Metacosmic Alchemy ｜ Basic Platform？ Scene building？ How do domestic Internet giants lay out？

[Editor’s Note] Metauniverse, whose English name is Metaverse, originated from the sci-fi novel Avalanche, will shine brilliantly in 2021: from NVIDIA’s Lao Huang to Facebook’s Xiaozha, and then to Baidu, Netease and Tencent in China, Internet giants will occupy positions one after another. Is the first year of the meta-universe here?

By interviewing experts, practitioners and analysts in the industry, The Paper analyzed the "past lives" of the Meta-Universe, and explored Xiao He’s emerging Meta-Universe industrial chain and investment opportunities.

"An exciting opportunity is coming. The mobile Internet has developed for ten years and is about to usher in the next wave of upgrades. We call it the all-true Internet."

This is the end of 2020, Chairman and CEO of Tencent Ma Huateng issued a document in Tencent’s internal publications. At that time, the concept of the meta-universe was not popular, but now this sentence is quoted by many people because of the explosion of the meta-universe.

The concept of meta-universe has become popular, and domestic Internet technology companies are also accelerating their entry. Netease’s "Yaotai", Baidu’s "Xirang", Ali set up XR Lab, ByteDance acquired Pico to make up for the hardware shortcomings, and Tencent is investing in related companies. It is also paying attention to related technologies to build a larger digital scene …

According to the data from Tianyancha, as of December 30, 2021, there have been over 12,000 trademark applications with the name "Meta Universe" in China. The related trademark applicants include Tencent, Netease, Baidu and other famous enterprises in SAIC, Mixue Ice City, Shuanghui, Hisense and Foxconn.

Why are they all laying out the metauniverse? Essence Securities pointed out in its research report that the Metauniverse is still in the early stage of development, and every move of technology companies will not only contribute to maintaining their existing industry position, but also jointly shape the final form of the Metauniverse through their own efforts.

However, the People’s Daily once pointed out that it takes time to promote the new concept and its industry to mature gradually, and it needs to be down-to-earth and lay a solid foundation for development to lead to the fascinating technological future. Just like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) or mixed reality (MR), the head word is "reality", which also indicates that without the support of reality, it will be a mirage.

What is the progress of domestic internet giants in the meta-universe? How is it laid out?

Tencent: Invest or acquire industrial chain companies.

Compared with other internet companies in China, Tencent seems to have entered the meta-universe earlier.

Judging from the investment situation, in February 2020, Tencent participated in Roblox’s $150 million G round of financing. In March 2021, Roblox successfully landed on the New York Stock Exchange, and its market value on the first day of listing broke 40 billion US dollars, which was called "the first share in the meta-universe". In addition, Tencent also invested in Epic Games, the game developer of Fortress Night, holding 40% of its shares. In April, 2021, Epic Games raised $1 billion for the development of business related to Meta-Universe, setting a record for the highest financing of Meta-Universe circuit at that time.

On January 10th, 2022, The Paper reporter learned from people familiar with the matter that Tencent planned to acquire Black Shark Technology ("Xiaomi Company"), a domestic game mobile phone company. According to media reports, the acquisition has been recognized by Xiaomi’s top management. In terms of the purchase price, Black Shark Technology and Tencent conducted relevant negotiations: Black Shark was valued at 3 billion yuan, and Tencent cut it to about 2.6 to 2.7 billion yuan.

Roblox, invested by Tencent, has successfully landed on NYSE.

The Paper reporter found that since September, 2021, Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. has 99 pieces of trademark information about Meta Universe, such as "QQ Meta Universe", "Magic Nuclear Meta Universe" and "Peaceful Elite Meta Universe", and all the trademark applications are in the stage of "waiting for substantive examination".

Talking about technologies related to the Meta-Universe, Li Congbing, deputy general manager of the R&D Efficiency Department of Tencent Mutual Entertainment, said in an interview with The Paper that Tencent is paying attention to technologies related to building a larger digital scene. "Including PCG (Procedural Content Generation Technology), AI-based NPC interaction, and real-time rendering capabilities, we are all paying attention."　

Li Congbing said that everyone has different perceptions of the meta-universe, and not only one user platform can be called the "meta-universe". "In our view, games are more about building virtual spaces and scenes that are more realistic and closer to the ideal state, and our technology is also around this direction. But to say what the meta-universe is like, whether it is to copy the reality in the virtual world or simply refer to a virtual world, I don’t think there is a clear form that can be made clear. "　

He told the The Paper that the technical problem that the Metauniverse needs to break through most at present is whether it can provide immersive interaction and experience. "Immersive equipment, technology and experience are the threshold for the real industrialization of the meta-universe."　

