Why are they laying out the metaverse?

"An exciting opportunity is coming. The mobile Internet has developed for ten years and is about to usher in the next wave of upgrades, which we call the true Internet."

This is a post by Ma Huateng, chairman and CEO of Tencent, on Tencent's internal publication at the end of 2020. At that time, the concept of the metaverse was not yet popular, and now this sentence has been quoted many times due to the explosion of the metaverse.

The concept of the Metaverse has become popular, and domestic Internet technology companies are also accelerating their entry. NetEase's "Yaotai", Baidu's "Xiyang", Ali established an XR laboratory, ByteDance acquired Pico to make up for hardware shortcomings, and Tencent is investing In addition to related companies, they are also focusing on related technologies for building larger digital scenarios...

Data from Tianyancha shows that as of December 30, 2021, there have been more than 12,000 trademark applications with "Metaverse" in the name in China throughout the year. Relevant trademark applicants include Tencent, NetEase, Baidu and other major manufacturers and Well-known enterprises in many industries such as SAIC, Michelle Bingcheng, Shuanghui, Hisense, Foxconn, etc.

Why are they laying out the metaverse? Essence Securities pointed out in its research report that the Metaverse is still in the early stage of development, and every move of the technology companies is not only contributing to maintaining their existing industry status, but also jointly shaping the final form of the Metaverse through their own efforts.

However, the People's Daily commentary once pointed out that it takes time to promote new concepts and their industries to gradually mature, and to lead to a fascinating technological future requires down-to-earth and a solid foundation for development. Just as whether virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) or mixed reality (MR), the central word is "reality", which also indicates that without the support of reality, it will be a mirage after all.

How are the domestic Internet giants progressing in the metaverse? How is it laid out?

Compared with other domestic Internet companies, Tencent's entry into the metaverse seems to be earlier.

Judging from the investment situation, in February 2020, Tencent participated in Roblox’s $150 million Series G financing. In March 2021, Roblox successfully landed on the New York Stock Exchange, with a market value of over $40 billion on the first day of listing, known as the "first stock in the metaverse". In addition, Tencent has invested in "Fortnite" game developer Epic Games, holding a 40% stake. In April 2021, Epic Games raised US$1 billion for the development of Metaverse-related businesses, setting a record for the highest financing on the Metaverse track at that time.

On January 10, 2022, the surging news reporter learned from people familiar with the matter that Tencent plans to acquire Black Shark Technology (“Xiaomi” company), a domestic game mobile phone company. According to media reports, the acquisition has been approved by Xiaomi executives. In terms of the acquisition price, Black Shark Technology and Tencent have negotiated: Black Shark is valued at 3 billion yuan, and Tencent has cut it to about 2.6 to 2.7 billion yuan.

Roblox, invested by Tencent, has successfully landed on the New York Stock Exchange

A surging news reporter inquired about the Tianyancha App and found that since September 2021, Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. has 99 pieces of trademark information about "Metaverse", such as "QQ Metaverse", "Magic Nuclear Metaverse", "Peace" Elite Metaverse", etc., the trademark applications are all in the stage of "waiting for substantive examination".

When it comes to Metaverse-related technologies, Li Congbing, deputy general manager of Tencent Interactive Entertainment's R&D Performance Department, said in an interview with The Paper that Tencent is focusing on technologies related to building larger digital scenarios. "Including PCG (Procedural Content Generation), AI-based NPC interactions, and the ability to render in real-time, we're all paying attention." 

Li Congbing said that everyone has a different understanding of the metaverse, and it is not just one user platform that can be called "metaverse". "In our opinion, games are more about constructing 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 metaverse is like, it is to put reality in a virtual world. A copy in it still simply refers to a virtual world, I don’t think there is a clear form that can explain it clearly.” 

He told The Paper reporter that the most technical problem that the Metaverse needs to break through when it landed is whether it can provide immersive interaction and experience. "Immersive equipment, technology and experience are the threshold for the true industrialization of the Metaverse." 

Deng Dafu, deputy general manager of Tencent Interactive Entertainment R&D Performance Department, believes that the Metaverse has two opportunities in the industry: First, the Metaverse will generate a large amount of 3D content, but the 3D world needs high-yield 3D production capabilities. In terms of technical capabilities, it is still a very big challenge. 

The second is the development of artificial intelligence industry. He mentioned that although everyone is talking about the metaverse, it is currently impossible for digital humans to achieve intelligent dialogue, drive behavior and explore the world like "Westworld". In terms of technology, a partial breakthrough has been achieved. "But how to make them really blend together is something we've been thinking about." 

Another thing that is closely related to Metaverse is the VR and AR industries. In this regard, Zou Haochuan, director of business strategy of Tencent Interactive Entertainment's New Experience and Technology Department, believes that the VR and AR industries will develop rapidly in the future. "In the past, we used game consoles, computers, and mobile phones. The society experienced a dual Internet stage. Starting from VR, we will enter the stage of 3D Internet, which is an inevitable trend of technological development." 

