Herald English » zepeto

Metabus: Beyond the World, to Another World

HeraldK — Fri, 27 May 2022 00:00:53 +0000

Metaverse is a combination of “Universe,” which means the real world, and “Meta,” which means “processing, abstract,” and means a three-dimensional virtual world. As Untact culture is popular due to COVID-19, the Metaverse, which can gather a large number of unspecified people in a virtual space at once, and can perform activities without time and space restrictions, is attracting more attention. The most famous Metaverse platforms include Naver Z’s avatar service, ZEPETO, and SK Telecom’s Efriend. ZEPETO creates 3D avatars to communicate with other users and provides services that allow them to experience various virtual reality experiences. It contains AR contents, games, and SNS functions, so it is very popular among young people. In a situation where offline events are not possible due to the COVID-19 crisis, Metaverse sometimes takes the place of concert halls. In addition, the Metaverse is being used in various fields, such as workshops, events, and university welcome parties for freshmen. When you act as a new character or character that is not your usual self, you are called a “Alter ego”. Alter ego was originally used as a game term, but is now one of the most frequently used terms in Metaverse. The Millennials and Gen Z who are trying to find pleasure by creating a second ego in the virtual world away from the harsh reality is gaining great popularity. It has become the so-called ‘golden age of Alter ego’. As such, the metaverse has had many changes and influences not only on our culture but also on our daily life. Let’s take a closer look at these changes and their impacts.

As it became impossible to talk face-to-face or host events due to the COVID-19, people began to find a way to replace this situation. One such method to solve this problems is the ‘Metabus’. Metabus has the advantage of being able to gather an unspecified number of people at once in a virtual space such as the Internet, and it can be engage in activities without restrictions on time and space.

The first platform that brought the Metabus craze to Korea is ‘Zepeto’, developed by Naver Jet. Launched in 2018, the platform has gained great popularity, especially among the MZ generation in their teens and 20s. The fact that anyone can design another character within the platform and communicate with others through the character can be seen as a good target for the MZ generation, which values individuality. In particular, in combination with the recent concept of ‘boo-character’, Geppetto users find another possibility that is different from reality through their characters. This craze of ‘Zepeto’ is clearly different from other platforms in various ways, with JYP, YG, and SM actually carrying out comeback promotions for each group within the platform.

There is a platform that has become a topic of conversation as the scope of metabuses has expanded since COVID-19. It’s “Gather.town.” Launched in May 2020, Gethertown is still sensational as it allows people to hold events online that inevitably gather a lot of people in the Corona era. This advantage of Gethertown has allowed companies and government local governments as well as the private sector to host events using Gethertown. In fact, Gumi Health Center provides online counseling services using Gethertown to citizens, and large companies such as GS Retail also hold job briefings and fairs through this platform. Events using the Metabus platform continue until now when distancing has been lifted, and as the use of such metabus space increases, various companies are entering the Metabus increases. In fact, as the Metabus business expands, the stock price will rise 88 percent from the current level, and the newly inaugurated Yoon government promised to visit IT events and fully support ICT innovation projects including Metabus.

Another area where Metabus has begun to be directly introduced into real life these days is “education.” As futurist Roger James Hamilton, who predicted that 2024 would spend more time in the 3D virtual world than in the 2D Internet world, interest in the use of metabuses in education is increasing today. As you get used to non-face-to-face life due to COVID-19, you can look at various educational sites using Metabus. Yeungnam University held the entrance ceremony for freshmen in 2022 in a metabus space. At Janggi Elementary School in Siheung-si, Gyeonggi-do, Metabus is now applied to the concept of real space beyond simple space reproduction, so expectations for a metabus that creates an effective and better educational environment are increasing. Infinite space and educational materials based on Metabus can provide an educational environment beyond time and space, which is expected to be of great help to improve students’ creativity. It is expected that many institutional levels of support will be introduced in the field of compulsory elementary, middle and high school education so that the educational environment in Metabus can be actively created.

