Picture: Wang Xuehong, chairman of HTC
From mobile to virtual
As the chairman of the board, she once led HTC to create a "legend" in the field of mobile phones: releasing the world's first smart phone equipped with Android system; the world's first smart phone based on Windows system; the first 3G mobile phone and the first 4G Android mobile phone.
Since 2015, Wang Xuehong has focused on the new VR field. In March 2015, HTC launched HTC vive, a headworn virtual reality product jointly developed by HTC and valve, a video game manufacturer, at MWC Barcelona. HTC announced its official march into VR industry.
"In the future, virtual reality and smart phones will go hand in hand in HTC's layout; entering the virtual reality market is not a transformation, but a continuation for HTC," Wang said
According to the previous report, Yves maitre, HTC's new CEO, said frankly that HTC has not made great efforts to invest in mobile hardware at present, because its human and material resources and financial resources have turned to the virtual reality field, "within five years, HTC's product portfolio of XRS (extended reality, including AR, VR, MR) will exceed that of mobile phones."
In summing up HTC's current predicament, he also pointed out that this is due to "making the right choice at the wrong time". Today, HTC has to catch up and catch up with "the right time.".
"Cross border" vision
If HTC is not a transformation from mobile phone to VR, "VR +" can see its cross-border "cross-border" vision.
According to the previous report of global network technology, at the 2018 World Mobile Communication Conference (MWC), Wang Xuehong proposed a new vision of "Vive reality", that is, the combination of VR / Ar + 5g + AI + blockchain. Recently, HTC, together with its vive arts and the Louvre in Paris, made its debut on the mainland at the 2019 China International Information and Communication Exhibition.
She revealed the opportunity of this cooperation with the Louvre. "Three years ago, I was invited to France to participate in an entrepreneur forum held by the French president. When I met the person in charge of the Louvre, I felt that I must cooperate with the Louvre. The Louvre is a very symbolic place. It happens to meet another project to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death. The Louvre has also prepared for this project for 10 years. "
Through VR technology, the Mona Lisa: cross boundary vision provides a new perspective for visitors to appreciate this masterpiece of Da Vinci, that is, visitors can not only immerse themselves in the world of Da Vinci and his artistic creation, but also combine mobile image, sound and interactive design to interact with paintings in virtual space.
In the 7-minute immersive experience, the experiencer will enter the Salle des & eacute; tats (Hall), the eternal home of the Mona Lisa, through vive cosmos, the latest VR head display of vive. At the beginning of the experience, participants will find themselves behind a group of people who are enjoying the work. Then, with the gradual disappearance of the crowd and the gradual disappearance of the glass protective cover around the painting, the experimenter can go to the painting side for close viewing, and carefully observe the vivid details of the work, including the texture of the wood painting board seen through the oil painting layers, as well as the cracks and repaired traces of the board. At the same time, the experience will lead the audience to explore the sfumato technology, the most famous artistic technique of Leonardo da Vinci. The technology uses the thin coating of multi-layer oil paint, so that people can hardly detect the changes of light and shadow in the painting.
"Through this project, people will find themselves very close to technology. Through VR to watch Mona Lisa, people can really understand Mona Lisa, and understand Leonardo da Vinci's thought, historical background and even figure modeling and wearing of this painting. She is a very young and beautiful woman. When you look at her in the painting, you will find that her eyes will move with you left and right. " Wang Xuehong exclaimed.
In her eyes, HTC's vive reality is a new technology landscape different from the era of smart phones. As the symbol of HTC vive: human, technology and imagination are the three cornerstones of vive reality.
"Booster": 5g
"Therefore, no matter where you are, you can feel different historical cultures through VR. This time, the Mona Lisa has brought great shock to the art world. And 5g is the same. With 5g technology, we can watch these contents at home and let children quickly understand these things. In particular, operators are also actively promoting the implementation of 5g, which is very exciting. " Wang Xuehong believes that VR technology in the 5g era will let imagination rush out of the mobile screen.
According to the previous report, 2016, regarded as the first year of VR, failed to lead VR to a real leap. After the hubbub, the bubble burst and VR took a big step forward. According to the analysis of industry insiders, this is not an accident. Objectively speaking, the outbreak of VR was pushed up the wind under the power of capital. However, due to the weak ecology and the lack of business closed-loop, it can only stay in the concept. "As soon as the tuyere passes, VR becomes a high-tech that can only be viewed from afar."
