Latest news on Metaverse market in Korea
The number of stakeholders coming from a variety of industries and joining the metaverse ecosystem is constantly growing in Korea. From telecommunication to financial sector, companies are seeing in the metaverse technology a means for not only providing services adapted to the increasing demand of non-face-to-face interactions but also targeting the tech-savvy MZ generation (a term commonly used in Korea combining Millennials and Generation Z). All these efforts can be conducted smoothly as the government is supporting the development of such technologies. In the meantime, academics are also conducting researches that could optimize the user experience when entering metaverses.
A metaverse refers to a three-dimensional virtual world that is more advanced than the existing virtual reality, and is a space where various companies and entities coexist and accumulate and utilize data. Metaverse allows people to communicate without spatial constraints, enabling them to explore new knowledges, and entertainments through experiences that would be impossible in the real world. It is drawing attention as this is a new popular community space for young generations while being applicable to a wide range of industries (e.g., education, medical care, defense, finance, service, entertainment, etc.)
Korean financial companies to leverage metaverse
Korean financial companies are increasingly showing interest in the metaverse technology as they look for enhancing their digital capabilities while securing new customers, mainly belonging to the MZ generation. Among projects worth noting, a financial institution is envisioning digital stores leveraging technical characteristics of metaverse. Another stakeholder is looking for releasing financial products based in this technology.
The adoption of metaverse in the financial sector has already been initiated. On July 9th, a financial institution held an award ceremony for a contest using a well-known metaverse platform. The participants and persons in charge of the contest gathered in the virtual world for performing the awards ceremony. The company has also leveraged the technology for conducting internal financial management meeting from May of this year and continues using and promoting metaverse within the company. The financial institution is considering including financial products and services related to metaverse in its offer in the long run.
A metaverse platform has also been leveraged for hosting a seminar organized by another financial company. Considering the pandemic, the seminar has been conducted in a virtual space and a virtual avatar was greeting attendees.
Another financial company has initiated a full-fledged research regarding metaverse provided its increasing popularity as a communication space for young generations. The company is collaborating with an academic to understand the connection between MZ generation, metaverse and finance with the aim of adapting to potential market trends’ changes.
One of the interesting combinations between metaverse and finance could lie in the creation of financial products using digital bank stores. In this regard, the research institute of a financial institution recently suggested the creation of a digital branch using metaverse. The concept consists of establishing a digital branch in a well-known metaverse platform where members of the popular Korean boy band BTS would serve as employees. The research institute predicts that such concept could enhance communication with future customers. In addition, it is expected that a ‘digital training center’ using virtual reality and augmented reality devices will be operated to enhance the customer experience and response capabilities of employees.
Source: https://moneys.mt.co.kr/news/mwView.php?no=2021070914158057705
Development of new Metaverse projects in the private sector
A leading telecommunication company recently unveiled a new metaverse platform that includes 18 different virtual spaces and 800 avatars. This new metaverse platform will be adapted to a 5G environment. The target of the company is the MZ generation as it plans to customize the platform’s services and contents considering this generation’s needs. Convenience and enhanced usability are the main features of this platform that aims at popularizing metaverse in Korea. Social functions such as following avatars users are interested in will be added as the company is looking for establishing the platform as a core channel of a new social media culture.
The developer of the platform has prepared a virtual space with 18 themes that can be selected depending on users’ needs, such as large conference halls and outdoor stages. It also established a communication environment that shares desired data in various ways such as documents (PDF) and videos (MP4), considering the growing demand for holding meetings, presentations or seminars on metaverse (cf. Korean financial companies to leverage metaverse). That said, the number of persons who can participate in a single room is currently limited to 130.
In the future, the metaverse platform should be able to hold large-scale events such as major forums, lectures, and concerts at home and abroad, focusing on the tastes and interests of MZ generations. Experimental contents such as late-night movie screenings and meditation healing that users can enjoy and participate in the metaverse space are also planned to be regularly operated. In addition, the company will implement an influencer training program to help users pioneer a new career in the metaverse. Business partners who want a new way of marketing or communication will also have an opportunity to meet customers in the a metaverse room dedicated.
The company that is developing the metaverse platform mentioned above is currently cooperating with a Korean university on the creation of a smart campus. In particular, among the areas of collaboration, the company plans to support the university in the establishment of a 5G metaverse-based campus life environment. Through the metaverse platform described in the previous paragraph, students will create their avatars and meet other avatars that match with their own personalities and form relationships beyond face-to-face through various interactions. In this regard, the company and the university plan to support student activities by applying the Metaverse platform to various fields such as non-curricular activities (e.g., clubs’ activities and international exchanges). As to non-curricular activities, since a stadium in Metaverse can provide dynamic cheering, it is expected that it will become a place of exchange where students and alumni can enjoy together in the non-face-to-face era along with the cheering culture that is changing in the Corona era. The application is also reviewed for some classes, such as scientific classes where experiments and practice, which have limitations in non-face-to-face communication, could be improved.
Eventually, a retail company is also entering in the metaverse industry by creating a shopping channel in a metaverse platform, allowing users to buy and receive items online. Through the shopping channel, which will be launched at the end of November, the metaverse platform’s users will be able to purchase items from stores of the retail company in the metaverse and receive immediate delivery.
