When "AI entered the iPhone era", Apple, which created the iPhone, came with Vision Pro. In the context of a sharp drop in funding for Metaverse start-ups in the first half of this year ($664 million) compared to the same period last year ($2.93 billion), the launch of Apple's new hardware products is seen as a "lifting" move for the Metaverse track.
With the introduction of new XR hardware such as Meta and Apple this year, the application programs and content markets that adapt to them will generate new demands, stimulating the application of games, film and television, cultural tourism, e-commerce and other scenarios to iterate in the 3D direction, and will also provide Developers and content creators of Metaverse applications provide new ideas.
Feedback data on growth or not will not be produced immediately, but Ali Yuanjing, which provides infrastructure services for Metaverse applications, has discovered some changes in the market in the first half of the year: customers are seriously thinking about Metaverse. Guo Kuangye, deputy general manager of Ali Yuanjing, explained that during the concept cooling cycle of the Metaverse, adopters no longer pursue gimmicks, but return to the essence of business, recombine with their own products and think about how to embed Metaverse into business links, and serve the brand. Or users bring value.
On the node of the Metaverse hardware end, "Metaverse Daily Explosion" talks to Guo Kuangye, deputy general manager of Ali Yuanjing, and explores market changes. At the same time, it also tries to provide new paths from the development level of applications and scenarios.
"Developers can consider using the cloud version to reduce costs and increase efficiency"
The metaverse is exploding: end hardware manufacturers are rolling out head-mounted displays and glasses, Apple VisionPro has been released, and the demand for VR/AR and MR content and applications will increase. Does Ali Yuanjing's cross-terminal real-time cloud rendering capability support XR application scenarios?
Guo Kuangye: Cloud rendering itself does not choose the type of terminal, regardless of the content of VR or mixed reality MR. However, it can be seen from this VisionPro configuration that future XR applications require high graphics computing power to present near-real scenes in order to bring an extraordinary user-side experience. Power brings more space to play. Elastic computing power on the cloud can be flexibly allocated according to the needs of XR applications, meeting the needs of large-scale access to services, while avoiding additional consumption and reducing usage costs. Therefore, real-time cloud rendering is an indispensable service for large-scale use of XR applications in the future.
We have also made some attempts in the field of VR, and it is technically feasible, but I think the infrastructure support of the market is not good enough. For users, the network is not fast enough, which may affect the experience. I don’t think VR will enter in this half year. At the stage of large-scale application, application developers and content creators can make some preparations for the XR end in advance, and they can try the cross-device intercommunication capability of Ali Yuanjing's real-time cloud rendering.
The Explosion of the Metaverse: For developers of games and other metaverse content or applications, the resource cost of investing in technology is not low. Where do you think they can reduce costs and increase efficiency?
Guo Kuangye: We have observed that many developers want to cover multiple terminals, including PC, mobile, and even VR and AR in the future. They hope to reach as many different user groups as possible. However, in the process of multi-terminal full coverage, a lot of investment needs to be made.
First of all, a lot of device adaptation needs to be done, and what models can be considered, which means how many markets can be covered. Then, taking the most common game scene as an example, from production to smooth operation, it generally takes 10 frames at the beginning, and then it will take a long time to optimize it to 60 frames, and then spend time to optimize it to 60 frames. All models covered are optimized to 60 frames. In the end, whether it is uploaded to the host, browser, or PC, transplantation must be done, and each transplantation is a workload of several months.
The resource cost of the game industry has been decreasing, but the reality is that if developers want to embed a heavy engine and game in a platform application, they will pass for other reasons on the first day, because the package size may be less than 30M The sub will increase to 200M, and a bunch of downloads will have to be added after the completion, which is impossible to run on the platform. For the sake of the past, it has to be greatly deleted, optimized, and a lot of technical changes in the game have to be done.
You will find that game technology may not be difficult, and resource costs are gradually coming down, but it is really time-consuming to calculate the cost of resource usage and the amount of development invested. In this case, it is very advantageous to make a cloud version. Through cloud rendering, it can be done very lightly. If it is fast, it may only take four or five months to introduce it to the market, the experience is consistent, and the iteration is also very fast.
