Three questions about the automotive metacosm: how to land, where are the business opportunities, and where is the industry going?

BMW, Hyundai, SAIC... More and more car companies have entered the meta-universe world.

"We are very convinced that the car will become a very important carrier of the meta-universe", Liu Tao, co-CEO of Zhiji Automobile, told the Beijing News Shell Financial Reporter on December 26 that the car, as a large intelligent terminal, is born with the basis of immersive experience, and Zhiji can be said to have the prototype of the "meta-universe" in a sense.

It's not just the wise people who covet the metaverse. Ideal, SAIC and Xiaopeng have recently preemptively registered the meta-universe trademark. BMW and Hyundai have developed their own games and virtual spaces. However, it has to be pointed out that the automotive metacosm is going to develop by leaps and bounds, and it still faces many challenges.

A number of industry analysts worried in an interview with reporters that whether the vehicle can perfectly integrate VR, 3D modeling and other technologies under the condition of ensuring driving safety and complete digitalization, becoming the most important hardware channel into the metaverse, and there is still uncertainty. Zhou Hongyi, the founder of 360 and a shareholder of Nezha Automobile, is also worried that the core of the metacosm is also software, and software has vulnerabilities, and vulnerabilities will produce security problems.

In addition, if the meta-universe can really be established, can car companies rely on selling copyrights and hardware differentiation charges, and can they make enough profits to break even? Is the metacosm buzzing, or can it really become a new profit growth point?

Most importantly, in the eyes of the industry, the technological burst brought by the meta-universe will be conducive to the development of the automotive industry. Minsheng Securities also said that the meta-universe can deeply empower Industry 4.0, and the core targets of the industrial chain are expected to benefit. However, whether this "target benefit" is technological development, or "rubbing hot spots" and "hype", cannot be determined until the development route of the metacosmology is clear.

Zhiji car has the prototype of the metacosmology

A number of car companies preemptively registered the meta-universe trademark

In Liu Tao's view, the meta-universe is undoubtedly a very important track in the future. In the era of artificial intelligence, everyone is both a creator, a sharer, and a user. "I think the real metaverse must be intertwined and entangled in the virtual and real worlds in the future."

In the face of many imaginations of the metaverse now, Liu Tao believes that the best carrier of the metaverse must not be a mobile phone, "The experience that the mobile phone can bring you is very limited, its perception system is the camera, microphone, touch screen, very limited, the mobile phone and the person are separated physical existence, it is difficult to have an immersive experience." ”

"The real immersive experience has to have a space to blend, such as sitting in the car", Liu Tao said, if the user sits in a smart electric vehicle, the seat can know the user's weight, through the seat adjustment to accurately know the user's height, through the capacitive steering wheel, you can accurately know the user's body fat coefficient, you can measure the heartbeat, measure blood pressure, adjust the temperature according to the user's cold or hot body feeling, adjust the user's favorite music, atmosphere.

Liu Tao further introduced that at present, Zhiji has initially possessed the function of "real and virtual interaction", such as the IMOS air pilot function, assuming that the owner is stuck in traffic on the highway, he hopes to get a bird's eye view of the real panoramic view of the on-ramp congestion from the air, through 3D modeling, high-precision map simulation, game engine rendering, Zhiji may bring users the experience of "virtual world", "This immersive experience is actually the prototype of the 'meta-universe'."

In addition, Liu Tao stressed that Zhiji is not because the metacosm has become an outlet in recent months, so that people are studying this technology. According to reports, Zhiji has now carried out the User Data Rights and Interests Plan (CSOP) to build a platform technology base, which also means that Zhiji has developed blockchain technology, through this plan, Zhiji hopes to "embrace the dividends of the times".

In fact, Zhiji is not the first car company to "eat crabs". Prior to this, Ideal, Xiaopeng, and even SAIC had already preemptively registered the Meta-Universe trademark.

The reporter noted that as early as September 15, ideal registered the trademark patent of "ideal meta-universe"; on October 15 and October 18, the traditional car company SAIC Motor Group made efforts to register a number of trademark patents for "Car Yuan Universe"; Xiaopeng Automobile registered a number of meta-universe trademark patents on November 1 this year, called "Xiaopeng Yuan Universe".

Not only that, according to foreign media reports, BMW also launched the virtual world JOYTOPIA and invited the band to hold a concert in the virtual world. BMW said that through JOYTOPIA, BMW has created its own meta-universe, which is a huge leap forward in the digital world and also enables BMW to respond to the needs of customers for personalized experiences in the digital space.

Hyundai Cars has developed meta-universes where players can drive modern cars or operate robots.

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There is no shortage of "cold water throwers" in the automotive meta-universe How to ensure driving safety and digital security?

Car companies have rushed to register the meta-universe, is the meta-universe really coming?

"Zhiji car does use the necessary technology to build the metaverse, but this can not be regarded as a metacosm", Xia Ye, a senior analyst in the Internet industry, told reporters that car companies need to divide the metacosm into two latitudes to see the problem, the first latitude is to assume that the car can become the entrance to the metaverse, there is indeed a technical coincidence; the second latitude is where is the entrance to the metacosm, can the metacosm be successfully established?

Specifically, in the view of summer night, the current smart car is more and more rich in functions, the car has assumed part of the functions of computers, game machines, cars are not only cars, but also intelligent cockpits, walking computers, robots, is a way of life, interaction.

