Text/VR Gyro Linde
At the end of the year, the fire of the meta-universe is still too strong to work. Under this huge concept, the fermentation of heat is also accompanied by a lot of doubts, the most popular of which is the discussion of the concept of the authenticity of the metacosm, "the metacosm is hyped up", "it is just a new concept chased by capital". But is this really the case?
Most of these doubts stem from the confusing definitions of the original theories and the speculative hype of the overly large concept. After continuous discussion and fermentation, "real virtual world", "next generation Internet", "next generation content platform" and so on, even if there are still subtle differences, but more about the core consensus of the metaverse: a virtual world that cannot be separated from the real world, through technology to bring people a better life experience.
"The metacosm is an ironclad future"
Some people say that the metacosm has saved the VR/AR industry, and for companies that have worked deeply in this industry, the more reasonable logic is actually vr/AR that makes people see the arrival of the metacosm.
Seeing that technology COO Cai Shuhuan also shared his views, he believes that the metacosm was the seed planted from the emergence of the Internet, but due to the lag of technology, it needs to wait for terminal hardware and VR/AR related technologies, and even the relative maturity of infrastructure such as 5G and AI, before appearing in people's vision this year.
"People in this industry always believe that VR/AR and metacosmity point in the same direction, which is the fundamental reason why we see technology insisting on cultivating in this industry."
When Facebook changed its name to Meta, when Microsoft and other giants behind the platform and product layout, it confirmed this logic. They have already started the journey from the mobile Internet to the next generation of the Internet by acquiring and developing the next generation of computing platforms , VR/AR.
The first generation of Oculus headset (Source: Network)
As Cai Shuhuan said, the metaverse conveys a strong message.
The giant's action layout is not only a shot in the arm, but also the arrival of the "ten-year moment" of VR development. The WAVE of VR that began in 2012, after nearly a decade of ups and downs, the precipitation of technology, or let the imagination of the film shine into reality, the world of virtual and real integration officially entered people's lives.
For Cai Shuhuan, the most intuitive feeling is that whether it is VR, AR, metaverse, or the true Internet, all developments ultimately point to the same thing: through the hyperterminal, people's life, work, social and other activities are compressed into one or two actions, to achieve low threshold direct remote immersive interaction, in a very "explicit" way to complete our collaboration, to achieve emotional transmission.
In addition to entertaining games and virtual social scenes, in the metaverse, there should also be larger-scale interactions based on actual scenes, such as video with friends and family, communication with work partners, etc. These scenes that emphasize emotional transmission need not to be cartoon-driven game effects, but to restore real life as much as possible to achieve immersion and realism.
"No matter how the terminology changes, the essence of the metaverse is to build a more basic platform, so that as many economic activities as possible in the world can be unified on this platform, and even really change the problems that cannot be solved in the traditional Internet era such as housing and transportation." Cai Shuhuan said, "People can break through the limitations of time and geography, no longer need to gather in a small part of the core area can carry out high-density collision of ideas, in the non-physical environment content more people, thereby improving people's living standards." ”
As Wang Congqing, president of HTC China, said in his speech at FBEC2021: "The metaverse is not becoming more and more virtualized, but more and more real, making virtual life and digital life more realistic." ”
This means that the metaverse is highly correlated and inseparable from the real world, and the imagery, rendering, and interaction based on real shooting have become the basis of all this.
See the technology
Innovative metaverse real imagery
The metacosm is a grand system, and the construction of the metacosm naturally corresponds to a complete industrial chain. Gyro Research Institute divides the meta-universe industry chain into four parts, namely hardware terminals, underlying software, content ecology and infrastructure.
The basis of meta-universe content is the reconstruction and rendering of real-world three-dimensional images, deeply rooted in VR panoramic images to see that technology is in the content ecological link of the industrial chain, and has always seen that technology is constantly promoting VR images to progress in a higher and more outstanding direction, laying a good foundation for meta-universe content interaction.
Vr panoramic images reproducing real scenes break through the limitations of the plane and are a more immersive way of image creation, bringing about the upgrading of visual experience and immersive interaction.
Chen Dan, the founder of See Technology, once said, "See that technology is firmly optimistic about the market space of imaging technology and products in VR/AR scenarios in the 5G era." The future will be the era of the true Internet, online and offline will be further integrated, the combination of virtual world and the real world will be more close, and image must be one of the most important links. ”
Under the influence of the epidemic, panoramic image applications such as VR house viewing and VR tourism have been verified by the market, and the popularity of VR panoramic video and VR live broadcast has also soared frequently. Since last year, Kuaishou, iQiyi, Tencent Video, Bilibili, etc. have introduced the concept of VR panoramic video and opened VR channels.
"We hope to participate in and lead a new wave of image transformation through our focus and efforts at the image acquisition and processing end." Cai Shuhuan said.
