If you choose the most popular word in recent times, "metaverse" is the top three.
The term "metaverse" has shined in recent times, with people talking about metaversities in any industry, in any place. So why is the "metaverse" so hot?
The term "metaverse" first appeared in the science fiction novel "Avalanche", the game platform Roblox wrote the concept of "metacosmum" into the prospectus, and the market value exceeded $40 billion on the first day of listing, thus being talked about in the technology circle and capital circles.
Introduction given by Sogou Encyclopedia: Metaverse is a collection of virtual time and space, which is a parallel universe carried by digital forms in parallel with human society. Immersive immersion through augmented reality, virtual reality and the internet.
In layman's terms, the "metaverse" is a virtual world parallel to our real lives, similar to the oasis in Ready Player One. We use VR/AR/MR technology to get into the "metaverse" and implement some of the things we can do/can't do in real life.
Since it is believed that the "metacosm" can be entered through XR, will the "metacosm" change the future of the XR industry?
Review the ups and downs of VR
Although VR was first proposed decades ago, the real explosion of VR was in 2016.
The outside world believes that 2016 is the starting point of VR, in fact, in 2015, from the VR headsets of HTC and Valve, VR has entered our lives. However, the early VR headsets had some shortcomings of vertigo, low screen resolution, and the lack of content ecology, which led the outside world to think that VR was a bubble.
A large number of companies entered the VR industry in 2016, and at the end of 2016, there were even more than 1500 VR companies. Since then, the VR industry has appeared in a state of contention, as a mobile phone manufacturer HTC, even at the expense of giving up the mobile phone business to devote itself to VR.
SuperData has released a report that the global total value of VR in 2016 was about $2.7 billion. The report also mentioned that Google Cardboard has annual sales of about 84.4 million units, Samsung Gear VR about 2.316 million units, Sony PSVR about 745,000 units, HTC Vive about 450,000 units, Oculus Rift about 355,000 units, and Google Daydream View about 260,000 units.
According to the statistics of the Virtual Reality Industry Alliance, the market size of China's virtual reality industry has reached 16 billion yuan in 2017, an increase of 164% year-on-year.
The VR industry has been making continuous efforts to develop the VR industry. But there are also some companies that have withdrawn from the VR market, and Sina VR has sorted out some companies that have withdrawn from the VR industry:
Hammer Technology VR business split
Storm Magic Mirror
AltspaceVR
LeEco VR
Vrideo
Hardlight VR
Although the VR industry has been progressing, after 2016, some companies have not been able to quickly realize monetization, resulting in companies can not continue to operate. Ahead of 2021, 2016 is definitely the most glorious moment for the VR industry. Qualcomm released the XR chip subsequently, although it helps the development of the industry, but there is still a feeling of more than enough and insufficient strength.
After the outbreak of the epidemic in 2020, VR companies seized the opportunity that people could not go out, and vigorously developed VR virtual conferences, VR education, etc., so that the VR industry has picked up slightly. Oculus also released its flagship all-in-one machine, the Quest2, which was largely favored by consumers.
In 2021, domestic manufacturers have begun to release VR headsets, Pico, HTC, NOLO, iQiyi, etc. are releasing hardware at the same time, constantly enriching their own ecological content. The consumer-grade VR headset is made available to more people, driving the industry forward a big step.
How will metacosmity change the XR industry?
A big thing happened in the XR industry after the "Metacosm" proposed, and ByteDance threw 9 billion to acquire Pico.
ByteDance's entry into the XR industry was unexpected by everyone, because ByteDance did not have any business involving VR before acquiring Pico, which was also believed to be byteDance's intention to build its own metacosm.
The concept of "metacosmity" has accelerated the financing of the XR industry, and recent news about corporate financing in the XR industry has continued. To a certain extent, the "meta-universe" has brought more financial support to the XR industry, and also proved the capital market's affirmation of the future of XR.
The "meta-universe" will change not only the XR industry, but also the future of life, office, entertainment and so on. We enter the "metaverse" through VR, and VR will also be the entrance to the "metacosm" of major Internet manufacturers in the future.
Xiong Wen, CEO of iQIYI Intelligence, said: Metacosm is the next generation of Internet forms, which completes the last piece of the puzzle of VR development. Because VR, as the next generation of intelligent terminals, will carry the function of technology and entrance, and the metacosm is the application and scenario that VR will eventually dock.
Will the XR industry be commercialized faster?
With the blessing of strong funds, the XR industry will move forward more rapidly, and at the Qualcomm 2021 XR Ecological Partner Conference, Qualcomm Venture Capital and a number of investment institutions jointly established the XR Industry Investment Alliance.
The main goal of the XR Industry Investment Alliance is to accelerate the commercialization of the XR industry and will discover more outstanding XR projects. The arrival of the "metacosm" will provide a new direction for the XR industry, and XR enterprises will continue to build and improve the "metacosm" to achieve commercialization faster.
At present, the direction of commercialization of the XR industry is mainly C-end hardware and game sales, and the B-end market is more abundant, such as: industry solutions, supply chain, etc. The future of the "meta-universe" will be based on the C-end, a large number of users into the "meta-universe" will promote the sales of VR headsets, while providing products for C-end consumers in the "meta-universe", will also make C-end users become the main consumer group of the "meta-universe".
At present, the "metacosm" is still an illusory concept, but the combination of the "metacosm" and the real world will be the next development opportunity of the Internet. The establishment of Alibaba by Jack Ma is also considered by many to be crazy, but time has proved that Jack Ma opened the era of China's Internet e-commerce.
In the future, turning to the "metacosm", perhaps the "metacosm" is the beginning of the next Internet era. The "metacosm" has accelerated the progress of the XR industry, while accelerating the commercialization of the XR industry, and the continuous progress of the XR industry is the basis for the realization of the "metacosmum".
Will the "metaverse" make VR rise and fall again?
The answer is no, VR and the "metaverse", who is achieving whom? The XR industry helps the "metacosm", and the "metacosm" will also help the XR industry, and they complement each other.
"Meta-universe" will help the development of the XR industry, Tencent, Facebook, ByteDance and other big manufacturers to enter, "meta-universe" will be their main development direction. The concept of "metacosmum" affects many industries, but the most direct impact will be the XR industry, and XR will develop rapidly and steadily because of the "metacosm".
Although the "metacosm" has caused some companies to float in the stock price in the near future, it is conducive to development in a sense, proving that there are already capital/investors paying attention to the "metacosm".
In the near term, there may be some fluctuations in the XR industry, but in the long run, it will be conducive to the continuous progress of the XR industry, and there will be no ups and downs like 2016-2020.
IDC research shows that today, VR/AR headsets, wearables, and smart home technologies have passed the early stages of adoption and are all backbone components of the "mass market", with the size of these three categories reaching $369.6 billion by the end of 2021 and growing to $524.9 billion by 2025.
Compared with the global VR total output value of about 2.7 billion US dollars in 2016, the entire industry has undergone earth-shaking changes in 9 years, and the "meta-universe" has also played a pivotal role in it.
Although the "metacosm" is now a concept, it is believed that after a period of development, the "metacosm" is no longer a concept and will no longer be considered a bubble. We should face the "metaverse" objectively, every new thing appears will face a period of darkness, when the dawn comes, you will see its most beautiful side.