Naver lays out new future with metaverse, AI

South Korean internet giant Naver on Wednesday unveiled its latest technology to expand its business in the metaverse, the fast-emerging platform connecting virtual communities.

“We will soon launch Arcverse, a metaverse ecosystem, that connects the virtual world and real world. In Arcverse, users will be able to use the data and services from both worlds at the same time,” said Seok Sang-ok, CEO of Naver Labs, during Deview 2021, Naver’s 14th developer conference.

For instance, if people use artificial intelligence to make a cup of coffee in Arcverse, it will do the same in the real world. In Arcverse, country borders would be meaningless, the company said.

According to Seok, Arcverse will be created by combining systems -- digital twin, a virtual model accurately reflecting a physical object, systems of robotics and automatic driving and augmented reality that interact with the real world, as well as 5G, AI and the cloud acting as a bridge between the real and virtual worlds.

Naver laid out its plans to open top-notch AI services as well.

“Many are becoming familiar with AI services such as Clova Note and Face Sign. On that note, ‘Hyper Clova’ will provide new AI services that will improve our daily lives,” said Sung Nak-ho, team leader of AI platform Naver Clova.

Hyper Clova is the world’s first Korean- language AI model developed by Naver. According to the company, it contains the largest amount of Korean learning data. Since global AI models mostly support English, Naver has developed a Korean model that effectively assists domestic users, the company said.

Using Hyper Clova, for instance, sellers can get suggestions from the AI on writing sales copy that catches customers’ attention.

The Deview conference takes place from Wednesday to Friday. There are 116 sessions within the conference to share Naver developers’ technology know-how in search engines, AI, the cloud and robotics.

The main theme of the first day is “Naver’s technology toward the world and new challenges,” featuring sections on Naver’s technology and services in the global market, global scale infrastructure and cloud technology and the realms of future technology.

In 2008, Deview started off as an in-house tech event. Under the slogan of “excellence, sharing, growth,” Naver has opened its doors to the public since 2010. Starting from 2017, the conference has featured sessions with Naver Labs Europe, a global AI research center under Naver, to share the world’s leading research on innovative technology.

By Byun Hye-jin (hyejin2@heraldcorp.com)