[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Gaon Media is showing strong performance. The news that a domestic alliance for creating a metaverse industry ecosystem, which combines reality and virtuality, has been launched appears to be influencing the stock price.
As of 11:16 AM on the 18th, Gaon Media was trading at 11,900 KRW, up 7.21% (800 KRW) compared to the previous trading day.
The Ministry of Science and ICT held the 'Metaverse Alliance Launch Ceremony' at the Pangyo ICT-Culture Convergence Center on the same day, attended by companies and related organizations from industries including virtual convergence technology (XR) demand and supply companies, mobile carriers, and broadcasting media companies.
Industry participants included Hyundai Motor Company, Bundang Seoul National University Hospital, Naver Labs, Maxst, Vornect, Raontech, SK Telecom, KT, LG Uplus, KBS, MBC, SBS, EBS, MBN, Kakao Entertainment, CJ E&M, and Lotte World. The event was also attended by the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA), Radio Research Agency (RAPA), Korea Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality Industry Association (KoVRA), Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Institute for Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation (IITP), Korea Communications Agency (KCA), Mobile Industry Association (MOIBA), and Software Policy & Research Institute (SPRi).
Earlier, Gaon Media signed a business agreement for the 2021 XR Flagship Project promoted by the Ministry of Science and ICT last month. In December of last year, the government announced the 'Virtual Convergence Economy Development Strategy' jointly with related ministries. XR is being intensively fostered as a key pillar of the Digital New Deal. Since the government plans to raise the economic effect to around 30 trillion KRW by 2025, the market is expected to continue expanding.
Extended Reality (XR) refers to ultra-realistic technologies encompassing Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR). An agreement was made to develop additional XR devices based on 5G communication. To run XR content, 5G technology capable of transmitting large volumes of data with ultra-low latency is required. The consortium consists of Locus, Dongguk University, Gumi Electronics & Information Technology Institute (GERI), and Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI).
Gaon Media, selected last year for the education and training system construction sector of the project, will carry out the XR Flagship Project worth 10 billion KRW by 2022. The XR Flagship Project is one of the Ministry of Science and ICT's 'Immersive Content New Market Creation Projects,' a large-scale government-led pioneering project to foster the immersive content industry, a core field of 5G and non-face-to-face services.
A company official stated, "We will expand XR business into manufacturing, construction, medical, and defense sectors by utilizing Gaon Media's AI and 5G technologies and know-how." He added, "Since XR technology is essential for realizing the recently spotlighted Metaverse, we will also successfully complete the advancement of 5G-based solutions this year."
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