Tencent is also exploring "digital human" technology. In the process of "digital integration" (integrated development of digital economy and real economy), digital human is an important basic technology module. Tencent's studio NExT Studios developed a high-fidelity real-time digital human Siren in 2018, which has greatly restored the real image and can 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 human will be greatly reduced, and virtual human will be applied to a wider range of spaces and fields, and will truly become a part of daily life." Vice President of Tencent Interactive Entertainment Zhang Wei said. 

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

In general, Tencent is considered to be the most comprehensive company in the Metaverse layout due to its relatively complete territory in the fields of social networking, games, and film industry live broadcast.

Essence Securities also mentioned in the research report that the foreign media Not Boring has produced a complete industrial map of Tencent Metaverse, with game channels + engine Epic as technical support, including Roblox, "League of Legends", "Fortress Night", "I Game development platforms such as "The World", live broadcast communities such as twitch, Discord, Douyu Huya, etc.; e-commerce channels such as Pinduoduo and Shopee; remote office software such as zoom and Tencent Meeting, etc.

Metaverse related products are gradually landing, even if they are only prototypes.

Among B (Baidu) A (Ali) T (Tencent), Baidu was the first to launch a metaverse product, and the first domestic metaverse product "Xi Rong" App, which was officially launched on December 27, 2021, attracted a lot of attention. Robin Li, founder, chairman and CEO of Baidu, commented: "The way we meet is both dreamy and realistic."

Although "Xiyang" has evolved three times since March 2021, there are still many regrets in the user experience.

Screenshots of Xirong App, there are still many shortcomings in user experience

According to the World Wide Web report, Zhou Hongyi, the founder of 360, said with a smile when talking about Baidu's metaverse product "Xi Rong" in an interview with reporters recently. It is not difficult to build a virtual scene, and it is not difficult for virtual characters to live broadcast, but it is difficult to persist.

The Paper reporter learned that the "Xiyang" project was launched as early as December 2020, and Baidu hopes to create a prototype of the metaverse that can be touched, experienced and improved. According to Ma Jie, vice president of Baidu and head of Xiyang, "Xyron" is a negative 6.0 version of the metaverse product. It will not be perfected until 6 years later, and then it will be officially launched.

As for what "Xiyang" will look like in the end, Ma Jie said: "None of us know what it will develop into. This is precisely its greatest charm, but we know it should be beautiful."

At this stage, why is the metaverse difficult to achieve? At the media communication meeting before the release of "Xiyang", Ma Jie said that under the current network technology conditions, vision, hearing and interaction are the three mountains that hinder the development of the Metaverse, and the challenges brought by technical difficulties are very great. The path to the metaverse problem requires breaking through a series of technical bottlenecks and the support of strong basic technical capabilities. These key technologies include: safe, autonomous and intelligent cloud computing technology; continuous innovation in the fields of artificial intelligence, ARM cloud, edge computing, intelligent video, VR and AR; the construction of content ecology and a huge market foundation.

Hou Zhenyu, senior vice president of Baidu, said that computing is the underlying foundation of the Metaverse, and the Metaverse has an almost infinite demand for computing power.

According to Baidu's development logic in the Metaverse, it hopes to become the infrastructure platform of the Metaverse, providing AI, cloud computing and other technical engines for "Xiyang" and other Metaverse products. For example, according to Baidu, the distributed cloud of Baidu Smart Cloud can support users of the Metaverse to access anytime, anywhere, and "Xirong World" makes extensive use of edge computing node resources distributed in various places.

"Bringing together the industry's leading AI, cloud computing and VR technologies, Xiyang's ultimate goal is to create a platform for our partners and developers, a platform where imagination can take root. In the second space of human beings, we also look forward to its infinite possibilities, and finally carry the bright future of High Tech-Better Life." Ma Jie said.

Xiyang promoted by Baidu

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

Ali is also laying out the metaverse in a low-key manner.

On December 28, 2021, Alibaba Dharma Academy released the top ten technology trends in 2022. This is the analysis of 7.7 million public papers and 85,000 patents in the past three years by Dharma Academy, and in-depth interviews with nearly 100 scientists. Top 10 technology trends that may become reality in 2022, covering fields such as artificial intelligence, chips, computing and communications.

The "metaverse" of the fire did not appear in the top ten technology trends in 2022, but Alibaba Dharma Institute proposed the tenth "XR Internet". It is expected that in the next three years, a new generation of XR glasses with shapes and weights close to ordinary glasses will be produced. , become the key entrance of the next generation Internet.

At the Alibaba Yunqi Conference in 2021, Alibaba Dharma Institute announced the establishment of two new laboratories, of which the XR laboratory is a new laboratory for AR, VR, and the Metaverse.

Tan Ping, head of the XR Lab of Alibaba Dharma Academy, said at the Yunqi Conference: "AR and VR glasses are the next-generation mobile computing platforms that will soon be popularized, and new displays and new interactions based on new computing platforms are the essence of the metaverse. The metaverse has a wide range of categories, including social networking, e-commerce, education, games, payment and other fields, and various applications in the mobile Internet era will produce new presentations on the metaverse.”

