Several renowned entrepreneurs discuss the future of the metaverse at the 2023 Wuhan Metaverse Developer Summit Forum on April 13. [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley of China]

The 2023 Wuhan Metaverse Developer Summit Forum was held in the East Lake High-tech Development Zone (also known as the Optics Valley of China, or OVC), on April 13, with more than 100 related enterprises participating.

"The metaverse industry has entered the stage of specific content production and application development. Such products and cases can be found in fields of commerce, automobiles, culture and tourism, and consumption," said Zhang Junbo, CEO of Unity Technologies China.

According to Zhang, a variety of scenarios, such as virtual meeting rooms, smart cockpits, digital collections and flexible production lines, have recently emerged in the metaverse. A completed rendition of the Notre Dame Cathedral has also been made available online, one of many digital landmarks that enable users to travel around the world without stepping out of their homes.

Xu Hui, chief marketing officer of Tuoluo Tech Co – one of the co-organizers of the event – highlighted Wuhan as one of China's three major cities with a large proportion of intelligent people. Every year, Wuhan cultivates a multitude of information technology and artistic talents, as well as produces the basic technologies and hardware needed to further develop the metaverse. The Optics Valley of China, for example, has incubated many digitally creative enterprises.

A guest demonstrates her company's digital products at the forum. [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley of China]

In recent years, based on its huge advantages in talent and industry, Wuhan has taken the lead in advancing the metaverse by issuing its action plan to spur the innovative development of the metaverse. The plan states that by 2025, the city will set up more than two industrial bases, three major platforms, and produce over 50 typical application scenarios and projects for the metaverse.