"Shanghai Weixiang Space-Time" Completes Multi-Million Yuan Financing to Build an Urban Metaverse Spatial Computing Platform | 36Kr Exclusive
Written by Liu Nianhua
Edited by Peng Xiaoqiu
36Kr has learned that Shanghai Weixiang Shikong Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "PGVerse") has completed a financing of several million yuan. This round of financing was jointly participated by the Pudong Science and Technology Investment Angel Mother Fund under Pudong Venture Capital and will be mainly used to accelerate product research and development, and further accelerate the construction of the urban metaverse spatial computing platform and AI spatial large model.
Empowering intelligent space operation, Image source: PGVerse
What is the future form of the urban metaverse?
PGVerse CEO Ding Zhigang believes that the spatial experience of "digital-real integration" will be the main form of the urban metaverse in the future. With the realization of "digital-real integration", the interaction mode between users and space will undergo significant changes. In addition to traditional devices such as computers and mobile phones, mixed reality interaction devices such as headsets and glasses will also be connected, and the interaction mode between users and space will be more diverse and rich; at the same time, the rapid development of AI large models in recent times has injected a soul into the urban-level metaverse.
Any spatial interaction product cannot bypass two technologies: high-precision positioning and spatial perception.
High-precision positioning is the prerequisite for spatial interaction. Only by knowing the location and direction of the user can accurate coordinates be input to the product. Currently, outdoor positioning is supported by the Beidou satellite, while the indoor positioning system is gradually being improved. How to achieve the integration of the indoor and outdoor positioning systems is also the focus of the industry.
With the position determined, the next step is spatial perception to understand the environment. With the advancement of various three-dimensional CIM and BIM projects, the scene library of digital twins is gradually enriching, but it still cannot cover all scenarios. Therefore, using the visual large model technology to enable the terminal device to recognize the environment is also a supplementary solution.
In order to achieve "digital-real integration", PGVerse has built an urban metaverse spatial computing platform that can realize seamless dynamic perception of indoor and outdoor scenes, real-time high-precision positioning, and dynamic 3D cloud interaction. PGVerse uses spatial AIGC technology to achieve spatial intelligent modeling, 3D interaction experience generation and rapid editing, and has initiated the exploration of AIGC content co-creation in the metaverse scene.
As a new generation of comprehensive service provider of AI spatial large models, PGVerse further focuses on the technical application of AI spatial-temporal large models in vertical scenarios based on core technologies such as spatial positioning and spatial perception. The product adopts an architecture of one spatial-temporal large base + multiple Agents + AI/XR devices, providing a multi-modal interaction product solution with multiple deployment methods such as public cloud/mixed cloud/private cloud.
Chengdu Chunxi Road Square, Image source: PGVerse
The first-generation products of PGVerse are mainly implemented in directions such as concerts/sports events, cultural tourism, and urban planning, focusing on solving the interaction problem between spatial data information and people; the second-generation goal is to create a general-purpose (multi-vertical category) product portfolio, and on the basis of the AI large model + device,叠加 AR capabilities to provide users with a better interaction experience.
Up to now, PGVerse has successfully landed in dozens of scene cases such as Chengdu Chunxi Road, Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine Park, Guangzhou Haixinsha Metaverse Concert, etc.
In Zhangjiang, Shanghai, PGVerse has first realized the construction of the "Zhangjiang Science City Metaverse Urban Intelligent Space", covering an area of 4.1 square kilometers, integrating six core application scenarios such as government affairs, commerce, cultural tourism, and marketing. This space has created scenarios including commercial consumption, urban governance, park management, and intelligent navigation.
In the Zhangjiang Artificial Intelligence Island in Shanghai, Weixiang Shikong, in conjunction with Zhangjiang Group, has created a metaverse park, and has created a real-scene metaverse space for Watsons, Bank of China, and the comprehensive commercial street, targeting store marketing, financial services, and comprehensive commercial street diversion. People in the "Metaverse Urban Space" can interact with scenes such as the concert with the integration of the virtual and the real, the giant lucky bag, and the digital avatar characters.
"Meta Consumption" Ecology, Image source: PGVerse
PGVerse is jointly founded and operated by Tao Chuang and Ding Zhigang. Dr. Tao Chuang is the Canada National Chief Research Professor of Spatial Information and the former Global General Manager of Microsoft Virtual Earth Department; Ding Zhigang is the General Manager of Baidu VR and the General Manager of Baidu Metaverse Division.
Li Deren, the winner of the State Highest Science and Technology Award and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, is the technical professional guidance consultant. The core team members come from enterprises such as Google, Microsoft, Baidu, Tencent, and NetEase.
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