In recent years, new concepts and technologies represented by metaverse, NFT (digital collectibles), virtual digital humans, etc. have become the focus of pursuit for capital and technology giants. A few years have passed, how are those once popular concepts now? Starting today, this newspaper will launch a series of reports titled "What are the Hot Concepts Today", tracing the development history of these new concepts and technologies, showcasing the current situation, and exploring future directions. From 2021 to 2022, the metaverse carries people's earnest expectations for the development of digital technology and has become a darling pursued by capital. However, just a few short years have passed, and this once hot concept has quietly cooled down. What is the current development status of the metaverse? What direction will the future move towards? Applications face many obstacles to the metauniverse. This concept, which was once considered to represent the new direction of the evolution of the Internet, shows an extremely broad picture of imagination: people can conduct various activities beyond the physiological necessary behaviors such as social networking, learning, entertainment and work in a virtual world that maps and interacts with the real world by means of advanced technology. If metaverse technology can mature and land, it will undoubtedly bring profound changes to people's production and lifestyle. The concept of metaverse was once favored by capital. In 2021, the metaverse industry experienced explosive growth, earning the industry the nickname "Metaverse Year". According to data from the SuTu Metaverse Research Institute, up to 99.9% of "metaverse" trademarks were registered and applied for after 2021. From June 2021 to January 2022 alone, the number of applications for metaverse trademarks reached 9965. Moreover, there were a total of 45 investment and financing events related to the main business including "metaverse" enterprises throughout 2021. But several years have passed, and sales of metaverse related products have declined. According to market research firm Counterpoint, global shipments of virtual reality (VR) headsets will decrease by 12% year-on-year in 2024, showing a downward trend for three consecutive years. Has the concept of the metaverse "stalled"? What practical obstacles does it face during the implementation process? After the concept of the metaverse swept the globe in 2021, its popularity gradually declined from its peak, especially with the rise of generative AI such as ChatGPT, the metaverse accelerated its transition to a rational development stage. ”Chen Fengxian, senior analyst at the Strategic Development Institute of China Telecom Research Institute, believes that the current landing of the metaverse faces several major challenges: firstly, immature technology and a large gap in user experience. Hardware devices have slow technological progress, complex operating procedures, and commonly suffer from defects such as poor user experience and difficulty in long-lasting wear. At the system level, it is difficult to achieve a truly immersive interactive experience due to insufficient computing power and network latency; The second issue is that the commercialization path has not yet been established. The existing user applications mainly focus on gaming and social networking, with prominent issues of content homogenization, resulting in low user stickiness and willingness to pay; The third is that the short-term profit driven nature of capital forces the shift of corporate strategic focus. The construction of metaverse usually takes 5 to 10 years, with a long investment cycle and slow returns. Against the backdrop of the rapid rise of AI, capital is rapidly shifting towards the AI track with clearer commercialization paths. Professor Xu Haoran from the Scientific Socialism Teaching and Research Department of the Central Party School stated that the metaverse still faces new challenges in terms of regulation, safety, ethics, and law in its practical application. On the one hand, the metaverse requires continuous collection of massive user information and data, which inevitably raises concerns about data leakage and privacy infringement; On the other hand, there is a certain lag in the regulatory and legal framework for adapting to the digital economy. Although many practical challenges, such as technology, business models, and supporting laws and regulations, have hindered the development of the metaverse and presented a 'stalled' appearance, it does not mean that the metaverse technology and industry will come to a halt, "said Xu Haoran. As discussions around the metaverse gradually become rational, the industrial metaverse is becoming increasingly mature, injecting new momentum into improving the quality and efficiency of industrial production. The industrial metaverse refers to the application of cutting-edge technologies such as digital twins, virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and cloud computing to deeply integrate traditional industrial manufacturing with emerging technologies and build a new intelligent industrial ecosystem. By comprehensively collecting, processing, and analyzing data, the industrial metaverse can optimize production processes, improve production efficiency, and help industrial production achieve intelligent transformation. In 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and five other departments jointly issued the "Three Year Action Plan for Innovative Development of the Metaverse Industry (2023-2025)", which proposes to develop an industrial metaverse that integrates virtual and real elements and promotes each other. This will further accelerate the high-end, intelligent, and green upgrading of the manufacturing industry, and is one of the important driving points for the construction of new industrialization. Systematic planning and strategic deployment