An overview on Virtual Reality and the rise of the Metaverse and Qbit Technologies approach in contributing to create immersive worlds and experiences.
With the Internet we have built the basic infrastructure for our next dimension to live in. This dimension is the one of Virtual Reality.
This presentation highlights the main factors that are driving virtual reality towards mainstream market.
The presentation is dated May 2015.
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Index
Creating the Metaverse
Experiments in the Metaverse
Where we are now inVR?
Technology Enablers
Market Signals
VR Market Opportunity
The Opportunity with Qbit
Qbit’sVR R&D Packages
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Who we are?
Qbit is an Innovation Lab focusing in creating links between research on new
technologies and businesses.We grow our knowledge by experimenting innovation and
transforming it to create cutting edge business solutions, to assist organizations in their
growth and their relationship with technology and the future, at a strategic and tactical
level.
Mattia Crespi, Founder of Qbit, is an Affiliate of the Institute ForThe Future of Palo Alto
and is an active member of the IEEE. Mattia has managed and developed some of the
most successful InternetVR projects worldwide, including the Ducati RacingVR
championship, theTIMVirtual Soccer Cup and the Pink Floyd 3DVirtual Museum.
4. one@computer.org
I can see clearly the ultimate
goal of computing, is not only
recreating the human, but to
create a place for the human
to live in.
With the Internet we have
built the basic infrastructure
for our next dimension to live
in. This dimension is the one
ofVirtual Reality.
mc
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Creating the Metaverse
The Metaverse is a Virtual Reality-based successor of the Internet, as
described by Stephenson in his 1992 novel “Snow Crash”, a cyberpunk
classic.
The Metaverse is really “the space of virtual reality”, where a multitude of
devices, entities and data converge together, creating an immersive shared
space.
In the late 1990’s the idea of creating the Metaverse has begun to take
shape and we saw the first examples of what I like to define “demos” of the
Metaverse:VirtualWorlds.
Virtual Worlds reached the peak of media attention with Secondlife in the
years 2005 to 2009, even thou there have been many other less successful
attempts to create online virtual reality environments.
Some of us know that Secondlife was just a demo of what is about to
come. The next “version” of the Internet will be in 3D. It will be Virtual
Reality.
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Experiments in the Metaverse
A bunch of companies and innovators around the world, have
been working on the idea of the Metaverse.
Very soon in 2015, we will see new technologies hitting the
market, addressing the challenge of scaling a truly
interconnected virtual reality environment over the Internet.
Qbit is one of the companies that is experimenting and actively
developing test on these technologies, with partner companies
in SiliconValley.
Qbit is currently experimenting the creation of online high
resolution 3D virtual reality spaces, that can scale up to global
proportions, allowing a virtually unlimited expansion, with
millions of virtual square meters of land and millions of users
interconnected.
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Unity 3D
Where we are now in InternetVR
2006 2020
2009 2014 2015
Second Life Peak
HF Beta
SamsungGear
Facebook BuysOculus
Oculus Rift
Cloud Computing
HFAlpha
MS Kinect
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Technology Enablers
The main technological factors influencing the rise of online
virtual reality are the following:
High bandwidth availability
Scalable network architecture
Cloud processing power and resource allocation
A new conception of domain system architecture
A new generation of i/o devices
All of the above are influencing factors that are evolving rapidly.
New VR technologies in Alpha phase will hit the market in
2015, to then grow rapidly in the next years, taking us into
theVirtual Reality era.
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Scalability
The scale to which the Metaverse will allow us to develop
content is virtually infinite. In the near future, we will be able to
import entire countries, regions or even planets with their
precise height map and terrain.
On the contrary of Google Earth, the Metaverse allows a
detailed reproduction and full interaction with the
environments and between people, as it is modeled in 3D and
made for real time presence.
Scaling users is also another crucial factor. The technology we
work with can host a scalable amount of simultaneous users.
All of the above is being addressed by the capability of the
network to call for processing power, when and where needed.
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The extend to which we can scale
Here you can see a scalable VR reproduction of a planetary system,
with planets orbiting around a blue sun in the middle.
The systems explodes details as we get closer to entities, so each
planet you see can be fully detailed in real dimensions and down to
a single tree or even leaf!
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In the near future the
Internet will be powered
by each single device
connected to it.
The more users connect
to the network, the more
power is allocated by the
network itself.
Users will contribute
processing power with
their own devices.
Processing power will be
exchanged for money.