Therefore, many developers have chosen the real-time cloud rendering method provided by Yuanjing, because it is really reducing R&D costs, because there is no need to perform single-end rendering and end-to-end transplantation again and again, and developers can set aside More time and investment to do innovation.
Ali Yuanjing's cloud game PaaS solution
Metaverse Explosion: Ali Yuanjing’s services to the Metaverse industry are not the same as other companies. From the past cloud game business unit to the brand upgrade to Yuanjing, they have always provided infrastructure services. Why didn’t they build a metaverse with their own brand? space?
Guo Kuangye: On the basis that the content engine is already good enough, Ali Yuanjing also has extensive and stable real-time cloud rendering capabilities. It is not impossible to build a grand metaverse space, and I am willing to wait for it to bear fruit. But we are thinking more, what value can it bring to customers and users? I think that user value is a question that participants in every link of Metaverse should think about.
If you carefully observe the core technology at the bottom of the metaverse, you will find that it is actually the technology of game content, and this technology is already very mature. We are sober, don't rush to PK an industry with more than 30 years. Just like why Unity is so complete, because it has been developed for more than two decades. The content engine is already very mature, so what can Ali Yuanjing do for Metaverse?
We have communicated with many excellent content builders, and they reported that the content and scenes passed the test, but 95% of the traffic was lost in the end. Looking for the reasons at the experience level, I found that there are two parts of the situation that are very unfriendly. One is that users need a lot of Loading before they come in, and the waiting time is very long; . Whether it is a user or a developer, everyone can't afford this time.
At this stage, I think everyone should clearly realize that the consumption time of metaverse content is about 10 to 15 minutes, and the provider should match a consumption form of 10 to 15 minutes.
We believe that the output of extensive and stable real-time cloud rendering through the PaaS platform is to serve this form of consumption, which is also the user value that Ali Yuanjing can provide to the Metaverse industry. We have a strong fit with the metaverse, and we have chosen another path: to cooperate with the ecosystem, so that everyone can use existing good tools like Unity and Imagination to blossom and bear fruit on our platform.
Another reason for not being a "market" is that Ali Yuanjing belongs to a To B service provider and must respect the channels of customers. Moreover, the metaverse industry is relatively early, and it is too early to talk about the entrance.
"The concept is cool, and the adopter is exploring the business closed loop"
Metaverse Explosion: At the Uwin Metaverse and "Cloud Game +" forum on June 3, Wang Mao, general manager of Alibaba Cloud Game Division (Yuanjing), mentioned that many customers have begun to think seriously about Metaverse this year. If you look at the market from the role of a technical service provider, what is the specific manifestation of this "seriousness"?
Guo Kuangye: Compared with last year, a very intuitive change is that customers who adopt Metaverse are thinking about business-level things. Last year, Metaverse was popular and had gimmicks. Many brands were willing to use Metaverse as influence. Stimulated by the popularity, they seldom thought about commercial things, because everyone had never done it and wanted to try it. For example, launching a new product in conjunction with the metaverse, and finally formed a certain amount of exposure. When the concept is hot, there is nothing wrong with rushing for gimmicks, because it does attract traffic.
But this year the concept has cooled down, and everyone began to think about "what the metaverse can bring to itself", such as where the traffic is directed, and how much the user's brand value has been enhanced. This is not a bad thing for technological development or industry development, and it shows that everyone has returned to the essence of business.
The metaverse explodes every day: the concept cools down, and the brand promotes the metaverse again, and the enthusiasm for investment becomes weaker?
Guo Kuangye: The strength of enthusiasm is still related to the effect of customers investing in Metaverse.
Some brands have tasted the sweetness, such as a well-known car brand we cooperated with early on. Its starting point is simple, but it has strong demand. They didn’t think too much at first, because every time they opened a factory or released a new car, they would tell the story behind the car as usual, and invite customers and users to visit the factory. It's easy to express, they created a 3D space during the epidemic, and as a result, they brought the previous offline experience to life in the online 3D space. After running, they continued to invest, and gradually formed a virtual factory tour project.
Of course, there are still some brands that have borrowed from the metaverse to promote their brands. In the end, they may find that this function seems to be not too different from sending a press release or making a video. This year they hope to see a clear line, and think about whether the metaverse is used to attract traffic, provide a better experience, or achieve a better presentation, and even refine it to the point where the presentation is of value. To complete the entire closed loop is actually to think about how to make Metaverse a part of the business and bear the value of users.