However, Metaverse, which has grown suddenly, has threats that require adequate laws and regulations. Paradoxically, the Metaverse is a free space, but without laws and regulations, it becomes a space where freedom cannot be enjoyed due to all kinds of threats. The philosopher Hobbes described the state of a society without laws and regulations as “The war of all against all.” Metaverse will also be in the state of “The war of all against all” where cybercrime and many other threats are prevalent unless suitable laws and regulations are in place. Therefore, in order to minimize expected threats and effectively utilize the Metaverse, it is necessary to correctly predict and prepare for its future. Metaverse has not yet become common enough, so appropriate laws have not been prepared, but they can gradually melt into everyday life, so we need to prepare for this. It is most urgent to prevent various cybercrimes that may occur in Metaverse. Crimes in Metaverse, such as “Avatar Sex Offences,” are already occurring, and it is difficult to punish them properly. When order is established in the Metaverse society, the advantages of it will be further highlighted and it will be utilized in more diverse fields.

K-UNIV

ASIA JOURNAL

[K-UNIV Report] Digital Transformation In The K-POP Industry

HeraldK — Fri, 31 Dec 2021 11:00:11 +0000

As the COVID-19 virus is spreading, many industries are suffering greatly. It has already been over two years since the pandemic began. The K-POP industry is no exception. Until 2020, world tour concerts accounted for a large percentage of entertainment agencies’ sales. Meeting between stars and fans was considered the essence of this ‘idol’ industry. As governments around the world, including Korea, implemented strong social distancing restrictions, it has become difficult to hold these kinds of events. But Korean entertainment agencies got over these difficulties successfully. The key to their success is digital transformation.

Now most K-POP stars hold online fan meeting when they release a new album. The online fan meeting is an entirely new form of K-POP event. Using Google Meet or Kakao Video Call, the star and fan have a video call for about two minutes. After the event, the album which the star has signed and written the fan’s name and P.S. is delivered to each fan’s home.

Likewise, concerts are being held online, too. Instead of the chance to meet celebrities in person, K-POP fans have the chance to watch their favorite star’s performances with online devices at home. The price for the tickets vary, but some are even free! Dream Maker Entertainment provides a special online concert platform to K-POP agencies which is called Beyond Live. Once the ticket is purchased, fans can enjoy the concert at a certain time and watch the replay anytime. On-site concerts have time and space constraints, but online concerts don’t. That is to say, more people can get an opportunity to enjoy the show and it leads to the growth of the star’s popularity.

DearU Bubble is an app that provides star-fan messaging. SM Entertainment, the most popular Korean entertainment agency, established their subsidiary in 2017 and started the Bubble service in 2020. Not only stars of SM Entertainment but also other famous K-POP stars have joined the service, so people can enjoy communicating with various stars. The stars send text messages, exclusive photos, and videos through Bubble. If got messages, the subscribers can reply to the star. Although it’s not one-to-one communication actually, the app’s UI makes them feel like they’re chatting in private. The price of the service that you can communicate with one celebrity is \4,500 a month. Even though the price is not that cheap, 90% of subscribers keep using Bubble. Also, the number of people using Bubble is about 1.2 million without any special marketing or promotion. It means this service is quite attractive to K-POP fans.

HYBE, an entertainment agency to which BTS belongs, also made a similar service called Weverse. It offers star-fan communication service, exclusive photos/videos, and special MD products. In Korea, these kinds of app services are called fan-platform services. Now it is an undeniable truth that you should use these fan-platform services if you are a great fan of K-POP.

People all around the world are into Metaverse now, and the K-POP agencies are trying to combine the star’s IP (intellectual property) and Metaverse. As many people already know, Metaverse is a combination word of ‘meta’, which means imaginary and abstract, and ‘verse’, which means ‘universe’. ‘BLACKPINK’, YG Entertainment’s famous girl group, have their own Metaverse world with ZEPETO, the Metaverse platform. They hold a variety of fan events in their ZEPETO world. Meanwhile, ‘aespa’, SM Entertainment’s girl group, have their unique background narration related to Metaverse. It is as follows. They have four human members and four AI members called ‘ae-aespa’. The ae-aespa members originally live in a virtual world called FLAT, but aespa members and they meet together to fight against the villain. Therefore, aespa’s songs have unique lyrics implying this epic story.

