Reporting by XinZhiyuan
Edit: David
【New Zhiyuan Guide】At CES 2022, major manufacturers continue to live. Samsung has partnered with Zepeto, Asia's largest metaversal platform, to open another door to metaverse experiences, want to come to "my virtual mansion"?
At CES 2022, Samsung opened the door to metaverse experiences.
This time, the key to the gate is hidden in a customizable digital home called "My House" accessible through the Zepeto App.
Recently, the global COVID-19 situation has become increasingly severe, and many companies at this year's CES have chosen to withdraw early, or have narrowed physical booths and adopted more virtualization means, such as live booths through telephone broadcasts, or in this case, virtual booths, instead of sharing products.
However, the increase in virtual elements and technology may be an opportunity for Samsung, which aims to enter the metaverse.
Zepeto: "Pinch Face" is the largest metaverse platform in Asia
Zepeto is a face pinching app that came out in 2018, and its service is mainly to make 3D avatars, using AR technology to synthesize photos and virtual backgrounds, and users can virtually socialize through its SNS function.
In 2020, Zepeto launched Zepeto Studio to further exert UGC to support creators to model and produce virtual goods and reduce the threshold of user design.
Based on VR technology, social networking, and UGC features, Zepeto expands the diversity of usage scenarios and collaborates in corporate marketing, virtual store collaboration, and cultural events.
Last year, under the grand strategy of building a meta-universe platform, Zepeto's developer Naver Z has invested in two Metavalse-related companies with an investment of more than 1.25 billion won ($1.04 million).
Last December, Zepeto just received a 5 billion won ($4.2 million) investment from Blue Hole, the developer of the popular FPS game PUBG.
It is reported that Naver Z has opened a new round of financing, with a financing amount of more than 40 million US dollars, zepeto is also known as "Asia's largest meta-universe platform", with more than 250 million users worldwide.
The metaverse "virtual mansion" turns around
Samsung began to establish a cooperation with Zepeto developer Naver Z in August last year, and at the CES conference, Samsung and Zepeto cooperated to create a virtual world experience platform "My House", which in Samsung's view, it is not too much to use this platform as the entrance to the meta-universe experience.
In this virtual home, players can walk around the fenced yard, which is filled with Samsung's various Q version products, such as projectors, vacuum cleaners, and televisions.
Samsung says:
"Whether you've heard of the metaverse before or not, it's no longer just a fad, it's a mature future trend. As online communication continues to evolve, metaversities create new industrial, social, and cultural values.
Millennials are using this digital space to experience identities that are different from the real world in new spaces and to create a new world through positive interactions."
There are two Samsung Bespoke Jet vacuum cleaners in the living room.
Players can start exploring from the front yard of the house, interacting with others and entering different rooms to visit.
Enter the living room through the front door, turn right into the kitchen with colorful custom appliances, then turn right into a laundry room that appears to be an open concept, and finally walk down the office, bedroom, and hall down to the bathroom. There is also a full front yard and back yard.
Pick up the Bespoke Jet vacuum cleaner and run around, stand in front of the air purifier and enjoy the breeze, play games on the TV in the living room or on the curved monitor in the office.
You can also hold a vacuum cleaner in the kitchen while doing hygiene and listening to music.
You can choose between Samsung's Sero Rotating TV or The Frame TV in your bedroom.
Youngwoong Kwon of Samsung's Global Marketing Center said:
"Since home appliances tend to be large, it's hard to really try to place them in the user's own space. But now, users can not only imagine their own unique spaces through My House, but also have the freedom to decorate their dream home."
But for now, this virtual home is still just a demonstration platform, and many interactive experiences are not yet fully in place. For example, in the bathroom, all you can do is brush your teeth, and nothing else can be done. The roads that can be explored in the home scene are fixed, and some small rooms are not even accessible.
But this does not hinder Samsung's confidence in entering the meta-universe through the virtual platform. Because "once the Metaverse is up and running, it becomes one with reality."
Resources:
https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/5/22866792/samsung-ces-2022-zepeto-metaverse-experience
https://news.samsung.com/global/ces-2022-samsung-x-zepeto-interacting-with-innovative-home-appliances-in-the-metaverse
https://www.kedglobal.com/newsView/ked202112060002
https://www.36kr.com/p/1450927318280329