"What is the Metaverse?"... Petting Cats in Games [Reading Science]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] Are you familiar with the neologism "Metaverse"? No need to feel dizzy. It's not difficult. It is a compound word combining "meta," meaning processing or abstraction, and "universe," meaning the real world. In short, it refers to a "virtual world" that can be experienced through ICT technology. With the advancement of existing technologies such as VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality), and faster communication networks like 5G, these services are composed in 3D and can be accessed anytime and anywhere.

Who would use such things? Well, digitally savvy people, especially teenagers, are quickly adopting it. A representative metaverse service is "Zepeto," operated by Naver Z. As of February, the number of subscribers reached 200 million, of which 80% are teenagers. That’s why Hallyu stars like BTS and Blackpink are holding fan signings and concerts through the metaverse these days. The nostalgic "Cyworld," which is said to be returning soon, is also based on the metaverse.

By now, you might feel the need to study the metaverse a bit, right? Coincidentally, government-funded research institutes are also enthusiastically developing metaverse-related technologies. If you look at the virtual reality technologies introduced recently by the National Science and Technology Research Council (NST) from government-funded research institutes, you will get a real sense of it.

◆ Delivering the Feel of the Virtual World as It Is

Last April, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology developed a "Mixed Reality (XR - an environment combining the real world and virtual reality) experience platform." The core is that the participant can feel various actions possible in the virtual world through multiple senses as if they were real. Wearing a haptic suit that delivers pressure and vibration, users can float more than 1 meter above the floor through wires connected to the suit in a 5m by 5m set, allowing them to experience zero gravity and free fall. Also, even when breaking a cup or petting a cat in virtual reality, users can feel the tactile sensation as if it were real.

◆ Integrated SNS Service Combining Reality + Virtual World

For users bored with simple text or video, a platform that allows communication across reality and virtual worlds has already been developed. The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) developed a (tentatively named) 4D+ SNS platform in December 2019, enabling multiple users to share space and senses in real time and communicate. It is a system where users can have remote meetings, virtual shopping, mini-games, and more together in a virtual space. Users communicate and collaborate with other users in the virtual space through avatars representing themselves. They can send messages using a virtual keyboard, convey emotions with 3D emoticons, draw pictures in the virtual space, manipulate virtual objects while discussing, and watch videos together. They can enjoy virtual games like rock-paper-scissors or block stacking together, or invite avatars of users in other locations to their own place for conversations or joint work.

◆ Realistic Virtual Reality Education

One of the most frustrating areas due to COVID-19 has been education. Since children attend school classes only through screens, they often doze off or get distracted. The same goes for various on-site corporate job training. A system has been developed to conduct technical education realistically even in the non-face-to-face era. The Korea Institute of Energy Technology developed in August last year a vivid and realistic "VR smart solution for engineering specialized education," which allows users to experience an actual plant. It can be used for education targeting students or corporate employees in related departments who find it difficult to experience plant sites due to COVID-19. Using the latest VR technology, it provides a vivid virtual reality experience of an actual plant, allowing understanding and experience of various devices and instruments, as well as experiencing different operations such as startup, normal operation, and emergency situations.

◆ Virtual Reality 'Motion Sickness' Reduced

The weakness of existing virtual reality systems is severe "cyber motion sickness." However, domestic researchers have developed a system that can reduce cyber motion sickness. The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) developed software technology last November that can accurately predict the degree of VR motion sickness using artificial intelligence. ETRI obtained experimental data from over 500 users and applied machine learning to derive correlations between VR elements and VR motion sickness. Through this, they also developed technology that can easily reduce motion sickness by adjusting VR elements in real time during the production process. The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science also developed a system in March that can quantitatively measure cyber motion sickness and assign ratings like movies. This enables the provision of personalized virtual reality content.

The future market size of the metaverse is expected to grow rapidly. The global market research firm Strategy Analytics recently forecasted it to reach $280 billion (approximately 311.78 trillion KRW) by 2025. Kyobo Securities also expects the global market size of metaverse-related VR to grow from $33 billion (approximately 36.7455 trillion KRW) last year to $338.1 billion (approximately 376.47435 trillion KRW) in 2025, and $1.0924 trillion (approximately 1,216.3874 trillion KRW) in 2030. Fashion and distribution companies are already showing quick movements such as entering Zepeto. Following the advent of smartphones in 2010, the metaverse may once again immerse you in "technology dizziness." However, it is not that difficult if you just open your mind.