have been made from both short-term and long-term perspectives. Driven by policy support and broad development prospects, the industrial metaverse is accelerating its implementation and application in many scenarios. For example, in fields such as steel smelting and automobile manufacturing, some enterprises have introduced digital twin technology to build virtual factories, using digital technology to restore physical production lines, thereby achieving real-time perception and remote monitoring of the production environment. This not only significantly improves production efficiency, but also shortens construction periods, reduces safety risks, and demonstrates the substantial benefits brought by the integration of digital twin technology into industrial operations. As a key carrier of new quality productivity, the industrial metaverse will deeply empower the development of manufacturing industry at the system level with the mature application of related technologies. ”Chen Fengxian believes that in the research and development process, comprehensive digitization of product design, testing, and process validation can be achieved through high fidelity digital twins and virtual simulations, significantly shortening the research and development cycle and reducing trial and error costs; In the production process, based on real-time data-driven virtual factories, it can achieve visual scheduling of the entire production process, predictive maintenance of equipment, and dynamic optimization of resources, significantly improving operational efficiency and flexible manufacturing capabilities; In the service process, relying on immersive remote collaboration and AR real-time operation guidance, we break through time and space limitations, improve after-sales response speed and service quality. Xu Haoran believes that the industrial metaverse is still in its early stages of development, facing many challenges in key technological breakthroughs, cost control, and standardization. However, its concept is gradually being implemented through a series of technological practices and industry applications, and continues to receive policy support and industry investment. It is a future vision that is being actively constructed and gradually moving towards reality. Although the metaverse still faces significant challenges in achieving true technological maturity and widespread application, experts interviewed believe that in the long run, the metaverse still has a bright future. "The diffusion of any technology and the landing of the scene are not a linear process, and the development of the metauniverse cannot be achieved overnight, but needs to go through a patient process of foam extrusion, value return, technology accumulation and scene development." Xu Haoran said. It should be noted that the 'ebb tide' of the metaverse is a rational return, and its future development still holds enormous potential. ”Chen Fengxian believes that under the dual effects of policies and markets, the metaverse is moving away from conceptual hype and towards a value return stage that is deeply integrated with the real economy. According to a research report by CCID Consulting, in 2024, China's metaverse industry will accelerate its landing and empowerment process, with significant achievements in the integration of AI big models and other technologies, further enhancing user experience. From the development of the industrial chain, the development trend of enterprises in the software and hardware product layer and application scenario layer of the metaverse is relatively good, and the efficiency improvement is significantly driven. From the perspective of regional development, supportive policies have been introduced in North and East China, driving rapid growth in the number of local metaverse enterprises. In Southwest China, such as Chongqing, the number of metaverse enterprises has grown rapidly and the development momentum is good. It is expected that the scale of China's metaverse industry will reach 167.67 billion yuan by 2027. From the trends of promoting comprehensive industrial policies, breakthroughs in technological integration, and deepening scenarios, the possibility of the metaverse regaining vitality still exists. ”Xu Haoran believes that the metaverse industry has entered a systematic promotion stage under the strategic guidance of national top-level design. Among them, the industrial metaverse has become the primary scenario for the landing of metaverse technology due to its clear application requirements and strong payment capabilities. In addition, the application of metaverse in the consumer and public service fields is entering a stage of diversified exploration. In the field of culture and tourism, some places use metaverse technology to build a number of digital cultural and tourism experience facilities such as digital exhibition halls and virtual scenic spots at important scenic spots, allowing tourists to immerse themselves in and interact with the scenery of the scenic spots, perceive historical culture, and obtain richer and more novel tourism experiences. In the field of public services, some places have deeply integrated metaverse technology with artificial intelligence to create a "government metaverse service hall" that covers all scenarios and runs through the entire process. In this immersive three-dimensional government space, the public can enjoy intelligent guidance, intelligent Q&A and other multi-dimensional services, greatly improving the timeliness and accuracy of government services. Metaverse technology is becoming an important force in promoting industrial upgrading and optimizing urban management. The deep cultivation and meticulous work in relevant vertical scenarios not only enriches the application scenarios of the metaverse, but also further promotes the maturity and development of metaverse technology. ”Xu Haoran said. (New Society)