Foreseeing 2024: Virtual/Augmented Reality (VR/AR) industry technology trend outlook (with technology paths, investment directions, etc.)

——Original title: Foreseeing 2024: Virtual/Augmented Reality (VR/AR) Industry Technology Trend Outlook (with technology paths, investment directions, patent layout, technology enterprise layout, etc.)

Major listed companies in the industry: ZTE (000063), Wingtech Technology (600745), Goertek (002241), China Science and Technology Chuangda (300496), etc.

The core point of this article:Complete equipment, development tools and software, and entertainment and office are the current key areas of VR/AR focus, with AR glasses as the main application; with the continuous development of VR/AR technology, many industries and Scenario applications are being implemented at an accelerated pace.

Introduction: Building an immersive and virtual reality integration

——VR focuses on immersive experience, and AR realizes the "enhancement" of the real world

Virtual reality (VR) is a computer simulation system that can create and experience a virtual world. Augmented reality (AR) technology is a technology that cleverly combines virtual information with the real world. The generated virtual information such as text, images, three-dimensional models, music, and videos are simulated and applied to the real world. The two types of information complement each other to achieve "enhancement" of the real world.

The comprehensive popularization and rapid development of the mobile Internet have broken the time bottleneck and scene bottleneck of information interaction, but there are still boundaries between information visualization and information real-time in human-computer interaction. With the trend of continuous expansion of communication bandwidth, VR/AR technology can effectively realize product changes for smartphones and break the physical boundaries of informatization.

VR/AR has a wide range of application scenarios, and has gradually evolved from scene assistance to scene carrier

In commercial scenarios, the earliest applications of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies were mainly focused on improving visual effects (advertising and marketing), assisting cognition (education and training), and information visualization (medical health). In general, traditional VR/AR technology applications are based on existing electronic information equipment to assist scenes. In the future, with the comprehensive and independent development of AR technology in the gaming and consumer fields, it will become the main scene carrier and further expand the market with growing demand

Technical route: Virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR) technology development path and support system

From the perspective of technological development, key VR technologies, such as near-eye display and rendering processing, already have a clear development path. As the technology gradually matures, user experience will be greatly improved. Sensing technology and interactive sensing experience are also becoming more and more mature, which provides great richness for VR application scenarios. AR technology is developing well in terms of multi-channel interaction and network transmission, but it is more complex than VR in terms of SLAM algorithms, related peripherals, and optical displays, and the technology maturity lags behind by one to two years

From the perspective of technical support system, China’s virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR) innovation units mainly include national key laboratories such as the National Key Laboratory of Virtual Reality Technology and Systems, the National Engineering Laboratory of Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality Technology and Applications, etc. Office; industrial investment funds such as Lanchi Venture Capital and Yikai Capital; technical standards such as GB/T38247-2019 "Information Technology Augmented Reality Terminology", GB/T38259-2019 "Information Technology Virtual Reality Head-Mounted Display Equipment General Specifications".

The layout of virtual/augmented reality patent technology is very broad, covering various fields, and the popularity of patents is also very high

——The overall application popularity and layout breadth of patent technology are relatively high, covering a wide range of fields

Virtual/augmented reality involves many technical fields. The technical systems of VR and AR are convergent. The technical architecture mainly includes subdivisions such as near-eye display, perceptual interaction, network transmission, and rendering processing. Overall, patent applications in each segment of VR and AR are relatively popular, with the total number of applications reaching 100,000-300,000 levels, and the number of applicants being more than 70,000; the technology span of each segment is 580 IPC Small categories around the world cover more than 80 countries and regions, indicating that these technologies have received global attention and research.

Note: 1) Search keywords: keywords related to VR and AR technology routes; 2) Search scope: title, abstract and rights description; 3) Statistics deadline: November 21, 2023. The same below.

The main sources of technology are China, the United States, Japan and South Korea, and Samsung, Huawei, Sony and other companies hold more patents

Judging from the geographical distribution of patents, China, the United States, Japan, and South Korea are the main sources of technology in various subdivisions of VR and AR, indicating that the three countries are active in technological innovation in the fields of VR and AR. From the perspective of applicant country, the top ten applicants for near-eye display, perceptual interaction, network transmission, and rendering processing patents are also Chinese, American, Japanese and Korean companies.

Technical layout of virtual/augmented reality technology enterprises: multiple layouts of software and hardware, providing system solutions

——Technology companies frequently deploy to lead the development of B-side and C-side markets

Currently, leading Internet giants and start-up technology companies are frequently deploying in the VR/AR field, leading the development of the B-side and C-side markets. In the C-side field, in addition to the games, entertainment, and movie viewing that we often hear before, many terminal companies have begun to explore the creation of AR/VR products in professional fields to seek differentiated market needs, such as cycling AR glasses, office glasses, etc. In the B-side field, AR/VR is also being applied in more and more fields, mainly education, cultural tourism, industry, etc., becoming an advanced productivity tool and boosting production efficiency.

