On the night of August 31, iQIYI VR officially announced the launch of their new VR AIO device PICO NEO. Crowds of players, even the VR professionals, have desperately wished for it for over half a year. This blockbuster device is beyond doubt a satisfactory work for them.
This is a great device for the game fancier, boasting best-in-class content creation, performance upgrades, user interaction and hardware experience. This latest device also represents the top-notch consumer-grade VR game in China.
iQIYI Smart is a VR high-tech company incubated by iQIYI internal team yet operating independently. Committed to the roadmap of [Hardware + Technology + Content], iQIYI Smart has started to lay out the VR industry since 2016.
Witness Dramatic Breakthroughs just for Fun
Catering to what heavyweight VR gamers desire, the product release of PICO NEO 3 was held in a virtual world. With the XR technology, PICO NEO 3 turned an empty stream room into a cyberpunk venue that features astonishing surreal visual and aural effects: skyscrapers of the real world are landed with robotic pets from virtual planets. Strong visual contrast emerges, representing an unprecedented surreal visual feast for netizens.
Xiong Wen, CEO of iQIYI Smart, wearing a stylish motorcycle jacket and Martin boots, said that: “We keep pies in the sky in our real world, but dreams and wishes can come true in the virtual world. Let’s see. You can fly with a pair of wings or even meet your departed families. This is the charm of Metaverse. So, iQIYI VR has a crucial mission to create a free virtual world for each of you.”
Xiong Wen - CEO of iQIYI
Today, China is still one of the largest gaming markets in the world. Many world-class game developers evolves in China, giving birth to diversified contents and patterns.
Let’s take the PICO NEO 3 as an example. It uses the “Spotlight”（追光）, a 6DoF interactive system developed by iQIYI Smart. With the help of this system, PICO NEO 3 realizes 6DoF spatial tracking of head and hand motions. Meanwhile, the tracking accuracy of controllers is up to the millimeter-level standard. Such a milestone is not only nurtured by the progressive mobile industry in China, but also aligns with the team spirits: “VR is not created for a person but for a group with interactions. A great device never makes you feel lonely.”
Based on that, the Adventure Party independently created by the Qiyu VR team combines a number of parent-child party games, in which parents can use their mobile phones to enter their children’s VR world and play games with them.
In many dimensions such as hardware, software, and content, Qiyu 3 is a well-deserved product exclusively made for Chinese gamers.
The previous generations before Qiyu 3 set the marvelous record of “60 minutes spent by users on videos on average every day and nearly 70% retaining rate on next day and in next week”, which means that the previous generation was already very appealing to users.
Qiyu 3 is expected to break the record and expand the scope of users from intensive VR gamers to game fans in a broader sense to make VR games known to the general public.
Based on that, the Adventure Party independently created by the Qiyu VR team combines a number of parent-child party games, in which parents can use their mobile phones to enter their children’s VR world and play games with them.
Four Iterations Focusing on the ContentsAccording to the 2021 VR Research published by Fresh Capital, movie-watching used to be the major demand in the VR industry before the application of 6DOF. As the technologies upgrades, users gradually extend to gaming and entertainment experience, and further to social communities in the future. The number of VR gamers is expected to reach 31 million by 2024, with 19% of AIO gamers.
Since 2016, iQIYI Smart has launched 4 generations of VR products. Each one comes with its mission.
“The first generation of products was totally experimental, while the second generation equipped with a best-in-class VR movie-watching system. The third generation made a breakthrough in cost reduction. Now the PICO NEO 3 is our fourth-generation product. We believe it will become a top-notch flagship product in the VR industry.” Sun Feng, COO of iQIYI Smart explained.
After multiple iterations, iQIYI Smart has established the first mover advantage in hardware, experience and interaction. Even so, they always adhered to developing the core: contents.
“There are many ways to run business in the VR market, while iQIYI is adept at content innovation. Our mission is to provide valuable and high-quality paid content for users.” The rich content development experience of iQIYI gives iQIYI Smart a built-in advantage.
