Editor's note:
Software defines the world. "Networking, digitization, and intelligence", software cloudification, service-oriented...This is the most important development trend of the software industry.
These trends also reflect two fundamental problems: First, software is becoming more and more important and core in the operation of modern society. Without software, the entire society will not operate normally;
The second is that the ecology of the software industry will face reconstruction in the future. Many roles in the ecology will update their development strategies in an all-round way. The main force in the software landscape in the future will be very different from the present.
In the next ten years, as the core engine and engine of Beijing's top ten high-end and sophisticated industries, where are the core advantages and competitiveness of the software industry? Who will undertake the glorious mission of "Beijing Software" in the era of digital intelligence?
To this end, the Beijing Software and Information Service Industry Association, China Software Network, and Haibi Research jointly launched a series of activities "Entering the New Power of Beijing Software in 2020". This activity is combined with KPMG's "China's Leading Consumer Technology 50 Companies Report" released in 2020, and select representative Beijing software and information service industry cutting-edge companies and leading companies for door-to-door visits to discuss software and information services in the era of digital intelligence The future of industry development.
The immersive 3D interactive experience of Li Ning's 937 three basketball shoes during the National Day holiday was amazing.
Different from other footwear product releases, Li Ning cooperated with Auburn Future to provide guests with an immersive 3D interactive experience, which can be displayed in a 360-degree three-dimensional display. Click on the relevant position of the upper, and its selling point information will be presented in real time and comprehensive Enhance the appeal of the product and increase the interaction.
In the future office of Auburn, the reporter also tried an augmented reality trial of shoes. On JD.com, the reporter was optimistic about a pair of shoes and clicked on the 3D display, which not only allows multi-dimensional viewing, but also virtual try-on. Just use the mobile phone camera to aim at your feet, and the wearing effects of different colors and styles of shoes are immediately displayed on the mobile phone, and the effect of matching with the clothes is at a glance.
3D·AR real-time try-on, "photorealistic" 3D model and "what you see is what you get" shopping experience are also new applications created by Auburn for JD Shopping in the future.
With the development of the industry, 3D·AR/VR has increasingly shown transformative power in the marketing field. How to build a brand in the "new reality" and improve conversion has also become the latest pain point faced by marketers.
Gather the latest scientific research results of Harvard University and MIT, dominated by computer graphics and visual core algorithms, and are committed to achieving a seamless integration of business scenarios and user experience in the future of Auburn, relying on leading technology research and development strength and pioneering Industry application has become the pioneer in the domestic 3D·AR/VR field.
1. 3D·AR/VR new software and digital content platform
On June 6, 2016, Lei Yu, Shen Fangyang, Jia Meng, two Ph.Ds and a master from Harvard University co-founded Auburn Future, a 3D·AR/VR high-tech enterprise in Beijing.
When the company was founded, they soberly analyzed the development status of the 3D·AR/VR market.
On the one hand, the 3D·AR/VR market is a technology-led and application-oriented field for different industries and centered on graphics and image technology. Therefore, this market is a potential market with an annual scale of 100 billion yuan.
On the other hand, in terms of 3D content collection and production, the current market is still in the stage of manual processing, lacking standardized and large-scale collection and processing, high cost, low efficiency, and generally low application level.
Therefore, Auburn will determine the company's mission in the future to "make 3D content collection and production easier."
Although 3D·AR/VR technology has been born and developed for more than 30 years, its application has only begun to enter the public's field of vision in recent years.
In terms of hardware, VR glasses and helmet products such as Microsoft, Facebook, Google, and Sony have been updated for several generations. Such as Microsoft's augmented reality headset HoloLens, Facebook's helmet Oculus Rift and so on.
In 2020, it will be revealed that Apple will invest in AR and VR projects, and its hardware products, including VR glasses, will be launched soon.
New products of innovative companies have also begun to emerge. In 2019, a large number of lightweight AR glasses were born, including split products such as Nreal and Rokid, as well as extremely lightweight AR all-in-one machines such as North Focals.
But in terms of software and digital content, there is a general lack of corresponding platforms and tools. Auburn will focus on 3D·AR/VR software and digital content production in the future.
Since its establishment in 2016, Auburn has focused on technology research and development in the future, and already has core technologies such as Hololux light field reproduction technology and AR/VR interactive recognition engine technology.
In 2019, on the premise of possessing core technologies, Auburn will begin commercial operations in the future. Auburn will use these two technologies in the future to provide model collection, reconstruction cloud services, and full-platform rendering and presentation solutions for individuals and merchants. At the same time, it will also provide customers in various fields such as e-commerce, new retail, commercial real estate, tourism and entertainment. Creative consulting, content production, integrated customization, operation and maintenance full-process services.
In 2019, Auburn will usher in its first financing in the future. JD.com, Qualcomm and KSI invested in shares.
So why did the company name it Auburn Future?
CEO Lei Yu said that looking at the development history of human science, we can find that scientists who change the world like Oppenheimer leave to mankind not only advanced technologies and concepts, but more importantly, they can deeply realize , How will a technology or technology affect human society after it is put into application?
Therefore, when the company was founded in 2016, the company was named Auburn Future. On the one hand, it pays tribute to the scientist Oppenheimer admired by Thunderstorm, and on the other hand, it expresses the company's broad market-oriented future.