However, the arrival of 5g brings VR closer and closer.
On October 31, the Ministry of industry and information technology, together with China Telecom, China Unicom, China Mobile and China Tower, announced the launch of 5g business, marking China's official entry into the 5g era.
"With the supercomputing power of the cloud, 5g will greatly expand the performance of VR and AR, and reduce the energy consumption of the device at the same time. VR and AR will no longer be limited to local hardware and storage. 5g based cloud computing will make every VR and AR terminal the most powerful device in the world. " Wang Xuehong told global network technology that "the arrival of 5g has brought a huge breakthrough to VR in technology, quality and other aspects. China's 5g is developing faster than any other country, with the advantages of talents and technology. I am very confident in the development of China's VR industry. "
She further explained that "the 5g era is coming, VR is becoming more and more popular, and content providers can develop better content. In addition, before 3D modeling was very difficult, the content production process was very difficult, but now this process has become very simple, especially the school has also opened related courses, so the future of VR will be better and better. "
VR needs ecosystem
According to the reporter, HTC strives to break VR technical barriers from hardware, platform and content. Wang Xuehong felt that it was very necessary to establish an ecosystem of hardware, software and content. For example, taking "Mona Lisa: cross boundary vision" as an example, from October 24, its home VR experience will also be launched on viveport infinite member subscription library and other VR content platforms, including mobile VR platform based on IOS and Android system.
In June this year, Wang Xuehong pointed out in HTC's business report that HTC has set up a new Department to provide VR solutions for enterprise virtual reality. Different from selling hardware only in the past, HTC has been repositioned as a complete ecosystem enterprise. Instead of focusing on software and hardware integration, it will expand to content creation and platform establishment, and bring VR enterprises with high added value services The integration plan is provided to the partners, hoping to create a new model that can increase revenue and profit in the medium and long term.
In the interview, she told reporters, "HTC now sells products to enterprise users, not only hardware, but also platforms, content and services to provide customers with overall solutions. This is a longer-term business model, and the gross profit rate will be higher."
She pointed out that in terms of hardware, HTC is committed to creating a VR ecosystem. It has been working in the VR field for many years, with strong hardware support, and has recognized the world's leading VR equipment. In terms of platform, HTC has been building platform in recent years, integrating hardware and platform, and will continue to do so in the future. In terms of content, content is an important area to promote the development of VR. At present, HTC has a lot of content achievements in the fields of entertainment, education and medical care. But how to make content better and faster? Enabling young people to do better content? This is where HTC needs to continue to strengthen.
Wang Xuehong admits that there are still many difficulties in the popularization of VR: "the first is the network. Although 5g network has been laid now, the real popularization will start next year. But the more popular, the faster VR will develop. The second is hardware. If a faster solution for CPU is launched and the problems in hardware production can be solved, the popularization will be faster, and it will develop rapidly next year. The third is the content. Although these ecosystems are ready to develop, they still need time. "
Start of Marathon
In this track that needs long-term capital, human resources and R & D investment, HTC undoubtedly undertakes the early exploration of profit model, the sustained large investment and the sense of mission of the team led by Wang Xuehong.
The New York Times once called her "the most powerful woman in the world of science and technology", and now she still keeps the status of "flying man" every month. When asked about the power of "success" still active in the front line of science and technology, she told reporters, "I think it's a passion. My love for innovation, especially the future development of VR and AR industry, and the arrival of industry 4.0, makes me feel that I should contribute some strength, and I'm very interested in this."
As a marathon enthusiast, she describes herself and HTC's so-called "new track" phase as "just starting.". "Because if you don't advance, you will retreat. Innovation should be done all the time. It's not only for individuals, but also for teams. Some things can stand on the shoulders of giants, but we need to innovate; we need to cooperate with the academic community, many new things appear in the academic community earlier than in the business community. In addition, it is gratifying that China has invested a lot in basic academic research, which is very good. It's very important that only by strengthening basic technology can we truly innovate from scratch. "
Finally, Wang Xuehong summed up: "do not be afraid of failure, do not hesitate, as long as it is important, then stick to it."