NFT, non-fungible token, is used to prove the content’s worth and ownership. Korean big entertainment agencies such as SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, YG Plus, and HYBE are continuing to work under the table to combine their celebrities’ IP and NFT. If K-POP agencies use NFT to maximize their celebrities’ IP, they might have tons of ways to create a profit. In Indonesia, a photo card of BTS Jungkook was traded at over $2500. This NFT fever is creating a synergy effect with the Metaverse platform, providing K-POP fans groundbreaking experiences to have chances to own their star’s IP.

K-POP agencies and celebrities are quickly adapting to the COVID Era by creating new business models; online fan meeting, online concert, fan-platform app service, and the convergence of Metaverse and NFT. As of today in Korea, the 4th Industrial Revolution is becoming a real sensation and the K-POP industry is also making big changes by transforming their business into a digital-related thing. People not into K-POP are also focusing on this new trend as it broadens the K-POP industry’s limits and merges into other industries. This trend seems to be accelerated as technology advances.

Han Saem Lee

K-UNIV Reporter

[K-UNIV Report] Leading to new culture, Metaverse

HeraldK — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 15:06:42 +0000

Covid 19 outbreak has brought changes in our daily lives. Many things that were natural in the past became unusual. It has been almost hard to travel between countries and to socialize in dense spaces over the past year. Even for students, there is little chance to associate with others. As they have classes online without going to school, it is hard to meet and make new friends. Against this backdrop, the word ‘metaverse’ has drawn attention since early 2021. It is a three-dimensional virtual world without a boundary between reality and virtuality. In the metaverse, all users share their experiences using it in real-time. Even consumption activities such as purchasing their avatars costumes or paying for concerts are carried out just like in the real world. It is not just one type of game.

The metaverse craze is led by Generation MZ, the combination of Millennial Generation and Z Generation. They are familiar with new technology and believe they have a deep understanding of using it. Their desire for sharing their owns with friends led to the metaverse. They recognized it as another kind of space for socialization, not as just the virtual world. They think that the relationships between people in the virtual world are not different from those in the real world.

Zepeto operated by Naver Z is one example of a metaverse service in Korea. In Zepeto, users can create an avatar that looks just like a user, synthesizing it naturally on a picture or virtual background with AR technology. One interesting point is its way of communicating with avatars. Users can change all elements of their character like facial expressions, gestures, and fashion styles as they want. Generation Z gets vicarious pleasure from reflecting the way they want on avatars like idol makeup and luxury clothes. There are also many activities like taking photos, recording videos, dancing and playing games. By interacting with text, voice, and emotions, avatars with individuality can communicate in a virtual world, playing a role as SNS.

There are interesting events going on in the metaverse. Many metaverse services had some partnerships with famous brands and entertainment agencies like SM, YG, JYP, and HYBE. One was a virtual fan meeting of Blackpink in Zepeto. More than 50 million people around the world got signatures and took pictures with Blackpink avatars. People can also wear clothes and accessories of BT21, the BTS character, and visit the BT21 world. It could maximize the immersion and participation of Generation Z based on their characteristics that value bonding. The metaverse acts as a new type of fan platform. There was also a metaverse matriculation ceremony at Soonchunhyang University. The freshmen could participate with their avatars in this ceremony. They listened to speeches and introduced themselves to others like the real ceremony. It is like the continuity across reality and the virtual world.

The plays of Generation MZ in the metaverse doesn’t end here. Now Generation MZ creates and shares new things freely using the metaverse, not just getting the contents. They made new games, fashions, and even drama in the metaverse. The concept of metaverse doesn’t remain as games. For Generation MZ, it became one way of playing and culture.

Nahyun Lee

K-UNIV Reporter

Metaverse, Why We Should Pay Attention To?

HeraldK — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 04:31:51 +0000

As COVID-19 tears through communities around the world, the pandemic may put a new spin on the concept of ‘public space’. Public spaces have provided citizens with a space to socialize — gather, form groups, come together and have public discourse. A permanent aversion to large public gatherings, however, made people feel the sting of having lost our familiar, and vibrant public places. Even we have difficulties going shopping, going out for dinner, and even when commuting to work and working at the office.

