Chapter 539 - The Door and the Key

Translator: _Min_ Editor: Caron_

Jiang Chen’s sentence immediately dragged the off-topic-conference back on topic and at the same time, he advertised the Phantom helmet without a trace.

The media below the stage was in astonishment once again.

He was attending the news conference in real time through the virtual reality helmet.

A word abruptly popped up in Danny’s head.

[AR?]

AR stood for Augmented Reality. It was the use of virtual objects to “enhance reality.” Compared with virtual reality (VR), it had the advantages of a stronger sense of reality and small modeling workload. One representative product was Microsoft’s HoloLens. After wearing their glasses, you could change your home table into a gaming table and transform the wall into a TV screen.

But for the people in a socially interactive environment, the weaknesses of AR technology were obvious. When you wore the reality enhancement glasses and waved your arm to make some weird maneuver in the air, what would your roommate think?

Regardless, it would be awkward as hell.

It was one of the challenging aspects of AR application - only people wearing the glasses could see “enhanced” virtual objects. But Future Technology used holograms to fuse virtual reality and actual reality together perfectly, which was why all the reporters were stunned.

“The Phantom Helmet.” Jiang Chen opened one hand while he faced the silent reporters and smiled. “The key to the virtual world.”

Particles fused into lines above his palm and weaved themselves into a realistic helmet. The helmet hovered above his palm and slowly rotated in the eyes of the reporters.

“I know everyone here has an understanding about the functionality of the helmet, so I won’t describe the specifications here. I’ll only provide two numbers: 1.44 million and 0.”

When Jiang Chen mentioned the number 1.44 million, a lot of reporters realized it was the total number of helmets available in the virtual reality experience project previously announced.

But what did 0 mean?

All the reporters had the same question in mind, but Jiang Chen, who saw through this, answered their question with his next words.

“1.44 million Phantom Helmets. 37% of the units operated nonstop 24 hours for the past three months, but not a single unit malfunctioned.”

All the reporters in the twelve conferences around the world were visibly stunned.

“How is that possible?”

“Without malfunction… This ratio is too absurd.”

“Who can prove this? There should be a limit in bluffing; do you think all consumers around the world are fools?” At one conference, a short reporter stood up and questioned Jiang Chen’s claim.

“Of course I can prove this, Mister. As for the evidence, if you exit, turn right, and walk three hundred meters, there will be a net cafe which is part of Future Technology’s virtual reality experience project. Why don’t you see for yourself if I’m bluffing? Also, I noticed that you didn’t raise your hand when you spoke, and you signed a guarantee regarding respecting the rules of the conference. I must question your ability to adhere to these rules.”

The reporter who asked the question listened to the surrounding partially-compassionate, partially-mocking whispers and sat down with his face looking pale.

He didn’t think Jiang Chen, simultaneously facing all twelve conferences, would notice his comment.

With Jiang Chen’s words of criticism directed to all conferences around the globe, he lost face for his publisher to the media around the world, and that officially marked the end of his professional career.

“Now, let us continue on the question regarding the Phantom Helmet. Just like everyone has witnessed, our helmet has a long standby time and exceptional quality. Even running continuously for three months, it does not experience frame lag or crashes caused by aging circuits or overheating damage.”

“And the Phantom Helmet is able to do this because of our unique sealing technology, so our helmet cannot be disassembled and we do not accept any demolition behavior. Any malfunctions due to the disassembly of the helmet by the user will be the responsibility of the user. For any failure due to normal use, we will provide free replacements and half-price redemption services.”

Jiang Chen purposely downplayed the role of the graphene chip, but his explanation didn’t satisfy all the media as quite a number of them raised their hands, hoping Jiang Chen would give them an opportunity to ask a question.

Standing on the stage in virtual reality, Jiang Chen estimated the number of hands raised between the twelve conferences. He coughed then spoke.

“Based on the number of questions, a lot of reporters obviously still have questions regarding my explanation. My presentation has come to an end, so just like before, for the rest of the time, you can ask and I will answer.”

When Jiang Chen’s words died, all the reporters present raised their hands. Even then, it was in an orderly fashion. With the disgraced reporter set as an example, no reporter stood up without being called or disrupted the conference.

When Charles heard Jiang Chen calling his number, he immediately stood up to ask his question.

“The sealing mechanism your company utilizes is understandable, but isn’t it excessive to demolish the circuit upon opening the helmet? After all, the user should have the right to determine the use of the product after purchasing it. The confidentiality of the technology could be protected by patent law without sacrificing the user’s interests.”

When Danny heard this tricky question, Danny couldn’t help but nod in agreement. The South Cal Journals reporter, although he had a silly appearance, sharply pointed to a weakness of Future Technology. Sacrifice the legitimate rights and interests of consumers? In a country “keen on the rights” of consumers, it would be hard for Future Technology to address this problem.

