As a mage, I just want to pursue the truth

Chapter 305 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics
Revolutionary consumer electronics products need to be rolled out quickly, and the prices must be lowered.

This is true whether it’s a personal computer or a smartphone.

The earliest computers were mainly used for military calculations, and later they were popularized in scientific research institutes. It was not until HP launched the first personal computer that the wave of the Internet era began.

In the early days, personal computers were expensive, and even in America, the most developed country at the time, there were only more than 20,000 computers in use.

Later, under the influence of Moore's Law, chip technology continued to advance, resulting in a continuous decrease in the cost and selling price of personal computers.

This brought about the peak of the Internet era in the 1990s, when any Internet-related company could go public.

The same is true for China. At that time, IBM computers worth tens of thousands of dollars were simply not affordable for ordinary families.

For personal computers to become popular in China, PC manufacturers such as Lenovo, HP, and Dell have to lower the price of mainstream desktop computers to around 3,000 yuan.

The same was true for later smartphones. Early Apple phones even required selling a kidney to afford them.

Jokes like "how many nights Apple has had its iPhone" are common on major social media platforms.

It was only after major domestic mobile phone manufacturers lowered the prices of smartphones that the mobile Internet exploded in 16.

Therefore, after Ke Chuang Future launched brain-computer connected VR, there have been voices in the industry saying that the price is too high and is not conducive to the large-scale promotion of VR.

Among them, foreign Internet giants such as FB, Google, and Microsoft tried to lobby Zheng Li and Li Miaomiao through various relationships.

Since Ke Chuang Future’s senior executives come from major Internet companies, many of them have various relationships with overseas capital.

And there are legitimate reasons to say this, so many executives said at the meeting that patents for brain-computer connection VR can be opened up through patent licensing.

“In order to promote the progress of the VR industry, we can appropriately open up some patents on brain-computer connection in the VR field to other manufacturers.

Our brain-computer connection VR technology has entered the second generation, so we can license the first generation of brain-computer connection VR technology for a fee.

In this way, we can not only maintain our technological advantages in the field of brain-computer VR, but also promote the progress of the entire industry and create a better industry environment.

I think it’s a three-pronged approach.”

The above is the speech of a senior executive of Kechuang Future at a high-level meeting.

Regarding the development of open brain-computer connection VR technology, Li Miaomiao has also asked many industry seniors, such as Lei Jun, Pony Ma, Zhang Yiming, etc.

Although these people also received overseas capital in the early stages of their business, since their companies hold a small amount of shares in Ke Chuang Future, their answers when discussing this issue are relatively objective.

Especially Zhang Yiming, Zhang Yiming has already sold Pico to Ke Chuang Future.

If Ke Chuang Future opens up its patent for brain-computer connection to the outside world now, then he would suffer a huge loss if he sold Pico.

When Li Miaomiao reported to Zheng Li again, he said: "Whether it is an open meeting or a private meeting between the senior management and me.

Many people have expressed that we can appropriately open up the authorization of brain-computer connection VR technology to the outside world.

Open up brain-computer connection VR technology, which is slightly behind the brain-computer connection technology currently used in the latest generation of futureverse.

I think we can open up, but there are conditions.

That is, VR companies that use our brain-computer connection VR technology must use Ke Chuang Future's VR system.

That’s our bottom line.”

This was the bottom line that Li Miaomiao put forward when reporting to Zheng Li after synthesizing opinions from various parties.

Patent authorization is possible, but it must use the VR system of Ke Chuang Future.

In Li Miaomiao's view, technological monopoly will be caught up sooner or later, but system-level monopoly can last for a long time.

Until the next generation of information revolution occurs.

It can also avoid monopoly fines from various countries. However, even if brain-computer connection VR technology is opened up, the European Union will still have other excuses and reasons to impose fines.

Zheng Li asked: "Is this just your idea or have you communicated with internal executives and external shareholders?"

Li Miaomiao replied: "I came up with this idea after communicating with Kechuang Future's shareholders and internal executives.

If you think it’s okay, we’ll bring it up at the next board meeting for discussion and deliberation.”

Zheng Li continued to ask: "Another question is whether manufacturers like Google and Microsoft will accept it.

