3 Glass CEO Wang Jie
After the meeting, Ms. Wang Jie, CEO of 3 Glasses, accepted an exclusive interview with People Digital.
People's Numbers: Why is the theme of this conference "Seeing"? Does "seeing" mean seeing the future of virtual reality or 3Glasses?
Wang Jie: There are several different dimensions. First, from the industrial aspect, because I believe, I see. It is not easy to engage in this industry, which requires not only the innovation of a category or the rapid change of a technology, but also a long list of industrial chain support, even including the resources needed for industrial coordination. We started our business earlier, precisely because we firmly saw the impact of virtual reality on human life in the future, and we have been focusing on doing this. Virtual reality provides a breakthrough in time and space and brings a parallel world in the future, which is a great temptation for us. I said a long time ago that virtual reality makes people in the real world no longer have regrets, because all regrets can be made up by digitalization. If you don't firmly see the future of virtual reality, it is impossible to persist for so many years. It is actually very difficult to engage in the virtual reality industry in the early days. We have no funds and no hardware reserves. At that time, the content production was much rougher than it is now, with high research and development costs and low penetration rate. Maybe 99 out of 65,438+000 people don't know this technology. It is difficult for us to support ourselves by the new concept of virtual reality. However, we have always believed in the future of virtual reality and firmly believe that it is not the superposition of life, but the subversion of life. This is what 3Glasses wants to do, so we have been insisting.
Second, from the consumer's point of view, we have seen the significance of this technology to them. You may have noticed that the promotional film of our conference is softer and more emotional. In fact, few hardcore companies like us will shoot such a promotional film. The results presented in previous years' conferences were all cool and marked with parameters. I think the parameters are only good and bad, suitable and unsuitable for consumers. Professionals will know whether this is a good product with high cost performance by looking at the parameters. For consumers, what they value more is what this product can bring to them. I think virtual reality products are solving the spiritual needs of consumers. Through these three promotional videos, I believe that most people can see that they or people around them have this similar situation. We were very moved when we finished filming ourselves, because technology ultimately serves human beings and life. We just let consumers understand what virtual reality means to them from the dimension of an ordinary person. The product released this time is an open and iconic product for the whole consumer, which was developed by China people themselves.
In addition, from a technical point of view, virtual reality is a very visual product, through which you can see the world and the future. In fact, what you see is visual. You will choose different content or the role you want to play when watching different content. Therefore, it is not only the appearance, but also our expectations for the industry, the industry, even consumers, and even ourselves. We can see beautiful things and make time and space shorter.
People's Digital: How long has this X 1 ultra-thin VR glasses been prepared from research and development to production?
Wang Jie: Today's press conference is not very long, but the products have been prepared for a long time. X 1 officially released today 18 months. In fact, everyone in the circle knows that we produced ultra-thin products in 16, but there was no mass production at that time, because we could only achieve a viewing angle of 50 degrees. The feeling of a 50-degree viewing angle is that there is a border on the screen, which is not completely surrounded. Although the new X 1 is effectively compatible with people with myopia of 0-600 degrees, it still cannot satisfy 100% of people. I once told my team that although there is no absolutely perfect product, we hope to satisfy the vast majority of consumers. We temporarily position X 1 as the basic version, so as to satisfy people with myopia range of 0-600 degrees first. After the scale is up, we will start to customize services and customize lenses with different degrees for people with different eyesight.
The product is not absolutely perfect, and the next version of the product should be better and there will be iterations. At present, the core problem to be solved is to meet the needs of most consumers as much as possible and leave more possibilities for the future. Once the core problem is solved, the future products will iterate quickly. The product iteration cycle is usually 8- 12 months, including the user experience, system and cost performance of the product. We should make a breakthrough once and for all.
Judging from the details of the conference, there are only four employees in the company's marketing department, so there are many places that have not been taken care of. Our company has about 100 employees, and R&D accounts for more than 60%, so other departments are relatively understaffed. Compared with foreign countries, domestic startups with core technologies like ours have relatively insufficient capital valuation, but we must survive strongly. We usually reward employees with 20% of gross profit, so that everyone knows that every product sold is related to everyone. I call this national entrepreneurship or national profit sharing, so that our employees have the same sense of ownership. Only in this way can enterprises be creative and energetic. We often say that starting a business is not just a boss's business, but a full-time business. All employees can't simply say that we are a family or something. More importantly, a family should have meat to eat together and shoulder difficulties together. This is also the core concept that I have been running through in the company.
People's Digital: What are the features of the new product X 1 in this conference besides being known as the thinnest VR glasses in the world?
Wang Jie: It is not only glasses, but also a mobile phone in the future, so it is very free to use. We got the strategic support from Qualcomm, and we will choose some mobile phone manufacturers to cooperate, such as making a mobile phone accessory, which will be more convenient to use then. In addition, we will also choose to cooperate with operators. By connecting the set-top box with the existing home terminal, the use will be more diversified and combined with different application scenarios.
