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This month, we attended the first annual Metaverse Alliance Open Conference, hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and organized by the National IT Industry Promotion Agency, the Metaverse Alliance, and Korea Radio Promotion Association (RAPA). Suitably, the conference was held in a virtual space within the metaverse, and visitors attended as fully customizable and interactive avatars. More than 40 Korean XR companies came together for virtual seminars, exhibitions, product viewings, and business meetings in a three-dimensional exhibition platform created by Vibetech. Our futuristic booth welcomed visitors with gravity-defying architecture, photos and videos about our mixed reality app TwinWorld, and a 3D model of a HoloLens 2. Roblox Product Management Leader Josh Anon and ModuLabs Chief Vision Officer Jeong Ji Hoon kicked off the conference as keynote speakers at the open ceremony. The conference aimed to share the latest information and activities within the Metaverse industry since the launch of the Metaverse Alliance, a private sector-led, and government-supported cooperative designed to revitalize the Metaverse industry ecosystem. Major Korean companies that are a part of the Metaverse Alliance include Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom Co., KT Corp., LG Uplus, automaker Hyundai Motor Co., Naver affiliate Naver Labs Co., and Kakao affiliate Kakao Entertainment Inc. The metaverse brings opportunities for people all over the world to come together and discuss new ideas. This conference is only one example of what’s possible with this type of technology. Whether it’s work, play, concerts, movies, or just meeting friends, we’re excited for the future of the metaverse and how it enables us to come up with new ways to connect.

Real-world metaverse startup DoubleMe emerged victorious at the ‘2021 Startup Con’ hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) and the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), winning the grand prize of 50,000,000 KRW (around 43,000 USD) in the start-up Battlefield competition earlier this month. This two-day conference, this year with the theme ‘Be the Next Level,’ was held to revitalize domestic startup investment and promote overseas exchanges and advances by showcasing the future of technology in content. (Image Source: Platum) Battlefield is a pitch competition for promising start-ups innovating in digital content in any genre. Ten finalists of trendy content start-up companies were selected in industries ranging from fashion to the environment to the metaverse. DoubleMe won the grand prize with their mixed reality (MR) platform TwinWorld, which blurs the boundary between the virtual world and the real world. DoubleMe is a graduate of KOCCA’s startup incubator CKL (Content Korea Lab) Corporate Support Center. In addition, DoubleMe is preparing to enter the Singaporean and the Middle Eastern markets through KOCCA’s global accelerator program called 'Launchpad'. Marc Randolph, the founder of Netflix, Dr. Bharat N. Anand, a professor at Harvard Business School, Lee Sung-soo, the CEO of SM Entertainment, and Christine Tsai, the CEO of 500 Startup, a global leading venture capital, participated as keynote speakers at the conference. "We wish the best of luck to all content startups that participated in competitive pitching. We will continue to actively support content startups from various angles so that they can take off as unicorn companies in the future global market," said Park Kyung-ja, head of KOCCA's Corporate Talent Development Division. You can check out the full video of the conference and DoubleMe CEO Albert Kim’s Battlefield presentation on KOCCA’s official YouTube channel.

When it comes to metaverse technology, 'edge computing' is cutting edge. Earlier this week, Albert Kim, founder and CEO of DoubleMe, gave a presentation about 'Edge Computing Facilitating the Metaverse' at the 2021 Media Edge Summit, hosted by Edge Computing World. Known as "the world's premier edge computing event," Edge Computing World brought together more than 4,000 attendees and more than 125 speakers this year to discuss different insights and case studies about edge technology. You can watch the full video presentation here, or check out our summary below! What is Edge Computing? Edge computing is transforming the way data is being handled, processed, and delivered from millions of devices around the world. At its basic level, edge computing brings computation and data storage closer to the devices where it’s being gathered, rather than relying on a central location that can be thousands of miles away. This is done so that data, especially real-time data, does not suffer latency issues that can affect an application’s performance. How Will Edge Computing Transform the Metaverse? Many see edge computing as the key to building the foundation of the metaverse, by enabling developers to reduce delay in virtual worlds. This technology could empower new and better devices and new virtual experiences that support many thousands - and eventually, millions - of concurrent users in the same shared 3D space. In his presentation, Albert introduced the philosophy and technology of TwinWorld, a mixed reality platform powered by DoubleMe, and the potential of metaverse based on mobile edge computing through collaborations with global telecommunication companies. TwinWorld is a “real-world metaverse” where users create and share their own virtual content on the physical