There are already landing projects in Shanghai, and Apple's MR headset is opening up the era of spatial computing. MR | Space | Era

"Just like Mac computers have brought us into the era of personal computing, iPhone has brought us into the era of mobile computing, and Apple Vision Pro will bring us into the era of spatial computing." This statement made by Apple CEO Tim Cook at a press conference early yesterday morning Beijing time has made the professional term "spatial computing" popular.

In the view of Dr. Tao Chuang, founder of Shanghai Weixiang Space Time Company and former General Manager of Microsoft's Virtual Earth Department, spatial computing has redefined the relationship between humans and space, and can create various spaces into a metaverse entrance that integrates virtual and real, containing enormous industrial value. And MR headsets such as Apple Vision Pro are a type of intelligent terminal that takes people into the metaverse space. In the next 3-5 years, this type of smart terminal may enter the stage of large-scale popularization, and even be widely used like smartphones.

Space computing technology is more difficult than autonomous driving

"When I was a professor at York University in 1999, I developed an MR terminal. Now, Apple has taken it to a new level," Tao Chuang told reporters. MR, also known as mixed reality, combines virtual reality and augmented reality, incorporating various elements of the virtual world while maintaining connection with the real world. Vision Pro embodies the fusion of virtual and real features of MR terminals - wearing it allows users to see various digital images such as operating interfaces, applications, images, and videos, as well as to see people and objects in the external world through the headset lens, creating a superimposed experience of "digital+physical space".

MR terminal developed by Tao Chuang in 1999

What is the spatial computing closely related to MR intelligent terminals? Fan Xiao, CEO of Weixiang Space, believes that it is essentially an intelligent terminal that understands the relationship between humans and space. Through spatial digital twins and real-time computing, it allows people to experience immersive experiences such as perception and feedback. "Simply put, spatial computing involves three things: first, making machines perceive space, including the size of the space, the precise location of the machine, and the spatial relationship between people and objects; second, achieving the projection and rendering of digital content in the physical world; third, enabling people to interact well with space through machines, such as using voice and gestures to manipulate digital content in space. Apple's Vision Pro supports voice and gesture interaction methods."

Autonomous driving and space computing belong to the same origin technology, both of which require intelligent terminals to know their position in the physical world and perceive the surrounding environment. Compared to the two, the commercial efficiency of spatial computing is higher because, unlike autonomous driving, it does not require real-time computing capabilities on all driving routes. It only needs to select some indoor and outdoor spaces and transform them into "entrances to the metaverse". Moreover, as a technology that enhances user experience, the risk coefficient of spatial computing is much lower than that of autonomous driving, and the obstacles to its commercial process are much smaller.

However, the difficulty of spatial computation is higher than that of autonomous driving. Tao Chuang introduced that in order to create an urban metaverse space, Weixiang Space has developed a spatial computing engine. It includes five core technologies, including spatial twinning, spatial perception, spatial cognition, spatial positioning, and spatial interaction. It can achieve recognition and tracking of dynamic objects in urban level scenes, as well as high concurrency, large-scale real-time interaction and multi-user interaction.

In the future, wearing MR glasses for shopping and shopping

After years of research and development and construction, Weixuan Space and Space, in cooperation with Zhangjiang Group, has built an urban meta-cosmic space covering 4.1 square kilometers in Zhangjiang Science City, making people feel the future experience brought by space computing.

Welcome to Shanghai Weixiang Yuan Street! Wearing AR glasses, or holding a smartphone or tablet, as you enter the Juchuangxin R&D building where Weixiang Space is located, a purple long eared cartoon character greets you. Although it is virtual, through the lenses or screen, you will see its movement trajectory highly coordinated with the real environment. Under the guidance of cartoon people, enter the company for a visit. In the company's exhibition hall, you can choose various MR display themes such as party building, low-carbon life, China-Chic style, etc; Arriving at the Metaverse Cafe, you will see a virtual menu and many cartoon characters who are also drinking coffee, making ordering and dining experiences more cool.

Shanghai Weixiangyuan Block

Stepping out of the office building and entering the park, one can see underground pipes one after another through lenses or screens. Their virtual images all appear in real geographical locations for municipal management and maintenance personnel to click and query pipeline maintenance information. In a corner of the park, a large investment sand table in Zhangjiang Town is eye-catching. With the support of spatial computing technology, the investment sand table no longer needs to be displayed through physical models, allowing the sand table to interact with visitors.

The streets and colorful green squares near the Juchuangxin R&D building have also built a large metaverse space. The introduction and rental information of office buildings, advertising spaces on virtual traffic signs, and consumption vouchers and discount information presented at the entrance of shops and restaurants showcase the huge business opportunities contained in the metaverse space.

The Metaverse Space of Zhangjiang Science City

"In the future, we will wear MR glasses while shopping, and see not just the physical world, but a new world with digital information superimposed on it." Tao Chuang said, "It can be said that space is the entrance." The introduction of Apple's MR headset devices has brought this future life scene closer to us. It is predicted that MR head display devices will gradually become popular electronic consumer products in 3-5 years, driving the industry ecosystem towards completeness. Under this trend, a group of artificial intelligence enterprises developing spatial computing technology will emerge in Shanghai and other science and technology innovation cities, providing content products for smart terminal manufacturers.

The Action Plan for Cultivating a New Track of "Metaverse" in Shanghai proposes that "by 2025, the scale of industries related to the" Metaverse "will reach 350 billion yuan." Tao Chuang believes that as MR glasses become consumer electronics products, this industry goal will accelerate. Shanghai enterprises and entrepreneurial teams can seize the opportunity to develop various spatial computing content products, including cultural and creative products.