Nevertheless, we have found creative ways to stay connected, using state-of-the-art virtual technologies. Now we can imagine my avatar having a meeting with those of other coworkers in a virtual office that looks exactly like the physical space where you work. It would make us feel like virtually working all the more real in the digital space named ‘metaverse’.

What is metaverse?

The term ‘Metaverse’ means ‘beyond universe’, created by the convergence of an enhanced physical reality with a virtual space including gravity, texture, color, sound and so on. It derived from Neal Stephenson’s coinage in his science fiction novel, ‘Snow Crash’, which envisioned a future reshaped by virtual and 3D technologies. When trying to visualize this term, we can imagine a shared virtual space where people are represented by digital avatars with the help of new technology or devices. What happens exactly in the metaverse?

Four scenarios of metaverse, presented by Acceleration Studies Foundation

It is difficult to define metaverse as a fixed format or concept. Acceleration Studies Foundation (ASF), which spearheaded the research on metaverse over the past year, presented four different scenarios of metaverse. According to its roadmap, to construct the scenario set, researchers in the foundation selected two key continua that are likely to influence the ways in which the metaverse unfolds: the spectrum of technologies and applications ranging from augmentation to simulation; and the spectrum ranging from intimate (identity-focused) to external (world-focused). Combining the two critical uncertainties gives four key scenarios of the metaverse future: 1) Augmented Reality, 2) Lifelogging, 3) Mirror Worlds and 4) Virtual Worlds. Though these four scenarios emphasize different functions, types, or sets of metaverse technologies, the metaverse generally refers to the idea of a shared, persistent virtual space, akin to a digital mirror of the real world without physical constraints.

Why does the metaverse bring the gaze of the public?

While, these days, the Metaverse concept is starting to be mentioned frequently in a string of news and articles, you might not be totally new at it. Even before the pandemic, we’ve already been experiencing the metaverse. We used to post our daily lives on social media and communicated with each other through likes and comments. Professors and students of online courses studied non-face-to-face, and global companies worked with overseas corporations using video conference tools. Also, the game industry has long been at the forefront of building out what a metaverse could look like, as the global population has spent their break time in the digital game world.

This digital world that has existed before the pandemic was each example of the metaverse. It was already around us, and after the pandemic disrupted social gatherings in physical spaces, people began to realize its necessity and focus more on the virtual space for new connectivity.

The reason for businesses to explore the metaverse market is that the technology can reduce costs and boost efficiency in all kinds of ways — from speeding up workers with AR glasses, improved training of employees and testing of procedures even in high-risky fields such as military, construction, and manufacturing sites. By simulating with metaverse technologies, they can reduce cost of failure and set security arrangements in advance.

Just like social media revolutionized the online marketing landscape, we can anticipate the metaverse having a huge impact on marketing activities. When retail and commerce businesses will integrate metaverse with social media, businesses can offer virtual in-store experience, augmented shopping, and live events. Consumers grew from passive to active users of content and now they create content by themselves. As people migrate towards online life for more products and services, the metaverse will be opportunities for brands to exploit. By providing open creative tools for users to recreate their imagination and creativity, the metaverse can be a promising social space of effective advertising and marketing.

Metaverse in South Korea

In the early 2000s, South Koreans were already deeply into a metaverse world using a social networking service named ‘Cyworld’ which was founded in 1999. They decorated a mini homepage, played background music, decorated the avatar, and met the alumni through the service. Since it even made a profit model with ‘Dotori — a Korean word which means acorn’, which is the first virtual currency in South Korea, it was a lifelogging metaverse that exquisitely combines cyber world and reality. With the introduction of smartphones in earnest in the late 2000s, however, global social networking services such as Twitter and Facebook quickly emerged, and soon users plunged and walked down the path of decline. This year, the service which was once terminated announced to stage a comeback with more advanced technology such as augmented reality and a comfortable mobile platform.