world, pursuing a large-scale global metaverse. The presentation summarized the different technology that currently makes up TwinWorld technology: HoloPort Edge, which supports easy user-generated content, and WorldEngine, which enables scanning and sharing of real-world spaces. HoloPort Edge: Real-time Reality Capture & Share Based on the industry's history of expensive equipment and long production, 3D hologram generation has largely been considered a technology that requires a lot of money, time, and expertise. But it doesn't have to be. DoubleMe's HoloPort Edge technology allows users to easily create holograms with only a single RGBD (Red Green Blue Depth) 3D camera and a PC with a GPU capable of playing games. The technology was originally named ‘HoloPort’, but as it became completely cloud-native, it developed into ‘HoloPort Edge,' integrating the word ‘edge’ from edge computing. User-generated RGBD data is sent to the HoloPort Edge Computing System and can be streamed on a large scale through telecommunication partners and AWS (Amazon Web Services) edge. “We are heavily leveraging on the edging computing by teaming with 16 global telecos and gradually working with more telecos so that we can provide smooth, immersive experiences,” said Albert Kim. Learn more about HoloPort technology on the DoubleMe website. WorldEngine: Real-Virtual Coordination System In order for the metaverse to truly exist, it must be tied to the physical world and be constantly kept up to date. Of course, the best way to accomplish this task is by letting users physically scan the world around them. DoubleMe's WorldEngine technology scans various spaces such as offices, streets, and cities to support spatial holograms in which physically distant people can walk into a common space. Real-time spatial scanning is also possible on iPhone and iPad through the iOS versions, and the application is expected to be released at the end of the year. Users can communicate with other users and share content created by them in a space created with TwinWorld’s built-in items and real-time scanning. More details of DoubleMe’s metaverse technology utilizing edge computing are available here. About DoubleMe DoubleMe is a leading volumetric capture company focused on bringing the physical and virtual worlds together. We push the boundaries of what’s possible with 3D technology and create simple solutions that improve the lives of real people, in real time. Currently, DoubleMe engages with global telcos such as BT, Telefonica, Orange, SingTel and Deutsche Telekom, for preparing 5G-enabled immersive services. About TwinWorld TwinWorld leverages mixed reality (MR) technologies to bring the metaverse into the real world. As a result, TwinWorld can be continuously used in offices, schools, streets, homes, and other real-world spaces. By leveraging 5G MEC infrastructures, TwinWorld smoothly delivers the city-scale and persistent MR worlds and real-time personal holoportation of humans and spaces. Bio Albert Kim is the CEO and founder of DoubleMe. Since 1993, Albert has been working in the software industry specializing in computer vision and 3D graphics. He holds a BS and MS in Computer Engineering from Ohio State University and Northwestern University, respectively.

Combining K-Pop and real-world metaverse technology, this music video pushes the boundaries of what’s possible for the next generation of entertainment. Real-world metaverse start-up DoubleMe and rookie K-Pop girl group Ferry Blue want you to ‘be a star’ in TwinWorld, teaming up to create the first-ever K-Pop music video filmed in the metaverse using mixed reality. TwinWorld, the world’s first ‘real-world’ metaverse platform created by DoubleMe, and Microsoft HoloLens 2 devices brought the music video to life in real-time. Leveraging TwinWorld technology, Ferry Blue performed their debut song 'Call My Name,' surrounded by colorful, high-energy holograms. From wireframe cats to cyberpunk buildings, these holograms aren’t created with video editing software—they are interactive and playable in real-time in the metaverse (and available now for anyone to use on the TwinWorld app). Popularized by applications like Fortnite and Zepeto, the metaverse is a shared virtual space where users interact via digital avatars. Using mixed reality technology, TwinWorld layers the metaverse on top of the real world, hence the “real-world metaverse.” “I really didn’t know about the metaverse before. Through TwinWorld, I was able to experience the virtual world seen from the real world,” said Ferry Blue member Dozin. The girl group plans to use the mixed reality platform to hold future events, such as concerts, fan meets, and fan signings, as life-sized avatars in TwinWorld. “I think we can give the audience the feeling that they are near us even if they are far. I think this is the perfect product, especially during COVID,” said Ferry Blue member Dozin. Ferry Blue is a rookie girl group composed of students from Baekje Arts University's K-Pop Music Production Department, and all members participated in their debut single 'Call My Name.' DoubleMe is a Silicon Valley transformative technology startup that specializes in real-time volumetric capture technology. Operating in Sunnyvale, London, and Seoul and partnering with 15 telcos worldwide, DoubleMe is constantly developing new ways to democratize 3D technology and bring the physical and virtual worlds together. DoubleMe has received more than $17M in funding to date. Watch the music video below. Watch the behind-the-scenes below.