Apart from the content gene, PICO NEO introduced the “Columbus Project” at a technology presentation earlier this year, aiming at cooperating with global VR application/game developers in various flexible ways, a more open way to promote the content ecology.
Developers of multiple global teams attended the launch event of PICO NEO 3.
Compared with the industry giants like Facebook, Chinse VR games have no significant difference in hardware and interaction. The similar technical roadmap explains the similar user experience. That is to say, content becomes the most crucial element. “Users care about the content. Hardware and tools are channels to consume content. It doesn’t work if there is no great vehicle even though you build excellent freeway.”
Except for those popular VR games such as Arizona Sunshine, Swarm, Mercenary: Silicon Rising, Zombieland: Headshot Fever and All-In-One Sports VR, PICO NEO 3 released 30 free games of all genres, e.g. casual games, hardcore games, parent-child puzzles and etc. Every VR gamer can meet his fun.
You can find fashion and causal games like Play for Future - Music Project and Dance Battle that are great for young people, as well as Crisis VRigade and Arcaxer for big VR fans. Additionally, you can even try peculiar VR card games, such as Skyworld: Kingdom Brawl and competitive PvP shooting games like Hibow.
It’s worth noting that Metaverse, a VR Sci-Fi interactive drama, was launched with PICO NEO 3. Metaverse. The drama was produced by the PICO NEO VR team and the Faculty of Animation and Digital Art of the Communication University of China (CUC). Gamers can enter into a virtual world, in stark contrast to the reality, once put on a VR device.
Meanwhile, PICO NEO VR has developed a product called PICO NEO Show, a virtual stage show that gives users opportunities to spend a wonderful face-to face time with virtual idols . Furthermore, users can wave their glow sticks, strew flowers and post bullet-screen comments as in the real world.
You can find fashion and causal games like Play for Future - Music Project and Dance Battle that are great for young people, as well as Crisis VRigade and Arcaxer for big VR fans. Additionally, you can even try peculiar VR card games, such as Skyworld: Kingdom Brawl and competitive PvP shooting games like Hibow.
It’s worth noting that Metaverse, a VR Sci-Fi interactive drama, was launched with PICO NEO 3. Metaverse. The drama was produced by the PICO NEO VR team and the Faculty of Animation and Digital Art of the Communication University of China (CUC). Gamers can enter into a virtual world, in stark contrast to the reality, once put on a VR device.
Meanwhile,PICO NEO VR has developed a product called PICO NEO Show, a virtual stage show that gives users opportunities to spend a wonderful face-to face time with virtual idols . Furthermore, users can wave their glow sticks, strew flowers and post bullet-screen comments as in the real world.
Sees Through the Mist with VR in Metaverse
Over the last few years, we are trying to turn VR concepts into practice, with greater value for users. Until now, we witness the all-around progress in hardware, interaction, value chaine and content. The industry develops in a positive loop. According to the 2020 Quarterly Report of Global AR/VR Market by IDC, it is estimated that the worldwide shipment of AR/VR headsets will reach nearly 7.1 million in 2020 and 76.7 million in 2024, with a CAGR of 81.5%.
Fresh Capital completed the series B funding to iQIYI Smart at the beginning of the year, boosting its further development and breakthroughs.
“After two stages of industrial bubbles, we believe that consumer-grade VR hardware and content are getting matured, bringing truly immersive experience to the vast number of users worldwide. VR technologies will be the critical port to Metaverse in the future. Its applicable occasions are beyond your imagination.” Cao Shuyang, a partner of Fresh Capital, explained.
Xiong Wen holds the same thought that VR will be the next terminal after mobiles, and Metaverse will correspondingly come into being like the mobile internet. “The mission for PICO NEO VR is to unlock the gate to the Metaverse, removing all obstacles ahead. iQIYI Smart has a vision of being a Metaverse company, while the release of PICO NEO 3 VR AIO is just a beginning.”
iQIYI Smart, as one of the top performers, is ready for the incoming Metaverse.
