Specialist
Former director at HTC Corp
Agenda
- Metaverse concept interpreted by science and internet companies
- Meta Platforms’ (NASDAQ: FB) metaverse development path, main investment and R&D focuses, plus possible application scenarios across development stages
- Industries involved in the building of metaverse, plus requirements regarding data sharing, technologies and ecosystem integration
- Competitive landscape among mainstream VR, AR and MR (mixed reality) hardware manufacturers
- Companies competent in content ecosystem development and main challenges
Questions
1.
The metaverse has no clear definition, but there are several ways to interpret the concept. First, according to the science fiction Snow Crash, anyone wearing the virtual reality (VR) headset can access the virtual three dimensional world via a terminal and have a virtual identity. Second, Roblox CEO David Basuji identified eight elements of the metaverse, namely identity, friends, immersion, low latency, diversity, anywhere, economic system and civilization. Third, Mark Zuckerberg describes the metaverse as a more concrete internet. However, the concept is still difficult for many people to understand. Could you first review the various interpretations given by the science, internet and gaming communities? How would you define the metaverse?
2.
What is the difference between the content development for VR games, AR games, cultural tourism education and motion sensing games based on and not based on the metaverse?
3.
Mark Zuckerberg intends to develop a decentralised platform. What does the platform look like? Supposing that all people use iPhones, then iOS would be the sole platform for app stores. Is the platform something like this, namely a platform that is widely accessible and by signing in which to enter different apps? Or is it something more complex?
4.
Given that the Chinese government is now tightening its review and regulation over data security, is the building of a metaverse platform in line with China’s national conditions, or is there any barrier and risk involved?
5.
What about the application of metaverse to game scenarios? What is the connection between the metaverse and Oculus’ Horizon Worlds and other games? My understanding is that these games are still VR games and have nothing much to do with the metaverse, so can you explain this?
6.
While describing the application scenarios of the metaverse, Mark Zuckerberg was always stressing the sense of presence and immersion, and with the sense of presence in place, one user will intuitively sense the presence of another user in metaverse, and this sense will enable these users to interact more naturally. How does Mark Zuckerberg rely on technologies to bring users a sense of presence? What are the technology routes like? Are these technology routes feasible?
7.
Now I think that the integration of real-life scenes with virtual scenes presented by internet applications as you just mentioned can solve some pain points in real life or improve the efficiency. What are the other practical features of the metaverse that can inspire breakthroughs and really address some pain points in various application scenarios in real life at present?
8.
There are many reports that discuss which industries may be involved in the building of metaverse and some reports even include the underlying computing segment. Could you talk about the application forms in 2022-24? What development level will the most related industries and the closest industries reach in 2022- 24? What technology level and ecosystem integration level should the closest industries reach?
9.
Which VR, AR and MR equipment companies are the leading players that are very likely to keep winning more market share?
10.
You talked about AR glasses. For the VR glasses segment, do you think the all-in-one device of Oculus represents the future trend? Do Samsung, HTC and Apple have chances in the hardware device segment in the VR market?
11.
Do you think the competitive landscape of the VR segment is fixed? Can Samsung, HTC and Apple gain certain market shares in the future after their hardware devices come out?
12.
How do you anticipate Apple’s performance in the area of VR hardware products? We know Apple is strong at hardware development.
13.
It’s said that the user dizziness problem and technical bottlenecks of VR and AR glasses are very hard to overcome. Could you elaborate on these pain points and the possible time needed to solve them?
14.
Which companies are better at content ecosystem development? Which companies besides Meta have a larger chance to develop metaverse content and platforms in the domestic market?