And even if the other party accepts, how will the science and technology innovation tax be distributed? "

The science and technology innovation tax means that for all paid projects that occur in brain-computer VR, Science and Technology Innovation will charge a 30% handling fee in the future.

Except for the Huanyu Pengcheng project, Kechuang Future does not charge any fees.

Because the taxes of Huanyu Pengcheng were collected by the Pengcheng Municipal Government.

Tencent defines the purchase and sale of virtual real estate in Huanyu Pengcheng as asset transactions in order to circumvent the science and technology innovation tax.

But this is indeed the case. For example, in JD.com’s VR home furnishing store, consumers purchase physical products, and Ke Chuang Future cannot collect taxes.

Both virtual assets and physical objects are components of assets.

Li Miaomiao thought for a moment and replied, “My idea is to talk to them.

Only after talking can you know what the other party’s bottom line is.

I think FB will accept our terms, Google might accept them, but Apple is unlikely to accept them.”

Apple is the manufacturer that is most unacceptable to using other systems.

Because if they adopt Ke Chuang Future's VR system, it would be like opening a hole in their IOS ecosystem, and the integrity of the IOS ecosystem would be destroyed.

As early as the fall of 2022, Apple launched its first VR product, which was equipped with the ROS system developed by Apple based on IOS.

FB will most likely agree because their market value has been declining and the market share of its core product Facebook has been left far behind by TikTok.

They need all means to regain the trust of investors.

“There are very few domestic VR manufacturers surviving at present. I estimate that if we open up brain-computer connection VR technology, Xiaomi is likely to enter this field.

Rice that focuses on cost-effectiveness can provide a supplement to the mid- and low-end markets.”

Da Mi is really good at supply chain management and integration.

At the beginning, Futureverse's profit margin was less than 30%.

With large-scale shipments, Da Mi’s experience in supply chain management came in handy. From Da Mi to senior executives of Ke Chuang Future, they are specifically responsible for supply chain management.

At the same time, it assists the supply chain in reducing costs and increasing efficiency, integrating efficiency and upgrading technology.

Currently, Futureverse II's profit margin has stabilized at 40%.

It is precisely because of large-scale shipments that suppliers' costs have been reduced. Once Ke Chuang Future decides to license brain-computer connection technology, a large number of startups making VR hardware will emerge in China.

The VR industry will usher in the grand occasion of the smartphone war in the past.

As for the future of science and technology innovation, it is the position that Apple held in the past, sitting back and watching the manufacturers below compete for the second spot.

After the release of Pico Verse I by Kechuang Future, the number of pre-orders in China alone exceeded five million.

Brain-computer connection VR has been tested by time, and a complete ecosystem has been built.

Once the price drops, many consumers are willing to pay.

Moreover, the price of Pico Verse I has been cut in half.

The advantage of successful brand building is that it makes it easier for consumers to pay.

Even though the price of 6,000 yuan is not cheap, consumers are not thinking about your product, but that your product used to cost more than 10,000 yuan, but now I can enjoy it with only 6,000 yuan. Take the iPhone as an example. Except for the chip, all other modules of the iPhone SE are products from five years ago, but it still sells well around the world.

This is the power of branding.

The same is true for some luxury brands. Any Hermès accessory costs tens of thousands.

It’s a pity that Dami doesn’t have the patience and determination to build a truly high-end sub-brand.

If brand premium cannot be achieved, there will be no profit.

After the number of pre-orders for Pico Verse I in China exceeded five million, Ke Chuang Future was very optimistic.

Because of brain-computer connection VR, sales overseas have always been better than in China.

The overseas here refers only to developed countries, whose per capita income can afford the additional investment in entertainment.

The regions where brain-computer connection VR sells best are Northern European countries with high welfare such as Iceland, Denmark and Sweden.

Iceland's long winter nights make people stay at home for long periods of time playing games.

Besides Northern Europe, the best-selling places are Neon and Goryeo.

Neon's sales are even better than Goryeo's.

Neon has always been an Internet black hole, and there are huge differences between consumers here and those in other countries.

No matter what products are popular in the Internet ecosystem of America and China, they are all unpopular after arriving in Japan.

Uber, Ebay, group buying, shared bicycles, etc., various Internet ecosystems have no presence in Japan.

However, there are exceptions. Chinese-made two-dimensional mobile games occupy more than half of the top ten in Japan's major charts.