When it comes to the metaverse, we all seem to make the same references. Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. Ready Player One's OASIS. Minority Report's visually striking (but physically exhausting) gesture-based user interface. The Matrix, Sword Art Online, Altered Carbon, Star Trek's Holodeck, Star War's holograms, etc, etc, etc. But there are a lot of other stories from all around the world that illustrate the potential of the metaverse, but don't get the hype they deserve. Whether you're looking for some tech inspiration or merely another series to watch, here are some of our favorite fictional worlds with insightful and inspiring portrayals of the metaverse (in no particular order). Summer Wars (2009) Summer Wars (サマーウォーズ) is a 2009 Japanese animated science fiction comedy-drama film that takes place in a near-future Japan, and is one of the best examples depicting the strong connection between the metaverse and the real world, and the real-life consequences that will occur if that system becomes destabilized. The film stars Kenji Koiso, a math prodigy and a part-time moderator in the massive computer-simulated virtual reality world OZ. People use OZ for entertainment, but all the real-life bureaucracy also takes place in the online world. So when an artificial intelligence program called Love Machine hacks into OZ’s system, chaos ensues all across Japan: Traffic lights stay red for hours while some junctions have lights from all directions lit in green; online chatting becomes impossible; electrical devices become unusable; and in the end, Love Machine even plans to launch submarine missiles on Japan. While the film focuses on the battle of wits between Kenji and Love Machine, the way that the society functions within the film provides the best depiction of how a metaverse-run world would look like by showing what havoc will take place if the system is attacked. Memories of the Alhambra (2018) Memories of the Alhambra (알함브라 궁전의 추억) is a 2018 South Korean television series. Primarily set in Spain (and in South Korea in later episodes), the series centers on an investment firm CEO searching for the cryptic creator of an innovative augmented reality game. He meets a woman who runs a hostel in Spain, and the two get entangled in a series of mysterious incidents inspired by the stories of the Alhambra Palace. Unlike traditional Korean dramas where its characters travel through time and space, Memories of the Alhambra featured a thrilling story of the Middle Ages added to ordinary modern life through the use of cutting-edge technology. The ambitious series was originally inspired by Pokemon Go and shows off the potential of a city-scale AR game. By limiting the CGI to basic gaming concepts like doing missions, level-ups, and alliances, the series creator Song Jae-jung wanted to introduce the medium of immersive AR in a way that even a beginner audience would understand. In the future, however, she wants to create a project with more advanced gaming rules. Den-noh Coil (2007) Den-noh Coil (電脳コイル) is a Japanese science fiction anime television series that takes place in 2026, where semi-immersive augmented reality (AR) technology has just begun to enter the mainstream. The series takes place in the fictional city of Daikoku, a hotbed of AR development with an emerging citywide virtual infrastructure. It follows a group of children as they use AR glasses to unravel the mysteries of the half-real, half-Internet city, using a variety of illegal software tools, techniques, and virtual pets to manipulate the digital landscape. The show really takes its time to develop the scope of the world's technology, both in its rules and how they anticipate Daikoku citizens will interact with it. The children access the virtual world through Internet-connected visors, which they refer to as "megane." The visors allow them to see virtual reality superimposed on their physical reality. To visually confirm something as virtual, the children often lift their visors from their eyes, which work in conjunction with spatial audio. The show even pulls from the concept of mirror world and digital twins: in order to spatially synchronize virtual space and real space, users must constantly upload the status of physical space to the virtual infrastructure. Every aspect of the technology, from the bigger concepts to the tiny details, blends together to make the world seem incredibly believable, if not possible, in just a few years' time. It's just futuristic enough to seem amazing, yet grounded enough in reality to reflect where the industry is heading in real life. Free Guy (2021) A more recent example, Free Guy is a 2021 American science fiction action comedy film starring Ryan Reynolds as a bank teller, later known as "Blue Shirt Guy," who discovers that he is actually a non-player character in an open-world video game, Free City (think Grand Theft Auto and Cyberpunk 20177 meet Fortnite). After a real-life player tries to rob the bank, Ryan Reynolds as an NPC takes his pair of sunglasses, allowing him to finally see Free City from the player's perspective through a head-up display. The glasses provide in-game augmented reality specs, showing missions, scores, power-ups, loot, and more. While the game isn't accessible by VR, for the main character, the game does operate as a metaverse. We think this movie has the potential to join the ranks in being heavily referenced by mainstream pop culture for its depiction of these smart glasses for years to come. .hack//Sign (2002) Images from .hack//Sign and .hack//Liminality. The superior predecessor to Sword Art Online, .hack//Sign is a Japanese anime television series that aired in 2002. The series takes place in fictional 2009, after a computer virus called Pluto's Kiss caused a massive Internet shutdown. Two years later after the networks recovers, the first online game is released, a virtual reality massively multiplayer online role-playing game called The World. The series focuses on a player who wakes up to find himself in a dungeon, but he suffers from short-term memory loss as he wonders where he is and how he got there. The situation gets worse when he discovers he is trapped in the game and cannot log out. From then on, along with other players, he embarks on a quest to find the truth behind his abnormal situation. What's most significant about .hack//Sign is that it's not standalone. The Project .Hack franchise combines novels, manga, TV anime, and OVA's to form one grand narrative with characters and events happening not only chronologically, but simultaneously as well. The truly allows for the exploration of how every type of person in society was affected by the event, both inside and outside the VR headset. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (Valérian et la Cité des mille planètes) is a 2017 English-language French 3D space opera film based on the French science fiction comics series Valérian and Laureline. While the movie was considered a box office flop, the film still showcases an incredible portrayal of how we may shop in the metaverse. When they buy something, they place the object into a “transmatter,” and the object travels to them through space. While shopping, the merchant sees them as holograms and the two can interact. While the logistics of walking miles through a desert to access millions of virtual stores is not the most grounded in reality, the larger-than-life CGI creates a captivating visualization of what our virtual shopping may look like one day. Assassin's Creed: The Animus (2007-2021) Assassin's Creed is an open-world action-adventure stealth video game franchise known for its parkour and climbing skills, hack and slash combat, side quests, and stealth mechanics. The game depicts a millennia-old struggle between the Assassins, who fight for peace with free will, and the Templars, who desire peace through order and control. Perhaps the most overlooked part of the game is what explains the main character's ability play through the memories of his ancestors: the animus. A virtual reality machine developed, and eventually commercialized, by Abstergo Industries, the animus allows the user to read a subject's genetic memory and project the output onto an external screen in three dimensions. Within the game, the Animus was even made available as a game console, offering a heads-up display of how people or locations appeared in the past, enabling a person to identify someone they had not seen in years. This overlay allows the Animus user to monitor pertinent information without diverting attention away from the simulation. Adventure Time: "Imaginary Resources" (2017) "Imaginary Resources" is the fourth part of the Adventure Time miniseries Islands and the twenty-third episode in the eighth season of Adventure Time. In the episode, adventurers Finn the Human and Jake the Dog encounter an island, completely made out of electric, metal, and other artificial resources, and encounter groups of people plugged into virtual reality pods. They're playing Better Reality, an abstract and geometric metaverse where reality has been redesigned and improved. Better Reality provides players with avatar customization, cryptocoins, the ability to summon items, and endless worlds to explore, including a virtual nightclub. The episode also provides some solid commentary on people who choose to spend their entire lives in the metaverse and why. Especially considering this is a children's show, their Better Reality episodes provide more context into what the metaverse may look like for both the virtual and physical world when they coexist. Bratz Fashion Pixiez (2007) Okay, hear me out. Released in 2007, Bratz: Fashion Pixiez is an American computer-animated film based on the Bratz fashion doll line. Donning pink and purple stylish butterfly glasses, the girls are able to see the incredible world of Pixiez existing alongside regular, normal humans. Ignoring the fact that it's magic-based, that's basically using AR glasses to access the metaverse, layered on top of our existing reality. Just look at the aesthetic bubbles. Just think about AR Pixie wings! Why are we designing minimalist, soulless hardware devoid of color and personality, when we could be creating glossy bubblegum Y2K hyper-girly tech? Ray-Ban Stories could NEVER be this iconic. I rest my case.

How can you live beyond reality in the real-world metaverse? With 5G and MEC technology. Our CEO Albert Kim was recently highlighted in BTWatch’s article, BT protégé DoubleMe doubles down on 5G and MEC, as he expanded upon the concept of "living beyond reality" in the real-world metaverse. In the interview, Albert provides more details about our collaboration with 15 telcos around the world to use 5G and mobile edge computing (MEC) for real‑time holographic services with revenue‑generating potential within the metaverse. According to Albert, a key aim of TwinWorld is to reduce the cost and complexity of augmented reality, extended reality, mixed reality, and virtual reality technologies, and eliminate the requirement to hire professional developers to create immersive experiences. Similar to a WeWork for mixed reality spaces, TwinWorld will allow users or ‘tenants’ to generate their own spaces for personal and commercial purposes and share them with others. Within these spaces, users would be "live" beyond reality. Everything from the spaces to the users' avatars themselves would be completely customizable, and allow users to be able to create a life for themselves in the metaverse. He emphasized the importance of 5G networks and MEC when capturing images and converting them into shared virtual spaces in real time. We are basically delivering two crucial technologies. One is the reality capture; the other one is the world conversion system. And those are all working on top of 5G mobile edge computing, which means we have to heavily utilise telcos’ 5G infrastructure, so that we can provide better services to our users”, said Albert Kim. BT’s involvement with DoubleMe began in early‑2020 when it was named as one of two winners of TEAC UK Wave 3 — the startup competition organized by BT’s TIP Ecosystem Acceleration Centre. For more about our collaboration with 15 telcos around the world and how we make use of 5G to support the real-world metaverse, check out TelcoTitan’s article BT protégé DoubleMe doubles down on 5G and MEC.