The Cultural Tourism Metaverse "East Lake Cherry Garden" supported by Ali Yuanjing
The metaverse is exploding: In addition to cloud games, what metaverse demanders are using the services of Ali Yuanjing? Are there any new incremental scenarios?
Guo Kuangye: Ali Yuanjing has been serving customers other than cloud games. Cultural tourism and marketing are the main categories. Manufacturing, real estate, sports, e-commerce and other fields have also shown demand. Although we haven’t heard any obvious new scenarios in a certain field this year, from our practical observation, the metaverse application scenarios in the two fields of cultural tourism and marketing are relatively mature, and they have gradually touched the door. , know how to fight. In addition, we feel that e-commerce may have the potential to make good use of Metaverse in the next two to three years.
"When the ecology is large enough, cross-platform interoperability is valuable"
Metaverse Explosion: In addition to zero-latency and immersion, people’s imagination of the ideal metaverse must also be able to cross platforms, especially to break the barriers and restrictions brought about by brand competition. This idea is very popular in the Web3 industry. What do you think of the Web3 metaverse?
Guo Kuangye: What you mentioned is actually the metaverse of open source ecological exploration. In my opinion, there are two forms of realization of the open source ecology. One is that when a platform is large enough, an ecology will naturally grow on it; Like web pages, if the standard is passed, you can jump from one web page to another.
In my opinion, at this stage, it is not the time to create a "big unified metaverse" that can put everyone in it. What needs to be clarified now is standardization. Of course, this does not prevent everyone from exploring the metaverse of large platforms, and the market will eventually verify whether it can succeed.
Metaverse Explosion: The PasS-style “cross” capabilities that Ali Yuanjing can provide mainly point to “cross-terminal”, such as the real-time synchronization of the PC and mobile terminals of Metaverse content. So, can the Metaverse in the future be truly cross-platform, so that users no longer have to endure the trouble of "WeChat can't open Taobao"?
Guo Kuangye: From the perspective of technological pursuit, a large cross-platform metaverse will be realized in the future. But in the short term, we need to think about whether the necessity of realization is so strong. At present, the motivation to support this is not strong enough, because the ecology of each metaverse in the market is still small, and there is not much traffic to support you to emphasize how interoperable. When the metaverse ecology grows a little bit longer and everyone can see the real benefits that interoperability can bring, it will naturally interoperate, because in the long run, users will definitely need more content, and he will jump from one platform to another. If you do not interoperate with the requirements of a platform, users will find one that can interoperate.
Therefore, it is more valuable to create good content, continuously improve the ability of zero delay, attract more users to enter the Metaverse, and then talk about interoperability.
Metaverse Day Explosion: What stage do you think the Metaverse is in now? What should the highest-level metaverse look like?
Guo Kuangye: Now everyone’s definition of what the metaverse is is still very different. I think it’s still very early, because the business ecosystem has not yet released a signal of prosperity, because any new technology or new scene must return to the improvement The material and spiritual development of human society, but now, the Metaverse has not yet shown this ability.
According to my own observation, some small-scale commercial closed loops are slowly forming, and some user values are gradually being produced. But there is still a long way to go to achieve real scale. Because technical standards and infrastructure are still being gradually improved and upgraded.
From the perspective of infrastructure, the bottom layer has to reach the maturity level that everyone can directly open Taobao stores now, in order to usher in the real explosion of the so-called metaverse era. I think it will take 10 years of hard work.
The Explosion of the Metaverse: In addition to the business closed loop, what preparations are needed for the explosion of the Metaverse? For example, is there another phenomenon-level product trigger point?
Guo Kuangye: Products, users, and business all need to complement each other, and all elements of the metaverse ecology must accumulate to a certain volume before ushering in an explosion. Take the change of user habits as an example. When we started to develop cloud games in the domestic market in 2019, we found that the change and penetration of user habits requires time and conditions. There must be a mature and reliable product for users to gradually get used to using it. It, then accept it, and then there are imitators. When the ecology gradually grows, the scale dividend can happen.
Metaverse needs to grow steadily. If you look at the Virtual Market in Japan, it only accumulated one million users in its seventh year. The form has not changed much, but its penetration is constantly happening.