People's Digital: Does 3Glasses have an example to learn from in the virtual reality industry? What do you think are the core competitive advantages compared with the world's top virtual reality companies?
Wang Jie: At present, X 1 is the benchmark product. At present, the only thing that can make a helmet into glasses. It only weighs about 140g, and its thickness is only 23mm, which is equivalent to a quarter of similar products in the world at present. At the same time, it looks beautiful and practical, and the clarity is as high as 806PPI. I know that some well-known enterprises are also developing such products, but the imaging color and fineness have not reached the height of our products.
In addition to technical advantages, our products are endowed with more perceptual knowledge. Some technology hard-core companies, the bosses are mostly science and engineering men, all talk about technology from a technical point of view. But I am thinking in reverse, which is related to my earliest return home from operation, so I prefer to look at the consumer market from the perspective of ordinary people. I have been engaged in the virtual reality industry since 2002, and then I started to make my own hardware. I have been adhering to the idea that everyone can enjoy the beauty of virtual reality and can afford this wonderful experience. This is a very emotional understanding, which contains a great sense of responsibility. So we need both the support of hard core technology and the understanding of this concept, which is a very subtle perceptual consciousness.
What we do is not only a product, but also a work of art that can be consumed by the general public. We define ourselves as the most common audience and look at our products from their perspective. Not only that, we also need to have a deep understanding of this market. At different time nodes, different social awareness and even different user preferences, we should consider what kind of suitable products and what kind of suitable channels to meet you and finally let them buy. When the product is not perfect, it is very important that you have a choice at different latitudes. For example, our technology can be applied to nearsighted people in the range of 0-600 degrees. This so-called 600 degrees is a trade-off; In addition, whether it is pursuing extreme thinness or taking care of the consumer price of the public, the product is thinner in appearance. The above understanding of users is reflected in the definition of products and details. The same VR glasses, or VR helmet, because there is no standardized product now, every company has its trade-offs. For example, the choice of some small technical parameters may be exactly what consumers value most.
In addition, perhaps because I am a female founder, this special status gives me a unique perspective, which may also be one of our advantages. From the perspective of the enterprise, I have to make a choice. From the perspective of ordinary consumers, I have a better understanding of what they want. Defining our products and concepts in a more emotional way will bring us closer to consumers.
People's Digital: In 20 14 and 20 15 years, the concept of virtual reality is very popular. Why did it disappear later? Recently, the heat has gradually warmed up. What do you think is the main reason?
Wang Jie: The early products were like this. Our first generation products came out at 20 14. That year, an explosive news came out, that is, Facebook acquired the virtual reality company Oculus VR for about $2 billion. Because Facebook is a benchmark global enterprise, its actions are a shock and guidance to global capital. In a sense, capital is profit-seeking, so the understanding of technology needs to be improved. At that time, the capital just listened to the voice, saw some prospects, and thought that this technology was too subversive. However, they don't know that there are too many details behind the shock, such as the industrial chain. It is not a problem of a single product, but the cycle of the whole ecology, and the whole ecology can only erupt if it reaches a suitable zero boundary. At that time, when the capital came to talk to me about financing, it promised that we could discuss how much money we needed and understand the research and analysis without being very patient.
The profit-seeking of capital is usually short-term. By 20 15 and 20 16, everyone found that the product was online, but no one cared. 20 14 years, we are a B-end customer. At that time, many people didn't understand that we had to do C-end to have a market. At that time, most enterprises were selling C-end customers. At that time, the products were also mixed, and the shoddy products were squandered by capital. Everyone knows that this product is fresh and high in technology, but in the end it is only a film product.
The consumer market can't overspend in advance, otherwise it will take longer to cultivate. Virtual reality industry should have positive values, which is a subversive technology. Products can not only be used to watch movies, but also really bring spiritual feelings to consumers. It's important to see how the scenes match. For those short-term profit-seeking enterprises, if they don't make money, their capital will soon die, and finally they don't know how to survive. Enterprises that really settle down to do it are persistent and have core competitiveness. After the big waves washed the sand, the voice about virtual reality dropped sharply at the end of 16, but we are an exception and have been insisting. Some enterprises have a good foundation at the beginning, and they have got capital from the start-up stage, but they don't know how to do business and how to control costs, such as personnel costs. At present, the team is controlled at 100. When to walk fast and when to walk steadily, we must grasp the rhythm.
Number of people: what industry does an enterprise refer to when it starts as a B-end customer? Why do you want to be a C-end customer later?
