Figure | "Crazy"
The TV series "Crazy" is on fire, in addition to the characters and plots such as Brother Qiang, An Xin, and his sister-in-law, many details in the play have also been ridiculed by netizens. Some people say that 2021 is an important timeline in the play, but none of the new energy vehicles that can best represent the background of the times have appeared, you know, 2021 is the year of the outbreak of new energy vehicles. This editor does not agree, to say that the most representative background of the times, is it not "mask"?
Ridicule is ridicule, gangsters have become history, and fuel vehicles will eventually become history. Once, to measure whether a fuel vehicle is a luxury car, horsepower is one of the most important indicators, under the wave of digitalization, horsepower is no longer in a dominant position, but a subordinate position, the dominant force has become computing power, data and experience.
The change of relationship has brought corresponding changes to the industrial chain. The metaverse, which carries new scenarios, new applications, and new ecosystems of the digital economy, is pushing the automotive industry to new changes. Not only new and old car companies, but also software and hardware companies related to the metaverse, underlying technology developers and other roles have also joined this wave of "crazy".
01
The automotive metaverse ignites the resonance of car companies
Under the wave of accelerating electrification transformation in the industry, vigorously deploying the field of new energy vehicles has become an inevitable trend. At the same time, the auto market has also discovered the influence of the "meta-universe", as long as it is touched, it will bring benefits such as a sharp rise in social attention and an increase in stock prices.
In 2021, the concept of metaverse continued to be popular, triggering a boom in car manufacturers registering metaverse trademarks. In order to seize the metaverse trademark highland, both the head car companies and the new forces of car manufacturing have successively submitted trademark registration applications under the background of the "metaverse wind".
In 2022, BYD, SAIC, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Geely, NIO, Xpeng, Lili and other manufacturers have begun to take substantial actions, and the integration of the metaverse and car companies is mainly reflected in industrial manufacturing, marketing and other links, such as production line optimization, virtual conferences, digital humans, commodity display, etc.
Figure | NIO's in-car AR experience
In January 2023, at CES 2023, the world's largest international consumer electronics show, many car companies and technology giants such as BMW, BYD, and Audi showcased the latest metaverse technology.
BMW has made a big splash with its "electronic ink" body color-changing technology. In addition to being able to "change clothes", the physical screen has also been canceled, all functions are displayed by panoramic HUD projection, there is only a steering wheel in the car, and a large number of buttons are hidden under the interior panel.
Figure | Bmw
In addition, the automotive metaverse industry base, which is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan, has recently settled in Shanghai. In response to intelligent competition, industrial companies in the field of automobiles, especially new energy vehicles, are actively embracing the concept of metaverse and accelerating the process of digital transformation.
02
Cross-border linkage has become the main theme of the automotive metaverse
The big drama of "crazy", in addition to the protagonist, how few supporting roles.
At CES 2023, BYD showed its new car equipped with NVIDIA GeForce NOW cloud gaming service technology, and BYD's intelligent cockpit brings users a more playable immersive gaming experience (not while driving) under the empowerment of technological innovation. Li Ke, executive vice president of BYD, said that in the future, BYD will continue to create a more interesting and sustainable driving experience for car owners.
Figure | BYD cloud gaming
Ali Kani, Vice President of NVIDIA's Automotive Division, said, "The accelerated development of in-vehicle computing, artificial intelligence and connectivity is helping to achieve higher levels of vehicle automation, safety, convenience and driving pleasure in the automotive sector. 'Instant' in-car access to a number of popular cloud games marks a new level of development in in-vehicle entertainment experiences. ”
AR (augmented reality technology), which is the first entrance to the metaverse, is also an important player in the automotive metaverse. In September 2022, NIO released the industry's first native in-vehicle AR glasses, NIOAirARGlasses. Developed by NIO and Nreal, the glasses can project a large screen with a viewing distance of 4 meters and an equivalent of 130 inches. In addition to NIO, the ideal car of the first echelon of the new force also bet on the AR glasses track, and cooperated with Thunderbird to develop the Thunderbird Air to create the official accessories of the ideal L9.
On December 22, 2022, GAC Group announced that it has jointly developed the intelligent cockpit metaverse "ADiGO PARK" with Chenjing Technology and iQIYI, based on the super-display computing power platform and headset peripherals, with binocular display resolution reaching 5K level. The driving motion technology jointly developed by GAC Group and Chenjing Technology allows users to obtain an immersive experience in multiple dimensions through the real touch of the cockpit.
In addition to the pure entertainment experience, the driving experience with a sci-fi feel is also refreshing. Panasonic has exhibited an AR-HUD 2.0 system with eye-tracking patents, through AR technology, this system can focus icons more accurately on the real world in front of the driver's eyes, improve the realism and presence of the image in the driver's field of vision, not only bring the driver a "cyberpunk" driving experience, but also effectively reduce visual fatigue during driving.
Figure | Panasonic AR patented driving experience
As a creation and development tool at the bottom of the metaverse, Unity China released an automotive intelligent cockpit solution. At present, local car rookies such as NIO, Xpeng, and Li Li have all used Unity for the design and development of intelligent cockpits, and have achieved mass production on many models such as Li L9 and Xpeng G9. Mercedes-Benz developers are also using Unity to create a new in-vehicle information and entertainment system, the first Mercedes-Benz car will be officially launched in 2024, and this new system will gradually cover the entire Mercedes-Benz model line in the future.
03
Technology and commercialization
The combination of the metaverse and automobiles not only "soars" the potential technological value, but also brings new business opportunities to automotive brands driven by technology.
From the perspective of consumption, the current consumer's car purchase behavior and car purchase method have undergone great changes, gradually changing from the previous "people looking for stores" to "shops looking for people" way, and each car company is trying to narrow the space distance between them and consumers. The combination of marketing and metaverse can solve this pain point of car companies, online new car launches, digital exhibition halls, exclusive virtual human customer service, virtual test drives and other ways can help car companies attract consumers' attention, break the limitations of time and space, so as to compete for more potential customer resources and increase sales.
Figure | Xpeng Motors metaverse test drive experience
Through the establishment of digital exhibition halls and 4S stores, every consumer can intuitively understand the product production process, feel the quality of the car, and even consumers can participate in the personalized customization process of the product, bringing a new and more sticky interactive experience to consumers and car companies.
In the after-sales service stage, the current domestic new car sales are still concentrated in the first-time purchase owners, the owner of the vehicle use and maintenance is inexperienced, online customer service, telephone customer service in the real car demonstration and explanation of the limited limitations, difficult to intuitively solve the user problems, and even need the owner to enter the store for after-sales service, for the owner has a large after-sales cost. The combination of after-sales service and metaverse can greatly improve the efficiency of after-sales service through virtual human customer service to demonstrate the vehicle in real vehicles, and the new experience of vehicle digital service can also allow consumers to keep abreast of the progress of after-sales service and increase their sense of trust.
However, at present, the concept of metaverse is still in its infancy, and it still needs a lot of optimization and innovation in computing power, right confirmation, XR and other technologies. For the automotive industry, car companies with leading digital capabilities in the future will inevitably lead the market through technological means, and establish a business map of the automotive metaverse based on new cognition and consumer demand.
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Figure | Internet