In April of this year, saw technology release the world's first 12K 3D Ultra HD VR panoramic camera Kandao Obsidian Pro.
Image source: See technology
"Doing depth and then doing ultra-high-definition immersive imaging is the direction we have been studying, and it is also the core advantage of our software and hardware fusion research and development."
Professional-grade VR cameras not only need to take care of the scene in the 360° all-round space and take stereoscopic shooting, but also handle three-dimensional stitching during image synthesis, distortion correction at the playback end, image enhancement and other issues. To this end, Kandao Obsidian Pro is equipped with 8 ultra-6K cameras, and the field of view of each lens reaches 195°, so as to ensure that the scene in the entire space can be 300% captured, and any point in the space has three lenses to capture together, and then the points are built to build spatial coordinates for stitching and rendering, to achieve a more accurate sense of space.
In addition to the sense of space, clarity is also an indispensable factor for immersion. The Kandao Obsidian Pro features eight 24-megapixel APS-C large area image sensors. Although the value of 24 million pixels does not sound like a lot, for professional equipment, the area of the sensor is the most important, in the professional equipment Kandao Obsidian Pro is already a VR camera with both the highest resolution and the largest sensor area, and the VR image resolution of its spliced rendering output reaches 12K *12K.
The format and bit rate of image post-processing are also a key part of the direct impact on clarity. For professional-level creators, images without any processing will have more creative space in the later stage, and the degree of creative freedom will be higher. Among them, raw format is the most ideal image format for creators, which can maximize the preservation of image information, but it is also the most bandwidth- and memory-intensive format.
To this end, Kandao Obsidian Pro provides a variety of recording formats, including 10bit Apple ProRes422HQ, H.265, also supports RAW (no processing) format of 3D panoramic images, in order to meet storage needs, the device is equipped with 8 SSDs to meet mass storage needs, as well as 10 Gigabit Ethernet port, transmission peak up to 10Gbps, intuitively speaking, it takes only 40 seconds to download 50GB media material, almost "second transmission".
As we all know, lens language is an important way for images to convey information, and different compositions, the transformation of focus, and changes in pictures all convey the intention of the creator.
Focus transformation in 007 (Source: Network)
The same is true for VR panoramic cameras, in order to meet different creative needs, the lens in Obsidian Pro can electronically control the aperture to achieve the role of adjusting the exposure, and can also achieve depth of field control through two adjustable lenses to express the focus of the image at different moments.
Content production is the first step in the presentation of image content, which is subdivided into two aspects: content platform and content production in the content ecology of the metaverse. In order to facilitate the creators to create in the post-production after shooting, and one of the characteristics of the matching metaverse is UGC (user-generated content), see technology also brings a low-threshold code-free editing tool Kandao Creator, specifically for the editing of VR panoramic video.
Kandao Creator can be directly created by simply connecting mind maps and simply dragging and dropping various materials, and can also preview the editing effect in real time, and the final output H5 is convenient for users to disseminate their works.
Image source: Network
"The metacosm signal is strong
We believe it will come."
Different from the previous way of carrying flat images, the new way of presenting the story with a more immersive sense of VR panoramic video is eye-catching.
However, due to the high price of equipment, the current major commercialization scenarios are more inclined to the To B side, such as CCTV programs, large-scale projects, conferences, Tokyo Olympic Games, space events, VR live broadcasts and other large-scale events. The transformation of the business model of the To C end is not so easy, just like the development of computers, starting from the office and laboratory to every household, which also needs more technology precipitation and the popularization of VR hardware.
The same is true for seeing technology, and what needs to be solved now is the experience problem rather than the cost performance problem. At present, seeing that technology is also dominated by the B-end market, and deeply cultivated in this category, it plans to develop the C-end market on a large scale in the future, which also conforms to the market development trajectory of VR/AR.
Cai Shuhuan said: "Although the outlet of the meta-universe has come, it will take three years to become the universal existence of the C-end. ”
Although the concept of the metacosm is derived from overseas, it is also the overseas giants who took the lead in starting the layout and setting off a boom. However, in Cai Shuhuan's view, in the process of digitalization, domestic related infrastructure, such as 5G, are in a leading position, and may not be as good as some overseas companies in terms of core technology, but in terms of application scenarios and user experience, Chinese companies have strong advantages, so it is likely to achieve meta-universe curve overtaking.
Standing at the outlet, I see that technology has always positioned itself as a product company, and has always been committed to the generation and output of the content side.
Through a two-handed strategy between hardware and software, this impact on traditional, new ways of "storytelling" allows us to see more possibilities for the future metaverse. Even if no one can say what the terminal will be, the process of digitization has not stopped, and with the landing of more commercial scenarios, the metaverse will slowly form.
"We believe that the meta-universe is a thing that people who are really in this industry will continue to cultivate here and wait for its arrival."