After an exciting 2 weeks in Barcelona launching Aqua! by TwinWorld, the team is back in Seoul to reflect on the highs, the lows, and the overwhelming amount of paella we consumed. Here are 4 key life lessons we learned. What a journey! Our team recently got back to South Korea after launching Aqua! by TwinWorld in Barcelona, and while we're missing the food and the people we met along the way (at a safe, sanitized social distance), we've had a lot of time to think back about what we've learned. For this program, we had a big task ahead: successfully launch our app, a colorful underwater mixed reality experience for mobile devices and the HoloLens 2, at Glòries mall in Barcelona. Our company, DoubleMe, was one of five South Korean start-ups selected for a startup support program launched by SBA (Seoul Business Agency) and KITA (Korea International Trade Association). We developed the app for this overseas proof-of-concept (PoC) testbed program to enhance the mall's retail experience using the real-world metaverse. Not to brag, but our app transforms a 150-meter-long, 13-meter wide space inside the shopping center into a virtual aquarium. After downloading the app, users can interact in real-time as life-sized custom avatars, decorate and explore underwater worlds, and take photos and videos to share with friends. Overall, we're so proud of Aqua's launch - the app was well received by both press and the public - but it didn't come without overcoming some obstacles. So, we wanted to share our advice and learnings from our overseas business trip with the rest of you! 1. Preparation is key to success. We knew that we had a LOT of prep work to do for this trip for it to be a success. Launching an app is one task, but doing it during COVID-19 was a challenge on an entirely different level. There were a lot of moving parts to track – would the app be ready in time? Would the promotional materials be printed? Would we get the necessary COVID-19 documents to even get on the plane? So, in the event of a last-minute business trip during a pandemic, our best advice is to create bulleted lists and print out everything. Keep track of what you can, because if you’re rushing and relying on memory alone, there will be gaps. Check your passport, update your vaccinations, prepare as much of your itinerary in advance as you can. Get travel insurance and look into visas. Check your adapters and prepare plenty of extra K-94 masks. Whatever spare time you have, invest in learning about the history, culture, and customs of the countries to be visited. It’s good to know at least a few phrases in the local language, even if it’s just “I’m sorry.” The more you prepare, the better off it will be – for both you and your company. 2. Everything happens for no reason – so be flexible. No matter how well you prepare, you can always expect the unexpected. Solving all these issues all depends on keeping an open mind and a level head. For example, the first day we tested the app in the mall, the free internet was too slow for anything to load. We had our 4G SIM cards prepared, only to find out the basement only received 3G WIFI. The HoloLens app didn’t stand a chance. We evaluated our options – rent a mobile router? Scale down the app? Burst into tears? Instead, we decided to not rely on the mall WIFI and get another SIM card with a different mobile network. Success! There were a lot of little hiccups along the way, but going with the flow and anticipating that not everything would go according to plan was key. Here were a few of our issues: The journalist brought his son along, and now the entire demo was focused on making this young boy happy and interested in the app. The solution? Give this young man the time of his life. The app was well-received, and the mall wanted to keep it installed for longer than the time frame we announced. The solution? Announce the good news, and quickly change all the marketing materials and app descriptions to reflect the new dates. There are some things you can prepare for, and some things you can’t. The best thing is to just roll with the punches and keep things in perspective. 3. Don’t be afraid to ask for help - and always say thank you! When you’re a foreigner in another country with a language barrier, or merely traveling somewhere new and unfamiliar, it’s important to use the resources you have around you and never be afraid to seek help if you need it. While self-reliance is a virtue, learning how to ask for (and accept) help is perhaps one of the greatest skills you can develop. We were heavily reliant on our HR team to help us navigate all the international rules for traveling safely during COVID-19. We were greatly assisted by the Glòries mall staff, who graciously lent us office space for the week and a mobile hotspot for demos when our SIM cards were failing. The local consulting company, OASTA, always came through with quality recommendations, from hospitals to take our PCR tests, to videographers to document the experience, to tourist sites to enjoy on our days off. And of course, we would never have been able to do any of this without the hard work of the developers who made Aqua! It's important to be upfront and communicate clearly what you need and be grateful for the generosity if you receive it. The worst anyone can say is no! 4. Aqua! by TwinWorld is for everyone! You didn't think we could end this article without a shameless plug, right? The highlight of the trip was meeting all the people who came to the mall and introducing them to the app. While people