Earlier in January, Naver Corporation, South Korean platform giant, held a welcome party for new employees in a virtual space due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They were able to tour Naver’s headquarters, eat together, take group photos and participate in team projects — all in the form of avatars created on the company’s metaverse platform, Zepeto. It has over 200 million global users, 90% of whom are overseas users, and more than 80% are teenagers. Thanks to its growing popularity among young generations, Zepeto attracted a series of investments. Naver is expected to entrench itself in the metaverse market by combining digital twin solutions with its technology.

Fashion and entertainment industry also are having their moments in the metaverse. Zepeto collaborated with global brands such as GUCCI, Nike, and Christian Louboutin, and global artists such as BLACKPINK, ITZY and so on. BLACKPINK, last year, has collaborated with it to provide characterized models and held virtual fan meetings through the 3D technology. Furthermore, SM Entertainment, one of the largest entertainment firms in Korea, launched its virtual K-pop group Aespa with the theme of “experiencing a new world via the encounter of the ‘avatar’ in 2020. Members of the group consist of four artists in the ‘real world’ and the avatars of the four in the ‘virtual world’. The company successfully conducted the K-pop firm’s XR live concert last year, the world’s first fee-paying virtual live concert.

The ceremony for the business cooperation agreement between CU and Zepeto

Retail businesses try to collaborate with metaverse, too. The operator of South Korea’s top convenience store chain ‘CU’, BGF Retail, announced that it would open a virtual reality convenience store at Zepeto to allow customers to create 3D avatar characters and interact with others while operating a variety of clothing and accessories for decoration. The ceremony for the business cooperation agreement was held virtually through the platform service using the avatars of executive directors from two parties.

Hyundai Motors is also actively implementing the metaverse in their work. Designers in different continents wear VR headsets and attend the meeting for a new automobile design’s showing. According to Hyundai Motos, this virtual meeting has become available because the company invested 15 billion won in their ’Virtual Development Process,’ which they introduced in March 2019.

The South Korean government also shows its ambition to engage in the metaverse craze by launching an alliance between 17 of the country’s industry leaders including SK Telecom (a major wireless communication carrier in Korea), Hyundai Motors and eight industry groups. The government-led alliance will work together to share metaverse trends and technology as well as undertake joint projects, and form a consultative group for ethical and cultural issues related to the metaverse market. The Seoul Metropolitan Government created a metaverse space to promote promising Seoul-based startups through Zepeto last month.

Where to go with the metaverse?

The metaverse is no longer just fodder for science fiction. It’s not about the best tech or creating the best simulation. It will become an integral part of life as a more immersive place where we can create memories that rival physical experiences in scope, meaning, and value. It will enable humanity to experience the things that make us human.

From a historic perspective, the spatial expansion at different times always provided humanity various opportunities. Think of the historical examples; wars to conquer territories, and competitions to gain more colonies. The one who first planted her or his flags in the new space could take wealth and powers. It is not limited to physical space. We’ve already seen that with the advent of the Internet — a newly-rising space to conquer, named ‘cyberspace’, at that time — came opportunities for new players. It enabled initiation of new businesses and restructuring of industries, putting the earlier ones in superior positions. Now, we are at a crucial stage in the adoption of an emergent digital space named ‘metaverse.’ A post-pandemic world might value these large flexible spaces as assets.

As users don’t just show up on the platform, sell something, take their money and leave, the metaverse will largely be monetized. Today, every company will have teams in the virtual office which are dedicated to thinking about ways to advertise, sell, or even build a product within the metaverse. A new generation of entrepreneurs is expected to grow as the next tech giant companies.

However, in order to guarantee the public trust, we still need some debates on the following things; whether to establish governance for regulation in the metaverse, how to regulate illegal activities through avatar, legal protection on personal information such as brain waves, and biological signals collected through the metaverse, and so on. Putting forth a systematic approach in solving the problem, we could have one of the greatest human developments on our hands. Joining these new digital spaces would reinvigorate our notion of public space as spaces of the social, civic, commercial, economic and recreational uses.

Kayla Hong

Asia Journal