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 meshes to build the appearance of the entire world and displays it on the terminal, creating an immersive experience. The second layer is holographic simulation, making the virtual world infinitely close to the real world. The combination of these two layers of technology can realize the virtual world in the VR glasses. The third layer is the fusion of virtual and real, which integrates the virtual world and the real world. The fourth layer is virtual-real linkage, and changes in the virtual world can correspond to the real world.

According to The Paper, the current research directions of the XR laboratory are 3D modeling of objects and characters, high-fidelity rendering, natural human-computer interaction, large scene maps and positioning, and robot grasping and manipulation. Products and applications include holographic stores, AR parallel worlds, and IDC intelligent operation and maintenance robots.

In addition, the main body of Alibaba's cloud game business unit "Yuanjingshengsheng" has also landed, or Ali's further layout in the field of metaverse games.

The Tianyancha App shows that on December 6, 2021, Yuanjingshengsheng (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. was established, 100% owned by Hangzhou Ali Venture Capital Co., Ltd., with a registered capital of 10 million yuan. Ali insiders revealed to the media that the The company's future business is related to the Metaverse.

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

Regarding the Metaverse, Essence Securities pointed out in its December 2021 research report that Alibaba has a first-mover advantage in deploying cloud computing for the underlying infrastructure of the Metaverse. In addition, Ali relies on a wealth of e-commerce scenarios, and in the future, we can pay attention to its progress in reproducing e-commerce and marketing scenarios in the Metaverse.

NetEase said that the concept product of Metaverse has been launched.

In November 2021, Ding Lei, the founder and CEO of NetEase, said at the company's third-quarter earnings report that the Metaverse is a very popular concept, but no one has been exposed to the Metaverse yet. NetEase is well prepared in terms of metaverse related technologies and rules. "We believe that NetEase will have the ability to quickly run away when the metaverse really comes."

Ding Lei said that NetEase has always attached great importance to R&D investment based on diversified products and user needs. It has the world's leading technical reserves, and is fully equipped with the technology and ability to explore and develop the metaverse.

He mentioned that NetEase has already implemented metaverse concept products such as Yaotai immersive activity system, virtual human, and planetary blockchain, and has invested in a number of innovative companies in the virtual human field to promote the metaverse from front-end research and development to terminal business scenario applications. Cosmic full link exploration. In the future, NetEase will also deeply combine exploration experience, technological advantages, innovative models, etc. with real user needs and industry needs, continue to pay attention to and increase investment in research and development, so that the Metaverse will truly move from concept to application, and effectively create value for the society.

On December 2, NetEase Cloud Music landed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In NetEase Fuxi's immersive activity system "Yaotai", Ding Lei "Clone" three people completed the "Metaverse" and beat the gong. NetEase said that this is the world's first "Metaverse" listing ceremony. The so-called three "Ding Lei", one is Ding Lei himself who beat the gong at the offline ceremony, and the other two are AI virtual people "Ding Lei", they are respectively portrayed as Ding Lei, 29 years old in 2000 and Ding Lei, 50 years old in 2021.

NetEase's layout in the metaverse doesn't stop there.

On December 25, 2021, NetEase signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Sanya Municipal Government. NetEase will set up the NetEase Hainan headquarters in Sanya to build the NetEase Metaverse 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.

The Tianyancha App shows that in October 2021, Hangzhou NetEase Thunder Fire Technology Co., Ltd., NetEase (Hangzhou) Network Co., Ltd., Guangzhou NetEase Computer System Co., Ltd. and other NetEase affiliated companies applied for registration of "NetEase Metaverse" and "Thunderfire Metaverse"" "Fuxi Yuan Universe" and other trademarks are all pending substantive examination.

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

Kaiyuan Securities believes that with the rise of the concept of "metaverse", Internet industry giants and leading game companies have begun to compete for opportunities. As an important part of ByteDance's expansion, Pico will be incorporated into the VR business line, integrating Byte's content resources and technical capabilities. ByteDance's acquisition of Pico will have a significant impact on the long-dormant domestic VR field.

Pico's products acquired by ByteDance

Essence Securities pointed out that Tencent and ByteDance are the two companies with the smoothest layout of the metaverse in China. Under the guidance of the "capital + traffic" strategy, Tencent focuses on acquisitions rather than natural innovations to fully deploy the metaverse. ByteDance is more aggressive. In order to complement the "social" gene, it uses the All In method of acquisition and self-developed.

According to the analysis of the research report, at present, ByteDance has acquired Pico in terms of hardware and operating systems to make up for the shortcomings of hardware. In terms of the underlying architecture, it invested in Code Qiankun, a physics engine developer, and its youth UGC platform "Reboot the World" is highly similar to "Roblox". Acquired end-to-end live broadcast solution provider Weijing Video, and provided VR end-to-end live broadcast/on-demand solutions based on core technologies. In terms of content and scenarios, the product matrix of Toutiao, Douyin, Xigua Video, Tik Tok, Faceu, Feishu, and TuCong covers more than 150 countries and regions around the world, and the traffic is globalized.