Tencent and Accenture jointly published a white paper titled Immersive Convergence on Monday, outlining a concept originated by Pony Ma. According to the white paper, Immersive Convergence is an innovative model that integrates the digital economy and the real world.

“There will soon be a new connection that integrates digital and physical forms, transcending time and space,” said Pony Ma, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Tencent. “The doors to the future are open with ‘Immersive Convergence.’ It offers new solutions to users, industries and society, and is set to bring new application scenarios, incubate a new industrial ecology and shape a new way of life.”

Immersive Convergence can do a number of things:

• For individual users, it can provide an immersive experience anytime, anywhere.
• For enterprises and organizations, it can make services more measurable, enhancing quality and driving organizational efficiency.
• For society as a whole, it can improve resource utilization, innovate the model of industry development, enhance operational efficiency of the public sectors and promote sustainable development.

Critical Technologies are Constantly Evolving 

“Based on the immersive experience and real-time digital twin, Immersive Convergence can be put into practice and executed in the real world through two-way interaction,” said Dowson Tong, Senior Executive Vice President and CEO of the Cloud and Smart Industry Group. 

To fully realize Immersive Convergence requires the continuous evolution of five critical technologies. The digital twin and remote interaction functions are the model’s core technologies. Ubiquitous intelligence, trusted platform module (TPM) and infinite computing power also form its foundation. 

With the Internet of Things (IoT), real-time communication (RTC), extended reality (XR), multi-sensory interaction and multi-modal fusion sensing technology, remote interaction can be upgraded into two-way interaction. In the future, remote interaction will also provide a full sensory experience. For example, port operators can use audio and video technologies, coupled with multi-angle cameras, to handle containers remotely in a more efficient way.

The white paper pointed out that key enabling technologies are either relatively mature or are under rapid development. By 2040, quantum computing, holographic projection, folded optical path technology, brain-computer interface and other cutting-edge technologies are expected to see further breakthroughs in supporting the realization of Immersive Convergence.

Integration of Digital Economy and the Real World is Key to Solving Practical Issues

Immersive Convergence’s ultimate goal is to solve issues in real scenarios, using the integration of the digital economy and the real world as its main connecting point.

Tencent has built a number of successful cases of Immersive Convergence. A good example is Tencent Meeting, a widely used cloud conferencing product in China with an overseas version called VooV Meeting, which has supported more than 300 million users worldwide. Tencent Meeting has opened its API and SDK interface, committing to building an open ecology for video conferences that connect people.

Tencent also collaborates with a partner to explore building a “digital factory” with fully restored holographic glasses-free 3D effects. This application leverages technologies such as Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT), digital twin and distributed cloud to help experts and engineers manage the actual production line and equipment.

In the financial services industry, more banks are leveraging Tencent’s technologies such as audio and video, AI, and big data to create an immersive financial services scene. Businesses that had to be queued offline in the past now can be handled online, which helps residents who live in remote areas, migrant workers and people with limited mobility.

“The integration of digital technology and the real economy is becoming a top priority and industry trend. Immersive Convergence is an important strategy and roadmap for Tencent’s Industrial Internet to accelerate. Tencent will join its partners to help organizations leverage Immersive Convergence to enhance business efficiency while reducing costs and realizing the value of the industry to make the world a better place,” Tong said.