were a little hesitant at first, soon, mall-goers aged young and old were all enjoying the real-world metaverse. This young boy was even already dressed for the part, sporting a mask with aquatic creatures! He said that liked the shark the most and that he wants to come back and try it again with his friends. Overall, we received a lot of valuable user feedback from watching everyone play. Our team is already working on the next update to accommodate their suggestions. So, if you want to try out the app for yourself, you can it for iOS and Android today, or you can check out our full TwinWorld app for the HoloLens 2. Final Thoughts Overall, we are very proud of our collaboration with Glòries, and we look forward to what the future holds for DoubleMe and Aqua! in Spain. We are very grateful for our partners at SBA (Seoul Business Agency) and KITA (Korea International Trade Association, as well as Glòries and OASTA, in making everything come together. We're glad we took the plunge into this new market, and we hope these tips help you along your way! Life really does look better underwater. For more information, you can check out our full press release here on our launch.

Shoppers can now dive headfirst into Aqua! by TwinWorld, a mixed reality deep ocean experience that launched at Westfield Glòries mall in Barcelona, Spain. The app transforms 7,875m3 of shopping space into an interactive virtual aquarium, the equivalent of a 2 million gallon water tank, making it the size of the fifth-largest aquarium in the world. DoubleMe will continue to expand TwinWorld’s retail presence by working with major retailers around the world. BARCELONA, SPAIN—Thousands of attendees at Westfield Glòries mall in Barcelona can now dive into an underwater mixed reality world with Aqua! by TwinWorld, a real-world metaverse experience for mobile created by transformative technology startup DoubleMe in collaboration with Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW). The app transforms 150m x 15m x 3.5m (7,875m3 or 278,103 ft3) of shopping space into an interactive virtual aquarium, the equivalent of a 2 million gallon water tank, making it the size of the fifth-largest aquarium in the world. After downloading the app, users can interact in real-time as life-sized custom avatars, decorate and explore underwater worlds, and take photos and videos to share with friends. Aqua! was developed through an overseas proof-of-concept (PoC) testbed program to enhance the retail experience at Glòries mall. Glòries is the Barcelona branch of Westfield, one of the largest shopping centers in Barcelona and operated by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW), Europe's largest commercial real estate company that manages 120 shopping malls around the world. Aqua! works by scanning the room and layering a shared, virtual world on top of the real world, in what the company calls a “real world metaverse.” This space merges the digital and physical worlds and allows anyone to create, share, and enjoy life beyond reality. The app is available for both iOS and Android devices, with a special edition released for the HoloLens 2. Aqua! is a Spanish trial version of the mobile app powered by the TwinWorld platform. DoubleMe’s mixed reality solution is expected to improve shoppers’ satisfaction, increase time spent in the mall, promote in-store purchases, and attract new customers by providing a unique real-world metaverse experience. Aqua! will be available at Glòries for the next 2 months. Nina Kavaliova, Director of Glòries, said “We are very proud to announce that Barcelona and Glòries are launching a groundbreaking program in Europe, which has established itself as a center of innovation and entrepreneurship. Providing this kind of differential solution enhances our customer's experience and journey while in the mall and helps us strengthen visitor loyalty.” Aqua! will run from August 25 to the end of October this year, and the company hopes to expand the service to other Westfield shopping malls located in Europe. Petros Bozatzis, DoubleMe’s Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), said, “In the future, we will expand the TwinWorld application to a global scale through collaborations with retail companies so that the real-world metaverse transforms the way we approach online commerce.” While Aqua! is DoubleMe’s breakthrough project into the Spanish market, the company already has future plans with Telefónica to grow the Aqua! service. One of the largest telecommunications companies in the world, Telefónica will provide mobile edge computing (MEC) devices to DoubleMe to integrate holoportation into the app. This will allow people to not only communicate as avatars within Aqua!, but also to represent themselves in the app as realistic 3D models. Throughout 2021, DoubleMe will continue to develop TwinWorld applications like Aqua! with HoloVerse, a proof of concept project in partnership with Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom, TIM, and MobiledgeX. About DoubleMe DoubleMe is a Silicon Valley transformative technology startup that specializes in real-time volumetric capture technology. Operating in Sunnyvale, London, and Seoul and partnering with 15 telcos worldwide, DoubleMe is constantly developing new ways to democratize 3D technology and bring the physical and virtual worlds together. With our HoloPort™ and HoloPortal™ technology, the company provides an end-to-end platform for social holographic reality experiences. DoubleMe has received more than $17M in funding to date.