Deng Dafu, deputy general manager of Tencent Mutual Entertainment R&D Efficiency Department, believes that the Metauniverse has two opportunities in the industry: first, the Metauniverse will produce a lot of three-dimensional content, but the three-dimensional world needs high-yield 3D production capabilities, which is still a very big challenge for the current technical capabilities.　

Secondly, the development of artificial intelligence industry. He mentioned that although everyone is talking about the meta-universe at present, it is impossible for digital people to realize intelligent dialogue, drive behavior and explore the world like westworld, and a partial breakthrough has been made in technology. "But how to truly integrate them is a topic that we have been thinking about."　

Another industry closely related to the metauniverse is VR and AR. In this regard, Zou Haochuan, director of business strategy of Tencent’s new experience and technology department, believes that VR and AR industries will develop rapidly in the future. "In the past, we used game consoles, computers and mobile phones, and the society experienced the stage of dual internet. Starting from VR, we will enter the stage of 3D Internet, which is an inevitable trend of technological development. "　

Tencent is also exploring the technology of "digital man". In the process of "digital and real integration" (the integration of digital economy and real economy), digital man is an important basic technology module. In 2018, NExT Studios, a studio owned by Tencent, developed Siren Sai Ren, a high-fidelity real-time digital person, which greatly restored the image of the real person and could use emotions to drive facial expressions and body movements.　

"In the future, with the continuous development of new technologies, the technical threshold and cost of digital virtual people will be greatly reduced, and virtual people will be applied to a wider range of spaces and fields and truly become a part of daily life." Andy, vice president of Tencent Interactive Entertainment, said.　

Zou Haochuan revealed that Tencent has formed a set of standard digital life production processes, combined with computer graphics and deep learning technology, hoping to break through the boundaries of the game industry in the future and apply simulated digital people to all walks of life. He said that at present, Tencent has cooperated with Epic Games, a well-known game manufacturer, to precipitate the technology of digital people into Unreal Engine, so as to develop the application of digital people in industries other than games. "Only the trinity of hardware, technology and software content technology can really promote the industry."

Generally speaking, Tencent is considered to be a relatively comprehensive company in the layout of the meta-universe because of its relatively complete territory in the fields of social interaction, games and film live broadcast.

Essence Securities also mentioned in the research report that the foreign media Not Boring has produced a complete industrial map of Tencent Metauniverse, which is supported by the game channel+engine Epic, including game development platforms such as Roblox, League of Legends, Night of Fortress, My World, and live broadcast communities such as twitch, Discord, and Betta Tiger’s Teeth; Pinduoduo, Shopee and other e-commerce channels; Zoom, Tencent conference and other remote office software.

Baidu: to be the infrastructure platform of the meta-universe

The related products of the Meta-Universe are gradually coming to the ground, even if they are just embryonic forms.

Among B (Baidu) A (Ali) T (Tencent), Baidu was the first to launch the meta-cosmic product, and the first domestic meta-cosmic product "Xirang" App officially launched on December 27, 2021 earned enough attention. Li Yanhong, founder, chairman and CEO of Baidu, commented: "Our way of gathering is both dreamy and realistic."

Although "Xirang" has evolved three times since March, 2021, users still have many regrets.

Screenshot of Xirang App, there are still many shortcomings in the user experience.

According to the World Wide Web report, Zhou Hongyi, the founder of 360, recently laughed when talking about Baidu’s meta-cosmic product "Xirang", saying that pepper had already been done, but it was not particularly successful. It is not difficult to build a virtual scene, and it is not difficult for virtual characters to broadcast live, but it is difficult to last.

The Paper reporter understands that the "Xirang" project was launched as early as December 2020, and Baidu hopes to build a prototype of the metauniverse that can be touched, experienced and promoted. According to Ma Jie, vice president of Baidu and head of Hirang, "Hirang" is a metacosmic product with negative version 6.0. It will not be perfect until six years later, and then it will be officially launched.

Regarding what "Xirang" will eventually look like, Ma Jie said: "None of us know what it will look like. This is precisely its greatest charm, but we know it should be beautiful."

