Gaon Media Participates in Building Metaverse Platform for 'International Winter Youth Sports Competition'

Gaon Media, a total AI solution specialist company (CEO Lim Dong-yeon), announced on the 6th that its subsidiary K-Future Tech participated in the development project of the metaverse platform for the ‘2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Sports Festival’ and developed augmented reality (AR) content and extended reality (XR) devices.

This project is a national initiative led by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Radio Promotion Association. It aims to create virtual reality spaces replicating the venues of the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Sports Festival, develop immersive sports broadcasting and tourism cultural services, and build a metaverse sports competition platform. The consortium consists of Gaon Media, Inseong Information, Tilon, and Coatech.

Among them, Gaon Media is responsible for developing AR technology-based content and XR devices so that spectators from around the world can enjoy the competition in various ways. Through the first year of the project in 2022, they developed content such as ▲AR docent (narration guide), ▲AR navigation, and ▲AR mini-games, as well as a prototype of XR devices. In the second year of the project this year, they plan to further develop content and enhance integration with the devices.

A company representative stated, “Our competitiveness in securing the ability to independently develop not only XR devices but also XR content and platforms linked to them was crucial in winning this project,” adding, “As we showcase our technology at a global sports event gathering people worldwide, we will use this opportunity as a stepping stone to expand our market.”

The metaverse market has seen growing expectations for market expansion since 2023. Apple’s release of XR devices within the year has become a foregone conclusion, and Samsung Electronics attracted attention by announcing its entry into the XR market in partnership with Google and Qualcomm. Global consulting firm PwC forecasts that the worldwide XR-related market will grow to a scale of 1,700 trillion KRW by 2030.

Meanwhile, the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Sports Festival is an international multi-sport event with over 2,000 athletes from more than 70 countries participating, and it is the first winter youth sports event held in Asia. It will take place over 14 days from January 19 to February 1, 2024, across four cities and counties in Gangwon Province.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.