Baidu Enters the Metaverse?
Chinese internet giant Baidu (BIDU) is hosting a three day developer event for up to 100,000 virtual attendees in its just released Metaverse, based on its XiRang (“Land of Hope”) application that allows users to create avatars and interact with each other at the virtual conference. There are 100 speakers that will give presentations in the virtual world during the conference, but the real intent is to create an open-source platform that Metaverse developers can use to create new virtual worlds, supplying them with digital infrastructure, although the platform will not support digital currencies or NFT-like trading assets, despite the app’s use of block chain technology. The conference can be accessed through a VR headset, smartphone (2D) or computer (2D). The short promo video link is below, followed by a longer but more realistic view of the app being used by attendees using VR:
twitter.com/i/status/1474379610087374880
twitter.com/i/status/1474379610087374880
While in typical fashion Baidu noted that the conference was the first Chinese conference to be hosted in the Metaverse, the announcement was followed by an unimpressive look at the Baidu Metaverse itself, which looked like a video game from the early 2000’s, with the comment that it would likely take ~6 years to fully develop the application to full potential from the head of development. Baidu wants Metaverse development, at least Metaverse infrastructure, to be open source, removing the need for licensing and opening the development up to a global population that can contribute to Metaverse development. As the company receives the bulk of its revenue from advertising and merchant services, the faster the Metaverse can be developed, the faster Baidu will see incremental sales from the new revenue source. It’s a play on the old “Give a man a fish…” with the application essentially teaching others to ‘fish’ or really to expand the Metaverse, expanding the revenue base of those who can capitalize on the income stream.
That said, while the Metaverse infrastructure (site creation, modeling, etc.) are the ‘flashier’ tools that get promoted by the media, and VR/AR headsets are the display source that are currently a gating factor for Metaverse development, there are a host of other ‘layers’ that need to also be developed in order for the Metaverse to become ‘the next internet’ as many suggest. High speed streaming services will certainly need to be upgraded considering the amount of data that needs to be transferred during live interactions, and graphics processors will also need to be stepped up if virtual worlds are to look convincingly real, but the real issue is still with how you actually view the Metaverse, because looking at a fanciful virtual world on a 2D screen still looks like a 2D image, and the idea that you can be an avatar and speak with others in such a world is a nice idea and more convenient than a Q&A dialog box or chat window, but not really earth shaking.
Improvements in VR, particularly improvements in resolution, FOV (Field of view), and ease of use (weight) will govern adoption rates for the Metaverse, despite what Facebook (FB) or Baidu say, as it will take quite some time before we see offices filled with VR helmeted workers or stores where customers are serviced by virtual personnel, despite the promotional pictures below. Remember that ~30% of the population is subject to motion sickness, and a much large proportion is subject to not wanting to look like Daft Punk, so VR hardware developments will be needed before the use of the Metaverse becomes commonplace, although stranger things have happened. 20 years ago, did you think you would be able to watch movies on your phone? Remember this from 2001?
That said, while the Metaverse infrastructure (site creation, modeling, etc.) are the ‘flashier’ tools that get promoted by the media, and VR/AR headsets are the display source that are currently a gating factor for Metaverse development, there are a host of other ‘layers’ that need to also be developed in order for the Metaverse to become ‘the next internet’ as many suggest. High speed streaming services will certainly need to be upgraded considering the amount of data that needs to be transferred during live interactions, and graphics processors will also need to be stepped up if virtual worlds are to look convincingly real, but the real issue is still with how you actually view the Metaverse, because looking at a fanciful virtual world on a 2D screen still looks like a 2D image, and the idea that you can be an avatar and speak with others in such a world is a nice idea and more convenient than a Q&A dialog box or chat window, but not really earth shaking.
Improvements in VR, particularly improvements in resolution, FOV (Field of view), and ease of use (weight) will govern adoption rates for the Metaverse, despite what Facebook (FB) or Baidu say, as it will take quite some time before we see offices filled with VR helmeted workers or stores where customers are serviced by virtual personnel, despite the promotional pictures below. Remember that ~30% of the population is subject to motion sickness, and a much large proportion is subject to not wanting to look like Daft Punk, so VR hardware developments will be needed before the use of the Metaverse becomes commonplace, although stranger things have happened. 20 years ago, did you think you would be able to watch movies on your phone? Remember this from 2001?
Nokia 6310 - 2001 - Source: GSMArena.com
Virtual Management Meeting - Source: Protocol.com
Virtual Development Meeting - Source: AR Post
Virtual ‘Store’ - Source: CMSWire
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