Wang Jie: In 2002, we started to do house-related industries, not only real estate, but also digital city planning. In 2002, we cooperated with the then Shenzhen Planning Bureau to set up the first virtual reality laboratory in China to do digital three-dimensional urban planning. At that time, my team had a three-dimensional digital model of China1-2,000 square kilometers. It's not an animation, but a model with a scale of 1 to 1. At that time, the modeling level was at the primary level, and all the fa? ades had to be photographed and manually spliced for modeling. Later, he engaged in the planning and design of real estate, and cooperated with many domestic planning institutes. Through the scale modeling of 1: 1, we can analyze the color ratio, building spacing, optical analysis and so on. For example, sunshine analysis in the north is very important. The floor space of each room, decoration design, overall style, how to choose trees in the whole garden, color matching and so on all need the application of three-dimensional simulation virtual reality to plan. In 2004 and 2005, we also did AR. For example, we can show the whole building by scanning books. Now it seems to be a very new technology. Our team had been practicing for many years at that time.
It is also a coincidence to be a C-end customer. At that time, as one of the aided enterprises in Shenzhen, it was recommended to do digital city planning in Kashgar, Xinjiang. The local government in Xinjiang hopes to attract investment, but it is not clear how to start and attract everyone. Although we are doing the simulation planning of the whole city, including the planning simulation of the new district, we still can't feel it with the mouse and keyboard, so I organized another team in Shenzhen. We studied the consumer market from 20 12, and the first prototype was produced at the end of 20 13. At that time, we can have an immersive experience through two lenses. When the prototype came out, my first reaction was that this is definitely not a B-end product, but a product that can solve the public's cognitive problem of virtual reality. Cognition is the first element of the rise of an industry. At the beginning, everyone's understanding of this product only stayed on this tool designed for games. The fact is that developers of first-order games are the easiest to become VR developers, because 3D tools are interlinked, and the game crowd is also suitable for early adopters. People who play games have higher computer skills than ordinary people. At that time, I estimated that the first batch of users of this product were not many, so I decided to be a C-end customer. Although it is also crossing the river by feeling the stones, it is very difficult to realize hardware, and the cost of hardware is quite high compared with software. Nevertheless, we still firmly believe that this product will have a future, so we have persisted until now.
I think starting a business in China can't wait until all conditions are ripe, so policy support is very important for enterprises, and national recognition is the driving force for our continuous progress. At the beginning of our business, we only focused on products and were relatively unfamiliar with policies. In recent years, we have gone out to communicate, and what we feel most is that the prosperity of the country has a strong role in promoting the communication between private enterprises and the world. Although the technology in some foreign fields is relatively high, there are many places that need to be improved, but we have been striving to realize products with our own intellectual property rights, rather than directly using them from abroad.
People: 3 Glasses partners including Qualcomm, BOE and Microsoft are all world-class manufacturers. Why do these manufacturers choose to cooperate with 3Glasses?
Wang Jie: It is very important that we can become close partners. I think there must be continuous mutual demand in some aspects, and only in this way can it last longer. I often go to the front line for research and personally go to the factory site to communicate with colleagues and partners. If there is any problem, I will try my best to solve it. When we cooperate with world-class manufacturers, we can see each other's shortcomings. Through them, we can see the top technology in the world and the top content in the whole industry, such as Microsoft's lab, which broadens our horizons and keeps us from being a frog in the well. Similarly, what they see from us is the infrastructure that they neglected originally, that is, when the products they produce can't land well, we will tell them the truest voice and understanding of the market. Facts have proved that these understandings are very valuable experiences for them. They gave us forward-looking exploration, and we gave them real-time landing.
In addition, they also saw professionalism from us. World-class manufacturers such as Microsoft, Lenovo and ASUS are our most important technical partners. As a very small startup among their partners, we have been engaged in the virtual reality industry wholeheartedly for many years and won the respect of our partners.
People: what is the development goal of 3Glasess in the next stage?
Wang Jie: First of all, 3Glasses has broken through the ultra-thin core technology, and the next step is to transform it into different valuable products as soon as possible, which is also a core of 3 Glasses, mainly based on hardware. The second is to explore suitable channels so that more people can understand and eventually own such equipment. Landing is especially important. Third, we choose B2B2C as the sales route, and do not choose to sell directly to C-end customers. We keep in mind that there are specializations and what not to do, so the development of our enterprise will not expand rapidly. It will take some time to prepare for the large-scale commercialization of 5G. What we need to do is to guide and educate the market in advance. This requires us to communicate offline with industries facing a large number of C-end customers, such as education and tourism. Our company's current ability to serve C-end industries such as tourism, education, exhibitions and performances is our next focus. We will choose valuable partners and do our best to help and support them to land in the industry. So cooperation is very important for 3Glasses, so we will do our service well, do our technology well, and share all the profits, so that we can make the market together.
People's Digital: As the founder of 3 Glassess, especially the female founder, can you share some of your entrepreneurial experience?
Wang Jie: As mentioned above, I have inherent advantages as a woman, but I also have some inconveniences. Our advantage is based on our professional conditions. The glamorous appearance only determines whether to start the first contact, but if it is not professional enough, there will be no second chance. So I think the major is the foundation of women in the new era, no matter in which field. Compared with men, we women are more delicate and tolerant. We should be good at making use of our own advantages, complement each other's advantages with men, and make up for each other's shortcomings with our own strengths. Only by being more professional than them will we win respect.