Tik Tok also has a considerable market share in Japan.

It can be seen that Neon also has a demand for the Internet, but the demand in Neon is quite different from that in other places.

Fantasy works have always had a wide audience in Japan.

"Sword Art Online", which is set in virtual reality, has sold more than 20 million copies in Japan.

Therefore, Neon has a strong interest in brain-computer connection VR.

In the year when the first generation of FutureVerse products was released, Neon contributed sales of nearly three million units.

The VR copyright of "Sword Art Online" was contested by Bilibili and NetEase, and finally Bilibili, relying on their previous cooperative relationship, bought it from Kadokawa at a high price.

The animation copyright of "Sword Art Online" was purchased by Bilibili.

In addition, Bilibili promised that the operation of the Neon region of the developed "Sword Art Online" VR game would be handed over to Kadokawa.

In recent years, the prices of some copyrights suitable for adaptation into VR games have skyrocketed.

"Sword Art Online" is just a typical example.

What makes Neon VR ecosystem different from other places is that they only like the two-dimensional art style.

According to the data released after official statistics from Science and Technology Innovation Future, the top spot on the brain-computer connection VR revenue list in the Japanese region has long been occupied by "Genshin Impact".

After the release of the low- and mid-end brain-computer connection VR by Ke Chuang Future, all manufacturers in the VR software field are recruiting.

As the number of users increases, the market capacity also increases.

For example, the market could only accommodate ten games before, but now the number of players has doubled and can accommodate twenty games.

"Hello, is this Dr. Allen?"

After Zheng Li answered the call, a man's voice came from the phone.

Zheng Li could probably guess what it was because someone from the Europa League had hinted to him yesterday that there would be a surprise tomorrow.

"Hello, I am Thomas Perlmann, Secretary General of the Nobel Committee.

I am honored to tell you that you have won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for your proof of high-dimensional space.

The award ceremony will be held in November this year, and I look forward to seeing you in Stockholm.

We will inform you of the specific time and precautions via email later.

Now you can enjoy this glorious moment."

"Ok."

After saying that, Zheng Li hung up the phone.

The Nobel Prize is nothing special to him. There are many people who win the Nobel Prize every year, but he is the only one who can make the Nobel Prize ceremony impossible.

Kate, who was sitting opposite Zheng Li, raised her eyebrows and asked curiously, "Who?"

In Kate's opinion, for a straight man like Zheng Li, generally no one would call him at this time.

Zheng Li replied: "The Nobel Committee told me that I won the Nobel Prize in Physics and told me to remember to attend the award ceremony."

Kate was also very calm, because anyone who paid attention to the academic world knew that Zheng Li would definitely win the Nobel Prize in Physics this year.

The only suspense is whether he will enjoy it alone or share it with others.

No matter how great the good news is, if you know it in advance, the feeling of surprise will disappear when it is actually announced.

Kate said calmly: “Congratulations, Alan.

You should be glad that we are at CERN in 2026, not CERN in 2016.

If this were CERN in 2016, you would be surrounded by journalists.”

Previously, CERN was an open academic institution. In addition to employees and visiting scholars from various countries, there were also some journalists specializing in scientific research.

When the CERN boss was notified that he had won the Nobel Prize, he was surrounded by reporters.

Zheng Li smiled and said, "I should be happy, right?"

Kate added: "That may not be the case. Don't be too happy too soon."

They were having breakfast in the restaurant at the time, and saw people surrounding Zheng Li, and then everyone tried to throw Zheng Li into the air to celebrate.

After the fight, Zheng Li returned to the ground and said, "I understand why everyone is happy for me.

I'll treat everyone to a good meal tonight, and now please calm down."

Kate asked, “How do you feel now, everyone I just notified?

The feeling of being thrown into the air by everyone.

I'm very curious, this is the Nobel Prize, why do I feel that you are not happy at all?
Even a person in his eighties could not hide his joy when he learned that he had won the Nobel Prize.

At the age of forty, you have achieved the highest honor in science."

Zheng Li asked back: "Aren't you unhappy too?"

Kate said helplessly: "That's because I'm not the winner. If I won the Nobel Prize, I promise I would be so happy that I would tell all my relatives and friends.

And then engrave it on my tombstone after I die."

(End of this chapter)