live broadcast room.
Promotion and promotion, interactive advertising penetrates Z generation
As the monetization ability and commercialization prospects of the metaverse have been confirmed, the advantages of the deep integration of the metaverse concept and advertising marketing industry have begun to show.
In the meta universe, features including but not limited to characters' clothing and makeup, brand dynamic and static display, etc., all have the opportunity to be expressed more intuitively in the scene. In the 3D virtual scene tailored for customers, the new meta-universe product display and interaction mode can express more diverse marketing points to users.
Take the game industry as an example. For the advertising industry, players are mobile traffic. As long as there are enough players, they can create super high advertising value.
On August 31, NetEase's "Anti-Shui Cold Mobile Game" published an article introducing the profit model, the plan of "partially or completely giving up the payment of attributes". The game is ready to test by collecting "exposure volume" data to estimate the cost of subsequent "metauniverse advertising plans". The higher the exposure volume, the higher the cost of advertising implantation may be.
This game product has actively tried toward immersion, strong social interaction, independent economic system and other aspects in the early stages of its development, and has a high degree of compatibility with the concept of the metaverse. "Against the Cold Mobile Game" realizes that in the era of game meta-universe interaction, any scene, decoration, or image in the game can be a social channel and a medium for publicity.
official said that it will implant advertisements into the game world. The water you drink in the game, the red flags floating above the inn, and the publicity column at the entrance of the island manor can be brand promotional slogans such as food, daily necessities, and even cars, mobile phones.
's model of making money by using built-in advertising complements the process of creating the metaverse. The higher the exposure, the higher the cost of advertising implantation may be.
The greater charm of Metaverse advertising is that the interactive entertainment characteristics of the game have long been fully visible to the brands, and the essence of the relationship between people in the game is far different from the passive consumption of traditional media. Games can bring consumers into another magical world, which will further psychologically fit consumers and advertisers. Advertisers not only use games for marketing and entertainment, but also have the opportunity to guide consumers' consumption behavior.
Guardian game editor Keith Stuart said: It is difficult for Generation Z to communicate through traditional platforms and channels. They neither watch TV nor listen to radio, nor read magazines, and their attitude towards other traditional methods is roughly the same.
games are the best entry point, and scene-based advertising has entered the practical stage in foreign game companies. Fortnite and Roblox attract millions of active players and are currently working with major brands seeking to enter the gaming space.
can be seen. With the improvement of policies and industrial exploration and other aspects, the metaverse is gradually moving from the conceptual stage to the commercialization stage.
More and more technology companies are constantly increasing their investment in this field, but people’s current understanding of it is just the tip of the iceberg. With the digital transformation of the real economy and the efficiency improvement brought by digitalization itself, the metaverse may become another trigger point for changing our lifestyle after smartphones.