Source: https://www.ebn.co.kr/news/view/1491693
Metaverse to be supported by the Korean government
The Korean government plans to foster metaverse technology in the second version of its new deal (New Deal 2.0) with the aim of increasing the number of metaverse-related companies from 21 to 150 by 2025. Among the projects included in the New Deal 2.0, technologies such as digital twin, intelligent robot, cloud, blockchain, and Internet of Things were also mentioned.
Nurturing the “Digital Transformation (Hyper Innovation) Project” that includes metaverse technology has been quoted as a priority among the five tasks of the New Deal 2.0 that the Korean government recently promoted. On July 14th, which marked the first anniversary of the Korean New Deal Comprehensive Plan, the government jointly announced the “Korean New Deal 2.0” promotion plan while presenting its plan to invest 2.6 trillion won by 2025 to foster new hyper-connected technologies such as metaverse.
The Digital New Deal is a government-led national development strategy aiming at enhancing the national and industrial competitiveness through digital transformation while overcoming the economic crisis of COVID-19. The Korean New Deal 2.0 aims at pursuing the achievements of the first version, while intensively fostering new technologies that will lead the global digital market in the future. The government announced that it will promote the ‘Digital New Deal 2.0’ by investing 49 trillion won by 2025 to continue these achievements. The budget for the newly established task of fostering new hyper-connected technologies is 2.6 trillion won.
In particular, the government emphasized the need to lay the foundation for hyper-connected and ultra-realistic-based disruptive industries that will lead the digital future. One of the projects the government is focusing on is the expansion of the convergence project promoted in the fields of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to the development of a metaverse platform. To this end, it revealed its plan to support the metaverse industry. With the adoption of the New Deal 2.0, the Korean government plans to increase the number of companies specialized in metaverse from 21 in 2019 to 56 in 2022 and 150 in 2025 through core technology development and content creation support. The government also announced it plans to build an ‘open metaverse platform’ where anyone can participate and develop content. The data and authoring tools embedded in the platform could be used by third-party companies to develop new contents and services. Some experts expect that tourism content would be one of the field of applications. In addition, the government plans to create and support a metaverse ecosystem led by the private sector and centered on the ‘Metaverse Alliance’, where 181 companies (e.g., mobile carriers, media companies, etc.) and institutions participate.
The decision of the Korean government to make the establishment of an open metaverse platform and the fostering of 150 specialized companies by 2025 a priority among the tasks of the ‘Korean New Deal 2.0’ project has been taken after assessing the importance of the metaverse’s ripple effect and its growth potential. The government consider the technology as a new digital space where existing artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and blockchain technologies can be all combined.
When announcing the “Korean version of New Deal 2.0” promotion plan, the Korean government also mentioned its plans to support a variety of disruptive technologies such as (1) Digital Twin (2) Intelligent Robot (3) Cloud (4) Blockchain and (5) Intelligent IoT. Regarding blockchain technology, it plans to continue supporting the growth of the industry by promoting a large-scale blockchain diffusion project and establishing a “Technical Support Innovation Center” to help the commercialization and technology verification of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Source: https://www.news1.kr/articles/?4371263
Development of artificial sensibility that can be applied to Metaverse and AR/VR
A Korean research team has recently succeeded in developing an artificial sensory system that is applicable to metaverse and related virtual reality technology.
A research team gathering academics from three leading universities in Korea announced on July 12th that it has developed an artificial skin interface system that can simulate human skin and can be applied to metaverse and VR (Virtual Reality)/AR (Augmented Reality). The findings were published in an international academic scientific journal in the field of electronic engineering.
There have been many attempts to develop an artificial sensory system that is used for artificial skin, robotic prosthetic arm or prosthetic leg as well as metaverse or VR/AR since people feel touch through various types of tactile receptors (e.g., pressure, vibration, and friction). That said, one of the main challenges lied in the fact that it was not easy to make an artificial sensory system look like a real human sensory organ.
The research team created electronic skin by combining piezoelectric materials and piezoelectric resistant materials that can convert pressure into electric signals. The electronic skin developed by the research team can simultaneously mimic “late-adaptive mechanical receptors” that can detect pressure in the skin and “fast-adaptive mechanical receptors” that detect vibrations. The research team linked these complex tactile sensors electronic skins to a signal conversion system based on actual neural patterns. In this process, the research team used a method of measuring and functioning signals from actual sensory nerves to mimic in vivo reactions as much as possible.
The research team confirmed that signals generated by artificial sensory systems can be transmitted to the living body without distortion and biosensory-related phenomena such as muscle reflex can be implemented as a result of applying the system to a mouse. This study is significant in that it is based on actual neural signal pattern learning, and it will not only be able to express more realistic senses than before, but also create greater synergies in combination with other sensory systems.
Source: https://www.seoul.co.kr/news/newsView.php?id=20210712500055
Our View: The development of the Korean metaverse ecosystem has been quite impressive lately. As more and more companies are becoming aware of the potential of the technology, the industry is growing significantly, supported by the current context where an increasing number of activities are being held at home. The combination of the high demand for non-face-to-face activities with the emergence of the tech-savvy MZ generation in the active population results in the boom of a sector that is expected to grow even more significantly as reflected by market research firms. According to the research firm Strategy Analytics, the global metaverse market could reach $46 billion this year and $280 billion in 2025. According to PWC, the virtual convergence technology (XR) market, the core technology of metaverse, will grow to $476.4 billion by 2025. Those figures reflect the potential of the technology that the Korean government has selected as a key task in its Digital New Deal 2.0.
