The concept of the “metaverse” has attracted a lot of attention in several fields, and it seems that it will also change the way we live in the future.
The term “metaverse” originated from a science fiction novel in the 1990s, which refers to the fact that real people can communicate with each other using digitally specific identities in an immersive virtual world and gain interactive experiences. Facebook’s high-profile announcement of entry has pushed the popularity of the Metaverse to a new high, causing many media to call this year “the first year of the Metaverse”.
At this stage, the industry generally believes that the hardware of the metaverse era is VR/AR/MR. In recent years, there have been some exciting developments in VR technology, and metaverse world construction has continued to advance. There is a view that the metaverse is the entire Internet on VR/AR glasses.
AR/VR glasses are the next-generation mobile computing platform that will soon be popularized, and the Metaverse is the presentation of the Internet industry on this new platform.
1. AR/VR must be a metaverse medium
VR and AR glasses technology is an important part of the metaverse. To watch and experience virtual worlds, you need related hardware devices, such as VR headsets or smart glasses. These devices use cameras to track the user’s movements and create an immersive simulated environment that puts the user in a virtual world. Because of this, the camera sensor becomes the connection point between the virtual world and the real world.
We can see that VR/AR technology is being rapidly applied in various fields of society, especially in the fields of education, telecommunications, medical care and gaming. By 2025, China is expected to become the leader of the global VR industry, and the VR industry will usher in strong growth. According to IDC data, the compound annual growth rate of China’s VR and AR market will reach 67.5% in the next five years.
According to estimates, the global VR/AR market size is close to 100 billion yuan, and AR and content AR glasses applications have become the primary growth point. It is expected to reach nearly 500 billion yuan in 2024. The shipments of virtual reality terminals have grown steadily, AR and integrated devices have grown significantly, and the compatibility between different terminal forms has been enhanced.
According to IDC data, it is estimated that in 2024, VR/AR terminal shipments will exceed 76 million units, of which AR devices will reach 35 million units, accounting for 55%. During the five-year period from 2020 to 2024, the growth rate of VR/AR terminal shipments is about 86%, of which VR and AR growth rates are 56% and 188% respectively. It is expected that AR terminal shipments are expected to surpass VR in 2023. Obviously, AR is very attractive to mass users and will be more useful.
With the gradual construction of the metaverse, this concept will accelerate into reality, especially as China’s VR/AR ecosystem is developing from an early stage of solving specific problems to a fully functional ecosystem that can benefit all industries.
2. Metaverse ignites a new round of AR/VR industry enthusiasm
Facebook (FB.US) has announced that it will disclose the financial data of its augmented reality logistics and invest billions of dollars in the development of “metaverse” technology to improve virtual reality-related hardware, software, etc. Facebook said the investment in the unit will reduce its overall 2021 operating profit by about $10 billion. In March last year, Facebook acquired virtual reality wearables company Oculus VR for $2 billion in cash and equity.
Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook’s goal is to make the “metaverse” reach 1 billion people in the next 10 years and generate hundreds of billions of dollars in digital commerce revenue.
Currently, the metaverse is still in the conceptual stage and has yet to take shape. In the future, principles such as “immersive” will be combined with “instant” and “everywhere”. In order to finally create an immersive environment that combines virtual and real, Goolton Technology Co., Ltd still has a long way to go in fully integrating 5G, AI, VR/AR, IoT and other emerging technologies.