"In the context of the continuous development of smart cars, if we assume that the entrance of humans into the metaverse is through VR and AR technology, then how to make humans have a more immersive experience has become an important problem," Summer Night said, in this case, the car can sense the human body sitting posture, temperature, can provide sound, have become an auxiliary function to enter the metaverse. And like the rearview mirror, car window has a screen effect, there are already some car companies can do, which can indeed be combined with the meta-universe.

In addition, Summer Eve also said that considering that the underlying technology of the metaverse does include how we reproduce reality in virtual reality, the current smart car does involve metaverse-related technologies to a certain extent.

For example, he said, there are currently some driving schools, car companies for car owners to intelligent driving or learn to drive VR and AR simulation training, this simulation training needs to be as realistic as possible to reproduce the real scene into the digital world, this 3D modeling is closely related to the metaverse.

However, Summer Eve still said that for vehicles, safety is still the first priority, in addition, whether the vehicle can perfectly integrate VR, 3D modeling and other technologies to become the most important hardware channel into the metaverse, there is still uncertainty.

In fact, there are also many entrepreneurs who "pour cold water" on the metacosm.

Tesla CEO Musk has publicly stated on social media that he believes that human beings are too early to enter the metaverse, a concept that does not look like it can be realized in reality, but more like a popular marketing phrase.

In the eyes of Zhou Hongyi, the founder of 360 and a shareholder of Nezha Automobile, even if the meta-universe has developed by leaps and bounds, it must face security problems. In an interview with the media, he said that the essence of the metacosm is actually a digital world with a more attractive interface. The core of the metaverse is also software, and software has vulnerabilities and will be exploited and attacked. There are many new security issues in the digital world, so digital security is very important.

Two questions

Car Yuan Universe Profit and Loss Imagination: Selling Authorization to Make Money ? Hardware differentiation charges ?

In fact, Summer Eve also envisions how cars can use the metacosm to make a profit on the basis of assuming that the metacosm can really be established.

"At present, the connection between the car and the meta-universe is not so close, after all, the meta-universe itself has not yet been greatly developed", Xia Ye said, the current source of income in the meta-universe is only the sale and purchase of virtual items, such as Lin Junjie buying virtual real estate, many people buy virtual products, the provider of this product is the brand side, in this case, if the car company wants to make a profit, it will involve authorization.

For example, if consumers want to buy a Porsche in the metaverse, then Porsche can provide authorization to the metacosm, and this almost zero-cost licensing can bring a lot of benefits to Porsche and other car companies. At present, LV, McDonald's and other brands are exploring the metaverse, LV introduced that each of the company's non-functional products is "pure digital assets from the LV Ethereum wallet".

However, Summer Eve also stressed that if car companies use this model to make profits, then in fact, it is not the car itself that brings benefits to the car companies, not the physical cars that the car companies currently advertise that allow consumers to have an immersive experience, but the virtual vehicles in the virtual world.

So, if the real vehicle develops the metacosm, how to make a profit? Summer Eve said that if the future vehicle can really become a meta-universe port, first of all, it will become part of the marketing focus and cost component of selling cars, thereby increasing the price of vehicles and attracting a large number of consumers.

Secondly, car companies can also carry out differentiated charges, such as consumers want the sound to be more stereoscopic surround, VR and touch more realistic, car companies can use better hardware in exchange for higher profits, and this is also the traditional practice of car companies, but "old bottles of new wine".

Three questions

Can the metacosm deeply empower Industry 4.0? How does the subject benefit ?

It should be noted that even Zhou Hongyi will not deny that the technological burst brought by the metacosm will be conducive to the development of the automotive industry. He said that he firmly promotes the development of the industrial metaverse in the concept of the metaverse, "the digital technology used in the metacosm can be used in the industrial Internet to help the government and traditional industries to transform and upgrade, there are huge business opportunities here, may be the future blue ocean."

In fact, the research report of Minsheng Securities pointed out that the core of the metacosm is to solve the visual improvement and more interaction of the display platform. Minsheng Securities expects that in the future, the intelligent cockpit will accelerate the penetration + the total size of the screen equipped with the vehicle will increase + the product will gradually migrate from LCD to Mini LED, and the cockpit field of C-end automotive products will open up important incremental space for screen-related products under the resonance of three factors.

In recent years, China's digital economy has flourished and has become one of the most core growth poles in the national economy.

The scale of added value of China's digital economy has expanded from 2.6 trillion yuan in 2005 to 35.8 trillion yuan in 2019, and the proportion of digital economy in GDP has increased year by year, and its position in the national economy has been further highlighted. From 2005 to 2019, the proportion of China's digital economy in GDP increased from 14.2% to 36.2%, and the proportion in 2019 increased by 1.4 percentage points year-on-year.

Minsheng Securities Research Report shows that the meta-universe can deeply empower Industry 4.0, and the digital twin of the product is the core concept. In addition, under the help of on-board pull and meta-universe, the core target of the industrial chain is expected to benefit.

The reporter's inquiry found that there are currently as many as 86 meta-universe concept stocks, including well-known listed companies such as Zhongke Chuangda, Goertek Shares, Mango Super Media, and iFLYTEK. For example, Zhongke Chuangda once said on the interactive platform that the company provides operating systems and artificial intelligence-related technologies in the field of AR/VR. These techniques can be applied to the immersive experiential metacosm. The official WeChat public account of Zhongqingbao also said that the company will launch a virtual and realistic fantasy linkage simulation business meta-universe game "Brewing Master".

However, whether this "target benefit" is technological development, or "rubbing hot spots" and "hype", cannot be determined until the development route of the metacosmology is clear.

Beijing News shell financial reporter Lin Zi Editor Luo Dongjun Proofreader Guo Li