Processing power will
become a commodity.
mc
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Interoperability
Interoperability is a key term in any kind of simulation
environment. A fundamental aspect is to be able to access
virtual environments from a variety of devices and operating
systems. On the other hand, a virtual environment should be
able to be interfaced and communicate with any other type of
IT infrastructure or data formats.
In the past, virtual worlds have been limited in integrating with
other systems, because of their proprietary programming
language and system architecture, mostly developed around
business models, aimed at sustaining the initial phase of
experimentation, rather than growth.
Qbit develops only using interoperable technologies, enabling a
seamless integration with existing IT systems.
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Data Protection
A critical factor in developing corporate VR environments has
always been the fact that there was no system available to truly
protect content and data, in an online immersive environment.
Most virtual reality platforms, were and still are based on
content uploaded, created and stored on third party servers or
networks.
Engines and platforms that allow for data to be stored locally or
on own servers, are currently limited in their capability to scale
and host a large number of users simultaneously.
At Qbit we develop with technologies that allow complete
security of data and content, with storage on any type of
secured or owned server.
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Market Signals
Despite the rise and fall in popularity of Virtual Worlds, the vision of
a 3DWeb is still very present and alive.
After a long peak of media attention, the development of virtual
worlds and virtual reality have taken enormous steps ahead,
behind the curtains…
Innovators and innovative companies around the world are actively
experimenting and rapidly developing a new generation of
scalable system architectures, designing and implementing a new
conception of the Internet as a whole.
A new generation of smart i/o devices is hitting the market: the
Oculus Rift acquired by Facebook, Samsung Gear to be launched
in 2015 and many otherVR devices manufacturers.
The attention from media and the Internet on VR is increasing, as
web searches forVirtual Reality increase rapidly.
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Main Market Signals at a glance
Second Life is at
the peak of
media attention
between 2006
and 2009 as the
first Internet
Virtual Reality
platform
Unity 3D brings
3D interactivity
in the web
browser and on
mobile devices.
Casual Gaming
becomes
mainstream
Oculus Rift
Developer Kit is
launched. The
first consumer
VR headset
High Fidelity
opens Alpha in
2014. It’s the
evolution of
Second Life,
with a new
architecture
empowered by
cloud
computing
Facebook buys
Oculus and
launches Beta
VR experience.
Samsung with
Facebook,
making a
Samsung
Version of the
Oculus Rift, that
works with
mobile phones.
2006 2014
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A New Generation of I/O Devices
In the last 3 years, we have seen various efforts to produce new generation VR
hardware and input devices, such as the Oculus Rift (now Facebook), Samsung
Gear, Depth Cameras, Game Pads and more. (see
http://www.qbittech.com/index.php/qbit-blog for more)
As more advanced input devices and interfaces are developed, Virtual Reality
will become more and more immersive.
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VR Market Opportunity
InternetVR is about to hit mainstream, thanks to the following enablers:
Cloud and Ubiquitous Computing
New 3D Internet high level architectures
Availability ofVR Input devices
High Speed Connectivity
Market leaders entering market
We have been working within the eco-system of developers of Internet VR
technologies for the past 9 years. This allows us to deeply understand the
market and puts us ahead of the curve in this new era.
We are in a moment when several factors and signals are crossing, leading
to mainstream adoption ofVR over the Internet.
We have prepared ourselves and are ready to act, to become one of the
leading developers of the Metaverse.
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What can you do with onlineVR?
OnlineVirtual Reality allows to:
Create a virtual persona: your Avatar, in high resolution and with any
feature you like. Nowadays it is also possible to create a mirror copy of
your body and face.
Navigate with an Avatar in a closed or public online 3D space.
Interact and communicate with others with voice and your own real
time facial expressions .
Simulate any type of environment.
Create simulation environments for education and training.
PerformVirtual Conferencing in 3D.
Buy and sell real and virtual goods.
Virtualize the Internet presence of brands in the new 3D dimension.
Recreate entire geographies, climates and eco-systems, in any time in
history and simulate any type of conditions.
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The main difference between
online virtual reality and
other 3D simulations or
game-type environments, is
that online VR is shared,
online and accessible at all
times and by everyone with
an Internet connection.
People can share the same
virtual environment in real
time.
mc
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QbitVR Experiments
AVirtual Reality Experiment with Qbit.
Qbit is developing the first experiments on the new 3D internet
architecture developed by High Fidelity.
We have registered and acquired a list of domains for the new
3D web. These can be compared to .com domains in the current
web.
We have deployed our first VR servers and are currently running
an online VR environment, where we are building a scalable
online VR space for interaction, training, conferencing and
brand extension opportunities.
We offer brands and Institutions the unique opportunity to
be ahead in building their own space in the Metaverse.