[IT Chosun] After smartphones, it’s metaverse … Chairman, Jisang Yoo, “If you build engine, industrial hegemony”

      Reporter Hyewon Park
      2023.01.15 06:00

“In the past, the concept of metaverse was just limited to AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality), but it’s expanded to blockchain and Web 3.0 now.”

Jisang Yoo, Chairman of Metaverse Alliance (former president of Kwangwoon University), talked with us and insisted that Metaverse will be the foundation technology in many industry sectors. He explained that Metaverse will be the platform of the next generation after smartphones.

CTA (Consumer Technology Association) included Metaverse as a CES’s new category in 2022. In CES 2023, Metaverse was in the same category as Web 3.0. They forecast the expandability of the ecosystem because Metaverse impacts the Web 3.0, etc.

Chairman Yoo evaluated that Korean companies have a significant level of technology regarding Metaverse content and Digital Twin. Lotte Data Communication and MetaVu were examples of that. In CES 2023, Lotte Data Communication showcased Metaverse where people can buy actual products and even Digital Twin products at the virtual store. MetaVu showcased ‘Industrial Metaverse’ which reduces accidents at the industrial sites and reduces defect rate. A start-up in Incheon airport zone showcased AR indoor navigation service with VPS (Visual Positioning Service).

However, chairman Yoo explained, “As we don’t have Google’s OS and Apple’s iOS on smartphones, we also don’t have engine solutions such as ‘Unreal’ and ‘Unity’ on Metaverse,” and “securing engine technology is a huge growth engine in the Metaverse industry.”

Chairman Yoo insisted that the Korean Government’s sustained investment and institutional support is necessary for the Korean Metaverse industry to take a leap forward.

He said, “Even though there are many Korean start-ups which have potential, a lot of start-ups could not withstand the crisis because there is no institutional support.” He also mentioned, “ It is necessary to make concentrated investment and do technical development for about five to ten years to get technical hegemony in the Metaverse industry such as application service and basic service (engine) and so on.

  Reporter Hyewon Park