“Allow me to make a correction about the misunderstanding of Future Technology.” Jiang Chen was prepared for the question as he smiled at the media. “First, we never established any sealing mechanism that harmed user’s rights.”

Regarding Jiang Chen’s answer, a lot of reporters who wanted to ask the same question were all dumbfounded.

[What kind of answer is that? It’s like forcefully insisting that black is white?]i

“You can’t ignore the fact that you are infringing on user rights just because you sign a warranty agreement with the user at the time of purchase,” Charles argued.

“Please be cautious with your words, Mr. Charles. Future Technology has only undergone presales on its official site with the opportunity to request a refund at any time to open up the spot. All the Phantom Helmets on the market are only available in virtual reality experience stores, and those helmets were never sold. Strictly speaking, they are part of Future Technology’s assets.”

“I’m not going to pursue personal or collective legal responsibility for those who open the property without authorization of the company, but instead, I will fine double the price of the helmet upon discovery of the opening of the helmet. Until three days after the consumer receives a helmet from the courier, we will be the ones infringed upon, do you understand?” Jiang Chen looked at Charles in the eye and smiled.

They weren’t going to pursue legal responsibility because it would be impossible to do so. Some of the unauthorized openings of the helmets were personal actions, but some were with the permission of the government. It was as difficult to pursue legal responsibility as suing Future Group for the monopoly in Xin.

Charles’ throat bobbed as he felt helpless. Although he thought Jiang Chen’s words had a flaw somehow, he didn’t know what the problem was.

Danny, who was standing beside him, was discreetly shocked. Jiang Chen managed to use one sentence to change Future Group’s position from the infringer to the infringed party.

“What I’m going to say next is an explanation to the consumers interested in purchasing the Phantom Helmet.” Jiang Chen paused. “Just as we said, we never established a sealing mechanism. Opening the helmet, causing the circuit to overload, is purely because of a circuit protection mechanism installed in the helmet. Any demolition behavior will cause the circuit to overload and damage the circuit board inside the helmet. I admit this is a flaw of Future Technology. We will make improvements on this point and hope consumers will understand.”

Equating the sealing mechanism to a deficiency in their technology was as shameless as they could get. A lot of people watching the live conference on Future Technology’s official site were calling them shameless.

But they couldn’t rebut his explanation. Since Future Technology was the only company who could manufacture immersive virtual reality equipment, only they had the final interpretation of the technology.

[If I can’t do it, you can’t forcefully make me do it.]

The reporters who planned on pursuing a line of questioning regarding the excessiveness of the sealing mechanism all gave up on the idea. Since Future Technology already provided an explanation, persisting on this problem would only waste opportunities for valuable questions without gaining any useful information.

When Charles sat down, another reporter who was picked stood up. Judging by the microphone in her hand, she was a reporter from the Wall Street Journal, and her question would focus on the financial aspect rather than the technical side without a doubt.

“Mr. Jiang Chen, since your company already achieved an absolute leading position in the field of virtual reality, will you use your technical advantage to prevent other companies from entering the field?”

It was a sensitive topic because it involved a secret that had to do with all major corporations.

Monopoly.

“Of course not - we’re happy to welcome other companies to develop virtual reality along with us. Just like what you’ve seen, the Phantom Helmet’s functionality isn’t only games - games are only one of the methods that allow us to push the helmet to the world. The reason why I could simultaneously attend all twelve conferences around the world was because of the functionalities of the Phantom Helmet.”

When Jiang Chen said this, all the reporters’ eyes lit up. Future Technology planned to cooperate with other enterprises in virtual reality! This was an incredible piece of news.

Because of this sentence, all the resulting questions revolved around Future Technology’s potential cooperation.

In what form will the cooperation take place? Will Future Technology make its technology public? To these questions, Jiang Chen answered them one by one.

“Immersive virtual reality technology is the core technology of Future Technology and the technology won’t be made public. Future Technology currently has no plans to register for patents in the short term, but Future Technology welcomes cooperation in content generation.”

“Our cooperation will include all fields of the internet. After a period of time, Future Technology will gradually open to its partner’s related technology in program development in virtual reality to allow tech companies to develop software compatible to the Phantom Helmet.”

Virtual reality was a massive market. All the functionalities possessed by the present day internet could theoretically be achieved through a platform on virtual reality. A single company’s power alone could not digest the entire market and could potentially lead to anti-monopoly allegations to prevent other companies from entering the market.

Future Technology only needed to control the “key” to the market with the quantum computer acting as the “door” as well as quantum communication satellites, that would launch at a later date, acting as the connection node to the virtual reality web.

And the world behind the door should be developed by all companies around the world.

The product launch conference not only introduced the Phantom as the key to the virtual world - it also sent out a positive signal to the entire world.

A signal called cooperation.

_Min_

I do apologize for the delay in publishing the chapters. One of my editors was away. We are back on schedule now.