September 1, 2022 (Changsha Online reporter Zhou Yuqing) What exactly is the metaverse? How far away is the metaverse from everyone's life? On the morning of September 1, the long-expected Metaverse Forum of 2022 Internet Yuelu Summit kicked off in Changsha. At the forum, insightful ideas were frequently delivered by keynote speakers, which attracted the audience to keep taking notes.
(The Metaverse Forum of 2022 Internet Yuelu Summit. Photo by Zhou Yuqing, Changsha Online Reporter)
The metaverse industry is the integration of virtual and real worlds through interactive devices with high bandwidth and low latency infrastructure. As the most eye-catching emerging digital industry, metaverse has accelerated from "future time" to "ongoing time", and many countries and industry giants around the world have started their industrial layout. Changsha has also developed advantages in the direction of metaverse in terms of underlying technology and ecological applications, and brought together well-known companies involved in metaverse such as Wondershare, Caohua, Mango Excellent Media, ANKER, Jingjia Micro, and Lens Technology. Among the top 200 Chinese companies with the greatest development potential in the metaverse field announced by the Hurun China Metaverse Companies with the Greatest Potential 2022, Changsha ranks 11th in the country and 1st in central China in terms of the number of enterprises on the list.
Behind the development of Changsha's "metaverse" industry is the continuous integration of industry and technology, and the constant pursuit of "invention", "innovation" and "creation". At the Internet Yuelu Summit, the Changsha Online reporter learned that Hunan Xiangjiang New Area metaverse industrial policy will also be officially released to the public in the near future. The policy will focus on building a "metaverse leading area", promoting the high-quality development of metaverse industry, cultivating 10 leading enterprises with industry influence and 100 innovative enterprises in emerging fields. By 2025, the output value of metaverse industry in Hunan Xiangjiang New Area will exceed 100 billion yuan.
(A guest is delivering a keynote speech. Photo by Zhou Yuqing, Changsha Online Reporter)
The "metaverse" industry, which is in the exploration stage, also needs continuous practice by practitioners, Yi Huanhuan, Chairman of Yigu World Group and CEO of Huajian Function Capital, is one of them. He believes that the metaverse must be viewed with long-term thinking and value-focused thinking, people should not overestimate the short-term evolution and breakthrough of the underlying technology, nor underestimate the opportunities of the metaverse in the next 5-10 years. On the demand side of the metaverse, young people's views and needs will become mainstream, and this kind of Generation “M” people, who are in great need of self-realization, will generate more vigorous demand for "creator economy". Accordingly, on the content side, the "creator economy" will accelerate its growth and occupy a more important position in the future global economy.
(Round Table Session)
In the round table session, Wu Taibing, Chairman of Wondershare, Dai Jianqing, Chairman of Caohua, Li Yaxiong, Head of VRARA China and Founder of VRAR Planet, Xiao Zhengyu, General Manager of Mango XR, Wang Jianxin, Dean of School of Computer Science, Central South University, and Li Qiu, former first-level inspector of the Internet Information Office of CPC Hunan Provincial Committee and President of Hunan Mobile Internet Association, discussed the opportunities and challenges brought by metaverse around the theme of "how metaverse can help Hunan's economic development” combining with their practice. At the forum, the guests also advised on how to better develop the metaverse in Hunan.
(Metaverse Creators Alliance established)
To promote the development of "metaverse", we should not only focus on "futuristic", but also emphasize "forward-looking". At the forum, in the presence of government leaders, representatives from Wondershare, Fengyuzhu, Caohua, Computer Science School of Central South University, Inkeverse, Mango XR, Tianhe Guoyun Gravity Waver, and key technology enterprises from Hunan and some other provinces, jointly established the Metaverse Creators Alliance, aiming to build a "creators' economic market model" with the concerted efforts of all parties; help accelerate the development of the creator economy from four levels: joint business innovation, talent introduction and cultivation, entrepreneurial empowerment, and support for outstanding creators; promote the accelerated arrival of the mass era of the creator economy; and help more creators share and create in the new era.
The future of the "metaverse" also requires the participation of more market forces for wide consultation and joint innovation. In the future, Changsha will continue to gather industry consensus and help all parties in the industry chain to seize new opportunities in the digital economy, explore new space for high-quality development and embrace a new era of metaverse together.