The metaverse is coming, and Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom, TIM, MobiledgeX, and DoubleMe are joining forces to test its foundation. SUNNYVALE, CA—DoubleMe is proud to announce the launch of HoloVerse, a proof of concept project in partnership with Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom, TIM, and MobiledgeX. HoloVerse is a worldwide project in which global mobile operators will test the optimal 5G Telco Edge Cloud network infrastructure for the seamless deployment of various services using the metaverse. TwinWorld, the world’s first “real-world” metaverse platform created by DoubleMe, has been selected as the testbed platform for the HoloVerse project. The metaverse, a combination of the prefix "meta" (meaning beyond) and "universe", is a collective virtual shared space. Using mixed reality technology, TwinWorld layers the metaverse on top of the real world, hence the “real-world metaverse.” For the metaverse to exist, the platform will require creating and transmitting large digital contents in real time using 5G and Edge computing technologies, indicating the need for interoperability over heterogeneous 5G edge clouds. This project will involve Telefónica in Spain, Deutsche Telekom in Germany, and TIM in Italy, as part of the Telco Edge Cloud consortium under the Global Mobile Operators Association (GSMA). As a key member of the GSMA’s Operator Platform Group, MobiledgeX will be providing their Edgecloud 3.0 platform to enable 5G MEC resource management cloud services. TwinWorld was selected for HoloVerse due to the proprietary technology developed by its creator company, DoubleMe. A leading volumetric capture company focused on bringing the physical and virtual worlds together, DoubleMe pushes the boundaries of what’s possible with 3D technology and creates simple, no-code tools to allow anyone to create in mixed reality, in real time. DoubleMe will integrate HoloPort, a holographic video conferencing software, and World Engine, a real-time mapping system that tracks the location of mixed reality contents, into the HoloVerse project. Both of these technologies require large-capacity and low-latency network infrastructure, and once the initial tests are complete, all companies in the project will jointly discover and commercialize various use cases for the real-world metaverse. David Moro, head of Telefónica’s network service platforms, said, “Using the TwinWorld platform, we can test the possibility of a real-world metaverse in 5G telco edge cloud. We will be able to provide a communication service using this concept." Albert Kim, CEO of DoubleMe said, “Through this project, we plan to discover a variety of TwinWorld-based real-world metaverse services, such as education, tourism, and entertainment, and grow our vision on a global scale.” HoloVerse tests will continue until the end of this year. Since 2019, DoubleMe has collaborated with 15 global mobile carrier partners such as Telefónica, Deutsche Telecom, Singtel, British Telecom, and SK Telecom for the deployment of TwinWorld's global 5G-based real-world metaverse service. Currently, DoubleMe operates the Hologram Room, where you can experience TwinWorld in nine major cities worldwide, including Singapore, Moscow, London, and Seoul, with domestic and overseas mobile carrier partners. About DoubleMe DoubleMe is a Silicon Valley transformative technology startup that specializes in real-time volumetric capture technology. Operating in Sunnyvale, London, and Seoul and partnering with 15 telcos worldwide, DoubleMe is constantly developing new ways to democratize 3D technology and bring the physical and virtual worlds together. With our HoloPort™ and HoloPortal™ technology, the company provides an end-to-end platform for social holographic reality experiences.

Earlier this month, Samsung Newsroom, the representative news channel of Samsung Electronics, conducted an interview with DoubleMe about the ‘C-Lab Outside’ program, the idea behind the real-world metaverse, and the future of mixed reality. DoubleMe was selected for the Samsung Electronics 'C-Lab Outside' program, competing against 501 other applicants for one of 18 coveted spots (an acceptance rate of 28 to 1). Since last November, DoubleMe has been granted office space at the Samsung R&D campus in Seoul, operating funds, and customized management consulting for one year. The C-Lab Outside program actively supports startups by providing an optimal working environment and one on one IR competency coaching so that these innovative startups, who have been designated as 'future leaders of the fourth industrial revolution,' can focus on their businesses. As stated by CEO Albert Kim in the article, “A small-scale startup company will inevitably have some missing parts, even if it continues to hire people. It is a great opportunity and luck to be able to meet ‘C-Lab Outside’ and fill in these gaps in the early stages." Details of DoubleMe’s global projects and C-Lab Outside's incubation program can be found in the Samsung Newsroom article here. About DoubleMe DoubleMe is a leading volumetric capture company focused on bringing the physical and virtual worlds together. We push the boundaries of what’s possible with 3D technology and create simple solutions that improve the lives of real people, in real-time. Currently, DoubleMe engages with global telcos such as BT, Telefonica, Orange, SingTel and Deutsche Telekom, for preparing 5G-enabled immersive services. To learn more about DoubleMe, visit https://www.doubleme.me/.

