(Yicai Global) Dec. 10 -- Baidu will host the country’s first conference in the metaverse later this month on its new Xirang platform, which creates a multiplayer interactive space connecting the virtual and real worlds, the Chinese search engine giant said today.

Participants in the artificial intelligence developer conference Create 2021 on Dec. 27 will for the first time be able to enjoy the full features of the Xirang app, Beijing-based Baidu said. Up to 100,000 people can take part in the three-dimensional virtual reality conference.

Xirang, which is China’s first social metaverse platform, also lets users attend meetings, shop, message and watch shows through their own personally created avatar.

A preliminary version of Xirang was launched on Chinese telecoms firm Huawei Technologies’ app store in November. It allowed users to enjoy certain audio and visual effects such as AI face pinching. But it only scored a rating of 2.5 as many netizens complained about lack of scenarios, poor network connection and bugs.

High refresh rates and multiplayer interactions in the same space require strong hash rate and algorithm support, so technical strengths will be a key part of metaverse competition in the future, it said.

The virtual reality world of Meta, formally known as Facebook, will soon be available to residents in the US and Canada, the Silicon Vally-based company said on Dec. 9. Horizon Worlds allows users to participate in games and activities in a virtual space by wearing an Oculus VR headset.

Editor: Kim Taylor