At this stage, why is the metauniverse difficult to realize? At the media communication meeting before the release of "Xirang", Ma Jie said that under the current network technology conditions, vision, hearing and interaction are the three mountains that hinder the development of the metauniverse, and the technical difficulty brings great challenges. The path to solve the metauniverse problem needs to break through a series of technical bottlenecks and need the support of strong basic technical capabilities. These key technologies include: secure, autonomous and intelligent cloud computing technology; Continuous innovation in the fields of artificial intelligence, ARM cloud, edge computing, intelligent video, VR and AR; Construction of content ecology and huge market base.

Hou Zhenyu, senior vice president of Baidu, said that computing is the underlying foundation of the metauniverse, and the demand for computing power in the metauniverse is almost endless.

According to Baidu’s development logic in the meta-universe, it hopes to become the infrastructure platform of the meta-universe, and provide AI, cloud computing and other technical engines for "Xirang" and other meta-universe products. For example, according to Baidu, the distributed cloud in Baidu AI Cloud can support users of the metauniverse to access it anytime and anywhere, and the "Xirang World" uses a lot of edge computing node resources distributed everywhere.

"Combining the most advanced AI, cloud computing and VR technologies in the industry, the ultimate goal of Xirang is to create a platform for our partners and developers, a platform that allows imagination to take root. In this second human space, which is about to be parallel to the real world, we also look forward to its infinite possibilities and ultimately carry the bright future of High Tech-Better Life. " Ma Jie said.

The hope of Baidu’s propaganda

Tianyancha App shows that since October 2021, Baidu Online Network Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. has applied for a number of trademarks related to the meta-universe, involving the fields of APP and maps. Among them, 3 trademarks of META MAPS are invalid, 1 trademark of METAAPP is invalid, 2 trademarks of METAAPP are awaiting substantive examination, and 6 trademarks of META MAP are awaiting substantive examination.

Ali: Set up a laboratory for AR, VR and Metauniverse.

Ali is also laying out the metauniverse in a low-key way.

On December 28th, 2021, Alibaba Dharma Institute released the top ten scientific and technological trends in 2022. This is the top ten scientific and technological trends that Dharma Institute analyzed 7.7 million public papers and 85,000 patents in the past three years, interviewed nearly 100 scientists in depth, and put forward that 2022 may shine into reality, covering artificial intelligence, chips, computing and communication.

The "meta-universe" of the fire did not appear in the top ten scientific and technological trends in 2022, but Alibaba Dharma Institute put forward the trend of "XR Internet". It is predicted that in the next three years, a new generation of XR glasses with a shape and weight close to ordinary glasses will be produced and become the key entrance to the next generation of Internet.

At the Alibaba Cloud Habitat Congress in 2021, Alibaba Dharma Institute announced the addition of two laboratories, of which XR Laboratory is a new laboratory facing the direction of AR, VR and Metauniverse.

Tan Ping, head of XR Laboratory of Alibaba Dharma Institute, said at Yunqi Conference: "AR and VR glasses are the next generation mobile computing platforms that will be popularized soon, and new display and interaction based on new computing platforms are the essence of the meta-universe. The scope of the metauniverse is very broad, including social, e-commerce, education, games, payment and other fields. Various applications in the mobile Internet era will all produce new presentation methods in the metauniverse. "

Tan Ping believes that the technology of the future "virtual world" can be divided into four levels. The first layer is holographic construction, which uses triangular mesh to build the appearance of the whole world and display it on the terminal to create an immersive experience. The second layer is holographic simulation, which makes the virtual world infinitely close to the real world. The combination of these two layers of technology can realize the virtual world in VR glasses. The third layer is the fusion of reality and reality, which makes the virtual world and the real world merge. The fourth layer is the linkage between reality and reality, and the change of virtual world can correspond to the real world.

According to the reporter from The Paper, the research direction of XR Lab is three-dimensional modeling of objects and people, highly realistic rendering, natural human-computer interaction, large-scale scene mapping and positioning, and robot grasping and manipulation. Products and applications include holographic shops, AR parallel worlds and IDC intelligent operation and maintenance robots.

In addition, the main body of Alibaba’s cloud game business unit "Yuan Jing Sheng Sheng" has also landed, or it is Ali’s further layout in the field of meta-cosmic games.

Tianyancha App shows that on December 6, 2021, Yuanjing Shengsheng (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. was established, with 100% shareholding by Hangzhou Ali Venture Capital Co., Ltd. with a registered capital of 10 million RMB. Some insiders of Ali revealed to the media that the company’s future business is related to the meta-universe.

In terms of trademark application, in September 2021, Alibaba Singapore Holdings Co., Ltd. applied for the registration of trademarks such as "Ali Yuan Universe" and "Taobao Yuan Universe". At present, the trademark status is pending substantive examination.