This week, our CEO Albert Kim was the guest speaker at Innovation Martlesham’s July Breakfast Networking Webinar Event, in association with TechEast. Watch the webinar recording below. TwinWorld, a real-world metaverse platform over the 5G MEC During the presentation, Albert gave an overview of TwinWorld, available now for the HoloLens 2, and discussed how the real-world metaverse will revolutionize our daily lives. The “metaverse,” a combination of the prefix "meta" (meaning beyond) and "universe", is a collective virtual shared space. Using mixed reality technology, TwinWorld layers the metaverse on top of the real world, hence the “real-world metaverse.” From using an avatar or hologram copy of yourself to communicate, to joining together with your friends to decorate an entire city, to traveling the world from the comfort of your own living room, TwinWorld uses the emerging power of this technology to give everyone a platform to create, share ideas and connect with others in the metaverse. “We want our users to find new life beyond reality. We want our users to learn something, study, work, communicate and relax inside of their own mixed reality world. The most important thing is that you create your own world and share it with other people.” - Albert Kim Our goal with TwinWorld is to empower users to create their own content using an array of our 3D capture technology and develop their own experiences to share with their friends in TwinWorld. Albert Kim also gave a preview of our company’s upcoming projects, including an educational metaverse (metaversity) in partnership with Busan Metropolitan City, an invisible zoo at PetWorld Theme Park in Osan, Korea, and an aquarium experience at Glòries Mall in Barcelona. To learn more about DoubleMe and TwinWorld, you can listen to our podcast episode with Nicky Daniels, head of Innovation Martlesham, featuring Petros Bozatzis, CFO of DoubleMe. About DoubleMe DoubleMe is a leading volumetric capture company focused on bringing the physical and virtual worlds together. We push the boundaries of what’s possible with 3D technology and create simple solutions that improve the lives of real people, in real time. Currently, DoubleMe engages with global telcos such as BT, Telefonica, Orange, SingTel and Deutsche Telekom, for preparing 5G-enabled immersive services. About TwinWorld TwinWorld leverages mixed reality (MR) technologies to bring the metaverse into the real world. As a result, TwinWorld can be continuously used in offices, schools, streets, homes, and other real-world spaces. By leveraging 5G MEC infrastructures, TwinWorld smoothly delivers the city-scale and persistent MR worlds and real-time personal holoportation of humans and spaces. Bio Albert Kim is the CEO and founder of DoubleMe. Since 1993, Albert has been working in the software industry specializing in computer vision and 3D graphics. He holds a BS and MS in Computer Engineering from Ohio State University and Northwestern University, respectively.

We need to address the elephant in the room... This month, as part of Samsung Electronics C-Lab Outside program, DoubleMe showed off the latest update of its real-world metaverse TwinWorld to various divisions within Samsung. Representatives from both the Samsung Visual Display division and Samsung Next, an investment group focused on emerging technologies, donned volumetric avatars to experience life beyond reality in TwinWorld. DoubleMe employees guided guests through how to interact with various holographic giraffes, jellyfish, elephants, bunnies and more, all surrounded by a virtual forest of trees and bamboo. This exotic mix of 3D wildlife comes from TwinWorld's three brand-new featured worlds, available now on the app to explore. With TwinWorld’s recent multiplayer integration, demo participants were able to collectively interact with each other and the holograms in real time. Last year, DoubleMe. was selected for Samsung Electronics C-Lab Outside program, beating out 501 other applicants for one of 18 coveted spots and receiving 100 million KRW (more than 90,000 USD). DoubleMe is one of 500 internal and external startup tasks through C-Lab from 2018, including 200 in-house employee startup tasks (C-Lab Inside) and 300 external startups (C-Lab Outside). The company will continue to hold demos with Samsung and other companies for the month of May. About TwinWorld TwinWorld is a metaverse brought to life, the joining of digital and physical worlds where interaction and connection are limitless, allowing us to create, share, and enjoy life beyond reality. Download the latest version of TwinWorld for the HoloLens 2 now.