Note: The above rankings are in no particular order and only summarize some representative technology companies in the industry.

——Complete equipment, development tools and software, education and training, cultural tourism, etc. are the main links of the industrial chain

According to the segmentation of "China's Top 50 VR Enterprises", the industry chain is mainly concentrated in the fields of complete machine equipment, development tools and software, cultural tourism applications, education and training applications, etc., and also involves distribution platforms and near-eye display technology. , industrial production applications, sports and health applications, smart city applications, etc. From 2019 to 2023, the proportion of companies mainly engaged in the complete machine equipment hardware business in the "China's Top 50 VR Companies" has remained above 20%, while companies mainly engaged in the development tool software business have also gradually ranked among the "China's Top 50 VR Companies". ” emerging from the list. my country's VR industry continues to make breakthroughs in key application fields such as industrial production, cultural tourism, integrated media, education and training, sports and health, business creativity, performing arts and entertainment, safety emergency, disability assistance, and smart cities. Judging from the application fields that "China's top 50 VR companies" have been mainly engaged in in the past five years, the development of the three fields of education and training, cultural tourism and industrial production is in a leading position

Key investment tracks for virtual/augmented reality technology: accelerated implementation of application scenarios

——Industrial applications such as hardware and digital human beings are highly popular in financing

Judging from the number of financing events in the industry chain sector, content and industry applications will be the key sectors for VR/AR financing mergers and acquisitions in 2022, accounting for more than 30% of the number of financing events, and hardware-related financing events account for a larger share. In addition, VR/AR The AR industry is making great efforts in content and industry applications, and digital people, games and B-end education are favored by capital. Judging from the industry classification of financing amount, the most popular sector in 2022 is the hardware/complete machine sector, accounting for 30% of the annual financing amount; digital people is a very popular sector for investment and financing in 2022, with an annual financing amount of 593 million US dollars, accounting for 17%, ranking second in the industry category, which includes various virtual avatars, virtual idols and other digital human-related companies. In addition, medical care has been a hot focus in the AR/VR industry in the past few years, accounting for 8%, ranking third; virtual training is an important scenario in the to B field, with financing amount reaching US$226 million in 2022, accounting for 7%, with a high adoption rate among large enterprises, including AR/VR simulation training, simulated driving and other related directions.

——AR demand is currently in the entertainment and office fields, and future application scenarios in various industries have investment potential

Taken together, the VR/AR industry has high market appeal in applications in medical, education, military, industrial and other fields. However, the technology is not yet mature. At this stage, consumer-oriented AR products are not yet available on a large scale. Popularity, but with the support of smartphone operating system developer tools, more and more people are beginning to use AR products, currently more used for watching movies, games, mobile office, etc. As more application content is launched, information acquisition With improved capabilities, application scenarios such as learning and education, shopping, and life navigation will become more abundant.

In the short term, intelligent interaction, AR mobile chips, AR glasses, eye tracking, machine vision, VR game development, image rendering, display technology, etc. are the key areas of focus for investors. In the long term, holographic projection and panoramic audio engines , eye focus tracking and other investment potentials.

Development trends and goals of virtual/augmented reality technology

In the "14th Five-Year Plan", technological innovation and the development of software, hardware and industry solutions will become key areas of promotion

In March 2021, the "The Fourteenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China and the Outline of Long-term Goals for 2035" was officially announced, including a separate chapter on "Building Digital China", in which the digital The specific scope of key economic industries. Virtual reality and augmented reality are included in the key industries of the digital economy in "Building Digital China".

——Five technology trends of virtual/augmented reality

With the multiple upgrades and iterations of virtual reality/augmented reality technology and products, its ecological environment is becoming increasingly perfect and the industry is gradually maturing. Especially since 2020, a new generation of phenomenal products has led the development of the industry, and the consumer market has also ushered in a new turning point

For more detailed research and analysis of this industry, please see the "China Virtual Reality (VR) Industry Market Forecast and Investment Strategic Planning Analysis Report" and "China Augmented Reality (AR) Industry" by the Qianzhan Industry Research Institute Development Prospect Forecast and Investment Strategic Planning Analysis Report》

Qianzhan Industry Research Institute provides a variety of solutions, including industrial big data, industrial research reports, industrial planning, park planning, industrial investment promotion, industrial maps, smart investment promotion systems, industry status certification, IPO consulting/investment feasibility studies, IPO working paper consultation, etc. If you need to quote the content of this article in public information disclosures such as prospectuses and company annual reports, you must obtain formal authorization from the Qianzhan Industry Research Institute

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