LAVER LABS

At DEVIEW keynote, Korea’s largest developer conference, NAVER LABS announced “ARCVERSE,” a new image of the future combining technology. ARCVERSE  is a technological ecosystem where data and services in both the real and virtual world are connected naturally through a combination of AI, robots, cloud, and digital twin that NAVER LABS has been researching. With ARCVERSE, various services that use the real world as a medium can be created—such as service robots, autonomous driving, AR, smart buildings, and smart cities.  The following is the full keynote presented by NAVER LABS CEO Sangok SEOK who was the last speaker of the day.

 

Opening a new universe with AI, robot, cloud, and digital twin technology

This is Sangok SEOK from NAVER LABS. For the past few years, NAVER LABS has presented the results of various research about robots, AI, autonomous driving, digital twin, 5G, and AR. What is the common goal of these technologies? Our mission is to smoothly connect NAVER in the online world to the real, physical world. This mission may remind you of one word that has been at the center of attention lately, ‘METAVERSE’. In fact, NAVER LABS has been experiencing a significant increase of metaverse-related collaboration proposals this year. However, the definition of metaverse seems to differ in each field. For example, the technology of NAVER LABS is a bit different from ZEPETO, a virtual universe service by NAVER with 3D avatars. NAVER LABS focuses on technology that can create a virtual world identical to the real world, and technology that allows direct interaction between the two worlds. I would like to define in detail the world being shaped by NAVER LABS' technologies. We have decided to call this world, ‘ARCVERSE’.

This name encompasses all of the four fields that NAVER LABS has been focusing on for the past five years. ARCVERSE is a world where the technologies of AI, robots, cloud, and digital twins allow the data and service of the real and digital world to connect and fuse naturally. AI processes perception, understanding, and optimization, robots become the physical medium for the real world, and the cloud acts as a platform for the digital twin world. These technologies can be applied to our society in various forms as service robots, autonomous vehicles, AR/VR, smart buildings, and even smart cities.

Together with many of our partners, we’ve been upgrading the platforms and solutions that make up the ARCVERSE. Among them is ALIKE, a digital twin data creation solution. Using a unique method that combines aerial photography and MMS data, we’ve built large-scale 3D city models, road layouts, and HD maps for autonomous vehicles.

 

We’ve also been repackaging technologies specializing in digital twins of indoor and outdoor spaces to ALIKE-M. Our work includes the XR metaverse collaboration with Incheon City, and we’ve also been upgrading the facilities in NAVER’s second head office. Not only are we utilizing mapping devices such as mobile mapping robots and backpack-type mapping devices, but we’re also working on advancing low-cost sensors such as smartphone cameras for precise 3D mapping tasks. In the National Museum of Korea, where we recently produced 3D digital twin data, we have also been able to create a natural AR experience by combining it with computer vision-based localization technology.

The ARC system developed in NAVER Cloud Platform is the bridge between the physical world and the virtual world. It connects the various applications and interfaces of the real world using digital twin data. In the world’s first robot-friendly building, NAVER’s second head office, the ARC system that is about to be commercialized works as the brain of numerous robots and smoothly links with the various infrastructures of the building. Automated driving robots connect the system outside of the building to various spaces in several cities, and we are planning to expand to various bases including the hyperscale data center GAK SEJONG.

One important factor that determines the successful implementation of the ARC system is 5G. The ultra-low latency performance of 5G networks is critical to maximizing the potential of the cloud that performs as the brain of robots and buildings. As of now, NAVER has finished the technical preparations in line with Korea’s 5G specialized network policy. The unlimited potential of 5G will be fully unleashed at NAVER’s second head office.

ARCVERSE isn’t simply a platform or system. Rather, it's a technologically fused world created from a connection of pipelines, by engineers of various fields who have gone beyond their boundaries to do so. Hence, partnership also plays an important role. We are continuing to engage in new challenges with major local governments and leading companies from each industry. Our fascinating and surprising achievements will be presented to the world in time. I hope everyone will look forward to them.

Transcendence also means to overcome individual experiences. Technology isn’t something to be encased within an individual, company, language, or country. When it meets and unites, it can open a new world. I hope many can experience the union of experiences and knowledge at DEVIEW 2021 starting today. And may there be countless new births of transcendence. Thank you.

View the keynote video here