Regarding the Metauniverse, Essence Securities pointed out in its research report in December 2021 that Alibaba has a first-Mover advantage in the layout of the underlying infrastructure cloud computing in the Metauniverse. In addition, relying on rich e-commerce scenarios, Ali can pay attention to its progress in reappearing e-commerce and marketing scenarios in the meta-universe in the future.

Netease: To Promote the Full Link Exploration of Metauniverse

Netease said that the concept product of the meta-universe has landed.

In November, 2021, Ding Lei, founder and CEO of Netease, said at the company’s third quarter financial report meeting that the metauniverse is a very hot concept, but no one has touched the metauniverse at present. Netease is ready for the technologies and rules related to the meta-universe. "We believe that on the day when the meta-universe really comes, Netease has the ability to run quickly."

Ding Lei said that Netease has always attached great importance to R&D investment based on diversified products and users’ needs. After long-term technical accumulation, it has a world-leading technical reserve in the fields related to metauniverse such as VR, AR, artificial intelligence, engine, cloud games and blockchain, and is fully equipped with the technology and ability to explore and develop metauniverse.

He mentioned that Netease has already launched products such as Yaotai immersive activity system, virtual human, planet blockchain and other meta-universe concepts, and invested in a number of innovative companies in the field of virtual human to promote the full link exploration of the meta-universe from front-end research and development to terminal business scenarios. In the future, Netease will also deeply integrate its exploration experience, technological advantages and innovation models with real user needs and industrial needs, and continue to pay attention to and increase investment in research and development, so that the Metauniverse can truly move from concept to application and effectively create value for society.

On December 2nd, Netease Cloud Music landed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In Netease Fuxi’s immersive activity system "Yaotai", Ding Lei’s "avatar" three people completed the "meta-universe" gong. Netease said that this is the world’s first "meta-universe" listing ceremony. The so-called three "Ding Lei", one is Ding Lei himself, who knocks gongs in an offline ceremony, and the other two are AI virtual people "Ding Lei", who are respectively portrayed as Ding Lei, aged 29 in 2000, and Ding Lei, aged 50 in 2021.

Netease’s layout in the meta-universe does not stop there.

On December 25, 2021, Netease signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Sanya municipal government, and Netease will set up its Hainan headquarters in Sanya to build the Netease Meta-Universe Industrial Base project. In addition, the two sides will deepen cooperation in the fields of interactive entertainment, e-sports, music culture, e-commerce live broadcast and online education.

Tianyancha App shows that in October 2021, many Netease affiliated companies such as Hangzhou Netease Leihuo Technology Co., Ltd., Netease (Hangzhou) Network Co., Ltd. and Guangzhou Netease Computer System Co., Ltd. applied for registration of trademarks such as Netease Meta Universe, Leihuo Meta Universe and Fuxi Meta Universe, and the trademark status was awaiting substantive examination.

ByteDance: Acquisition+Self-research Layout Metauniverse

In August, 2021, Pico, a VR startup, issued an internal letter confirming that the company was acquired by ByteDance.

Open source securities believes that with the rise of the concept of "meta-universe", Internet industry giants and head game companies began to compete for opportunities. As an important part of ByteDance’s territory expansion, Pico will be merged into VR business line, integrating byte content resources and technical capabilities. ByteDance’s acquisition of Pico will have a great impact on the dormant domestic VR field.

Pico products acquired by ByteDance.

Essence Securities pointed out that Tencent and ByteDance are the two companies with the smoothest meta-cosmic logic in China. Under the guidance of "capital+flow" strategy, Tencent focuses on acquisition rather than natural innovation, so as to comprehensively lay out the meta-universe. ByteDance is more radical. In order to complement the "social" gene, he adopts the All In method of acquisition and self-research.

According to the research report, at present, in terms of hardware and operating system, ByteDance has acquired Pico to make up for the hardware shortcomings. In terms of the underlying architecture, Gankun, a developer of physical engine, is invested, and its youth UGC platform "Restart the World" is highly similar to "Roblox". Acquisition of end-to-end live broadcast solution provider Weijing Video, providing VR end-to-end live broadcast/on-demand solutions based on core technologies. In terms of content and scenes, today’s headlines, Tik Tok, Watermelon Video, Tik Tok, Faceu Sprout, Flying Book, Picture Worm and other product matrices cover more than 150 countries and regions around the world, and the traffic is global.