"Where is the Era of Spatial Computing going next? | SEAMATE No. 106"

Overview

Last year, Apple released the Vision Pro, a groundbreaking product that began development in 2015. A vast number of frontline tech personnel were involved in this project, and with ample time and resources, they achieved a qualitative transformation, ushering in the era of spatial computing. Last week, OpenAI's Sora threw another bombshell into the industry with its improved physics engine and the stunning video effects of its generative content, which left many industry professionals amazed. Of course, the dominance of these giants has also caused a major stir among entrepreneurs and those looking to expand internationally, bringing a mix of skepticism, excitement, resignation, and aspiration.

It’s not just Apple and OpenAI; Sphere’s disruption of traditional cinemas, Tesla’s humanoid robots stirring the imagination, and the refinement of sandbox games like Elden Ring, Zelda, Genshin Impact, and Minecraft indicate that we are on the eve of rapid development in spatial computing and content. These technological and hardware shifts provide a much larger stage for entertainment innovators looking to go global, enabling previously unimaginable or unrealizable concepts like cinematic games, the metaverse, and embodied intelligence. In the third issue of 2024, we discussed industry bottlenecks, the impact of Vision Pro and Sora on the industry, and the timeline from technological evolution to mass adoption.

Core Topics

Part 1

Innovation Bottlenecks of the Previous Era Involving 3D and AR/VR

Part 2

Impact of Vision Pro on the Industry

Impact of Sora on the Industry

Part 3

Timeline from Technological Evolution to Mass Adoption

Part 1

Innovation Bottlenecks of the Previous Era Involving 3D and AR/VR

Tencent Games, Marc:

The challenges and considerations in game development, especially in light of advancements in game engines like Unreal Engine 5 over the past two years. a key bottleneck: as these creative tools improve in precision and capability, the required human resources have not decreased proportionally. Instead, more personnel are needed to achieve the enhanced effects, without necessarily improving efficiency or reducing workloads. This has led to escalating costs and complexity in game production, without corresponding improvements in commercialization or other aspects, resulting as an intensively competitive and internally focused industry.

Furthermore, Tencent's exploration into entertainment forms like virtual reality (VR), noting significant advancements in headset computing power. However, achieving the same level of detail and precision as in PC or console games remains a significant challenge on VR platforms. Uncertainty about the degree of visual precision that should be targeted to balance realism, immersion, and computational demands. Although Tencent is not currently developing VR games, we are evaluating whether to venture into this area, indicating both the potential and the dilemmas facing the company in adapting to new technological trends in gaming.

Part 2

Impact of Vision Pro on the Industry

Impact of Sora on the Industry

Xianshun Technology, Jia Jieyang :

Two main focuses: one emphasizes the "wearable" aspect, stressing portability, integration with the human body, and how these devices fit into daily scenarios. The other focus is on the "device" aspect, emphasizing performance and how these devices can achieve functionalities that previous devices could not.

Apple's Vision Pro clearly prioritizes the device aspect, accomplishing feats previously unachievable by other VR products. However, significant room for exploration in making hardware more scenario-focused, especially in this AI-driven era. While Vision Pro has innovated in terms of functionality and content, its integration into daily scenarios is somewhat lacking. For example, a recent video highlighted that wearing the Vision Pro makes it difficult to drink coffee, as the device's size can interfere with reaching the cup. Despite Apple's promotions showing the Vision Pro being used comfortably in cafes, this practical limitation remains unaddressed.

While many manufacturers employ advanced technologies to create new functionalities and expand human capabilities, I believes equal attention should be paid to how well devices can integrate into existing scenarios. This includes leveraging AI, or even setting AI aside and simply using available technologies to better integrate devices into everyday settings—a path he deems worthy of exploration.

PPIO, Yao Xin:

I'm currently more involved in cloud computing, but I'm also very attentive to what Sora is doing, especially since I've been working in the video industry for nearly 20 years. A previous speaker discussed viewing things from three dimensions: creation, editing, and dissemination. In fact, the video industry has been reshaped in each era over the past 20 years through these dimensions.

I believe the changes brought about by Sora are, first and foremost, expected. The trend in the video industry has moved from changes in channels to changes at the editing and dissemination levels, with the most crucial shifts always happening at the creation level. This includes the move towards mobile short videos, which importantly shifted how content is captured and produced rapidly on devices like smartphones.

With Sora, the biggest shift I foresee is moving our video content towards complete personalization. The short videos we see today aren't truly personalized; they are more like segmented distribution of content that isn’t perfectly generated based on one's current state and needs. This reminds me of the metaverse concepts discussed a few years ago. With Sora's emergence, I see a push towards a future where video viewing could resemble a gaming experience—highly interactive, communicative, and social.

However, I am somewhat pessimistic about innovation. I believe that Sora won't significantly impact the entire video production chain for the next three to five years; I see it merely enhancing efficiency. This is largely because products like the Vision Pro haven't yet achieved widespread adoption among consumers, which means the entire process from video creation to dissemination still relies on existing internet distribution systems and smartphones. I predict that the current distribution models, creative models, and business models won't change much in the next few years. Therefore, what we might see from Sora in the near term is just a significant efficiency improvement in content creation, leading to a surge in content production. These are my assessments based on the current landscape.

Part 3

Timeline from Technological Evolution to Mass Adoption

VAST, Simon:

In my role at VAST, I've focused on the critical importance of 3D production across various domains, including gaming content, spatial content on future XR platforms, interactive content, and traditional sectors like CG, advertising, and animation. We face challenges such as high production costs, lengthy creation cycles, and high barriers to entry.

I believe that the proliferation of 3D content is contingent upon the creation of platforms that facilitate interactive content creation and distribution, allowing users to produce a diverse array of 3D UGC (User Generated Content). To democratize 3D content creation, processes like creating static art assets, dynamic bone rigging, skinning, motion generation, as well as handling physical and special effects need to be simplified. I see leveraging AIGC (Artificial Intelligence Generated Content) capabilities as crucial. This technology allows users to generate static 3D assets from inputs like text, images, or videos, and then automate processes such as bone rigging and motion generation to make the assets interactive. Our goal is to enable any creator to produce complete 3D content in a multimodal manner.

Previously, we developed a 3D content platform at VAST, similar to TikTok but for the 3D era, which was utilized by thousands of creators to produce a variety of 3D content. However, we noticed that the creation process was complex and professional, leading to high costs. As a result, we are committed to lowering the barriers for user content creation, to potentially increase the number of 3D content creators.

I also mentioned our collaborations with major companies like ByteDance, Tencent, Sony, and Microsoft. These partnerships are aimed at reducing the production costs and cycles in traditional pipelines. We aim to offer users a more convenient, affordable, and efficient way to create UGC through AIGC. I believe that 3D generation will become an indispensable tool for creators in the future, similar to how the camera has become essential in the smartphone era for video creation.

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Note organizer: Sunny