2. New light field reproduction technology solves the pain points of 3D display
At present, with the development of 5G and a new round of AR/VR applications, not only has the demand for 3D digital content surged, but also users have put forward higher requirements for the effects of these digital content. 3D+AR/VR display has gradually become the standard for product exhibition and sales.
However, there are some drawbacks in the construction and application of 3D digital content: First, the traditional laser scanning and modeling methods have high manual participation, low efficiency, uneven levels, and cannot be artificialized; secondly, although traditional 3D Digital models are striving for "realism", but are limited by artificial modeling methods, and there is an essential gap between the model effect and the real senses of the real world.
The Hololux light field reproduction technology independently developed by Auburn in the future is to solve these pain points.
Hololux light field technology can automatically generate 3D digital models by taking photos, combining collection, reconstruction and rendering algorithms, and reconstructing in the cloud, which minimizes manual intervention and improves efficiency and productivity.
At the same time, the light field technology renders 3D digital models by capturing light projected on the object in various directions, angles and distances in space, which means that the constructed model will achieve 100% "human eye-level reproduction" .
When people see the digital model of the light field, what they see is not only the appearance and color, but the real-time dynamic, natural luster and texture of the physical object.
The visual perception created by light field technology will also push the application and effects of AR/VR technology to a new level. On the basis of this technology, Auburn will launch a one-stop 3D exhibition and sales cloud service solution in the future to realize the universal use of 3D digital content in all channels.
Auburn will provide omni-channel 3D upgrade cloud services for the industry in the future to achieve efficient management of 3D digital assets, and one-click distribution and embedding without code foundation. At the same time, a standardized template tool is provided to allow users to customize the 3D presentation form.
Of course, the 3D cloud service adapts to all mainstream formats and is compatible with all platforms, which fully enriches the online 3D exhibition and sales forms of products.
In addition, Auburn will provide AR/VR interactive application marketing services for various industries by combining light field 3D digital content with AR/VR interactive recognition full-platform engine solutions.
Now, with the one-stop "immersive interactive marketing solution" with light field reproduction technology as the core, Auburn has become a technical partner of JD.com, Alipay AR, Baidu AR, Taobao and other platforms in the field of brand digital interactive marketing. .
Based on the above platform, Auburn will reach a full-year strategic cooperation with a number of industry leading brands in the future, including well-known brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, Li Ning, Unilever, and Nestlé.
3. New consumer and entertainment experience under AR innovation
IDC's "Global Augmented and Virtual Reality Spending Guide" shows that by 2020, the global AR/VR (augmented and virtual reality) market will reach 18.8 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of about 78.5% compared to 2019.
On this basis, global investment in AR/VR products and services will continue to grow rapidly. It is predicted that the 5-year compound annual growth rate will reach 77.0% in 2018-2023.
The AR/VR technology-related investment in the Chinese market will reach 5.76 billion U.S. dollars in 2020, accounting for more than 30% of the global market share, and becoming the country with the largest expenditure scale.
Therefore, Auburn will begin commercial operations in 2019, and first find two major industries for its core technology and industry applications, one is the consumer field, and the other is the cultural and entertainment industry.
Hololux light field reproduction technology has been widely used in e-commerce, new retail, cultural and creative industries, games and entertainment, manufacturing and other industries.
In the consumer field, the greatest use of AR technology is not only reflected in fashion design, but also in consumer experience. It facilitates the establishment of physical and digital retail business platforms, and provides consumers with a new consumption upgrade experience.
After discovering the huge potential brought by AR augmented reality, major fashion brands have strengthened their AR application layout.
GUCCI App launched the AR virtual shoe test function. Professional sports brand NIKE has conducted more in-depth experiments on the AR try-on function. The new tool can measure the size of each foot separately with an accuracy error of less than 2 mm.
Japan's well-known shopping platform ZOZOTOWN has launched a new App called ZOZOSHOES. Recommend shoes online through AR technology.
In the consumer field, Auburn's future applications are blooming everywhere. Covers many first-line luxury brands and well-known consumer brands. At the same time, it also carried out annual cooperation with well-known corporate brands and became the first batch of 3D·AR VR technical service partners of Tmall/Alipay, and strategic partners of JD AR/VR, Facebook Spark AR, Tencent 5G Yuanyuan Program, etc.
In the field of cultural and creative industries, light field can "reproduce" cultural relics as virtual digital content more efficiently and accurately, seamlessly integrating them into different application scenarios, making scientific research work more efficient, and allowing cultural relics to enter our lives. .
Auburn's future "Dashilar" project will combine virtual information and images with Beijing's ancient hutongs. Slide the corresponding buttons on the page to interact, and Hutong immediately reproduces the style of a hundred years ago. Slide again, and the robot and pet dog appear in the center of the screen again, as if in the future.
In the field of cultural and creative industries, the Forbidden City and Xi'an Museum are all future customers of Auburn. The rare cultural relics in the museum can generate 3D digital models through light field technology. Visitors to the exhibition hall will no longer stop at viewing the exhibition hall through the glass, but can view the cultural relics at close range and multiple angles through terminal equipment.
Facing the future, Auburn Future Co-founder and COO Jia Meng said that the company will focus on 3D·AR/VR technology, continue to increase technology research and development, and drive the company's development with industry-leading technologies. At the same time, it will impose commercial operations to achieve the number one target market.
The curtain of the integration of virtual and reality has been opened. Based on technology, we are rapidly deploying the market. What is waiting for Auburn's future is a new stage full of possibilities and a new blue ocean in the industry.