175: Chapter 175 Google Unveils a Cheap Version of VR

Totem.

He turned these two words over in his mind.

What was he in his past life?

He was the light that always stayed on in the laboratory.

He was the first signature that appeared repeatedly on project reports.

But he was never anyone's totem.

No one proudly flooded the group chat because of his achievements.

No one was so excited that they made three phone calls in a row because he won an honor.

And certainly no one dug out old photos from his childhood, insisting, "You could tell he was destined for big things even back then."

In those years, the trophies and certificates he won, if stacked up, would be taller than a person.

Yet they all lay quietly in the office cabinet, never having been seen by any family member.

Because in his past life, he was an orphan with no family.

In his past life, he did not have a group like this.

But in this life—

He looked down at his phone screen.

The group messages were still popping up.

Second Aunt was asking if she could watch the live broadcast on the day of the military parade.

His aunt was discussing whether to go to Jingzhou early to meet him.

Third Uncle-in-law had already started researching the dress code for guests attending the ceremony in previous years.

Mother Lu sent another message: "Don't forget to bring a jacket; it's cool in the morning and evening in Jingzhou in October."

Father Lu followed up with one word: "Hmm."

Lu Li stared at that "Hmm" for a while.

Just one word.

But he inexplicably felt that this word carried more weight than all the award notifications he had received in his past life combined.

Lu Yaoguang sat on the other end of the sofa, looking down at the group messages, the corners of her mouth curling up bit by bit.

She didn't continue to speak in the group.

But her eyes were smiling.

It wasn't the kind of smile used for watching the fun.

It was a very quiet, warm smile.

She remembered when she had just started her freshman year.

A classmate was chatting in the dorm and inadvertently mentioned Guanghui Technology, then the topic veered to "Su Qingxue's husband is a freeloader."

That classmate didn't know the relationship between Lu Yaoguang and Lu Li.

Lu Yaoguang didn't get angry at the time; she just asked with a smile, "Do you know him?"

The other person said no.

Lu Yaoguang said, "Then you'd better not talk nonsense."

Her tone was very flat, but the temperature in the dorm dropped several degrees.

From then on, that classmate never brought up the topic in front of her again.

And now.

Looking at the messages in the group like "Truly impressive," "Promising," and "State-certified," she had only one thought in her mind.

Brother, you have been seen.

Not by the keyboard warriors on those forums.

Not by the media at those press conferences.

But by the people who should see you.

Those who once said you were a freeloader, those who once thought you weren't worthy, those who once gossiped behind your back.

They will never have the right to say a word again.

She turned off her phone screen and looked up at Lu Li.

She didn't speak.

She just took a look.

Then she lowered her head again and continued peeling grapes.

She felt that today was probably the liveliest day at home since the beginning of this summer vacation.

And it was also her happiest day.

Lu Li leaned back on the sofa, his fingers tapping lightly on the side of the cup twice.

The invitation lay on the table not far away.

The red was very vibrant.

...

Time moved forward quickly.

August was already halfway over.

The atmosphere in the entire tech circle began to get a little restless.

Domestically, speculations about the Guanghui Technology September press conference were getting more exaggerated by the day.

Some said they would release a new concept phone.

Some said the telephoto parameters would be shockingly good.

Others firmly believed that since Lu Li dared to place the press conference in such a high-profile position, it was impossible that he would only bring out an ordinary flagship.

But no matter what the outside world guessed, Guanghui Technology's lips were sealed tight.

Even the supply chain side only knew what they were doing, not what the final device would look like.

The entire press conference seemed to be covered under a huge black cloth.

Everyone knew there was something underneath.

But no one could lift it.

However, in late August, the overseas side suddenly made a move.

First, a European and American tech media outlet released news—

Google would hold its special autumn press conference in advance.

Then the second, third, and fourth media outlets followed suit.

The leaks were getting more intense one after another.

Lightweight VR glasses.

A new generation of haptic feedback gloves.

Wearable spatial interaction kits.

And—

The latest large AI model, Genie3.

Generate open-world games with a single sentence.

But what really caused an uproar in the outside world wasn't these individual hardware parameters.

It was another piece of news released by Google—

They were going to integrate this entire set of things with the Android ecosystem, Google Maps, YouTube, Google Play, and cloud computing centers.

And the first batch would be sold simultaneously in dozens of European and American countries.

The price was only half that of the Virtual Helmet.

On the day the news came out, the overseas tech circle exploded.

The domestic digital circle also exploded.

The density of discussions on forums, short video platforms, and tech blogs had increased several times almost overnight.

Because everyone could see it.

This time, Google didn't intend to go head-to-head with the Virtual Helmet on "immersion."

Everyone in the world acknowledged that the Virtual Helmet offered a stronger experience.

But what Google was playing was not that at all.

They were playing a different card—

Lighter.

Cheaper.

More convenient for daily wear.

Easier to roll out rapidly by relying on existing Android phones, app stores, and overseas channels.

If the Virtual Helmet was the next-generation home immersive platform.

Then what Google wanted to seize now was the title of "next-generation daily-use computing portal."

Moreover, they also conveniently filled in the biggest shortcoming that was most easily criticized.

In the press conference preview, Google announced a "Developer Migration Plan."

It claimed that it could quickly migrate existing Android apps, mobile games, navigation, and audio-visual content into a spatial interaction environment through Genie3 and automatic adaptation tools.

They even announced huge subsidies to attract European and American developers to prioritize adapting to their new platform.

With this, public opinion completely exploded.

On overseas forums, someone had long ago compiled a list of complaints about the Virtual Helmet.

If worn for a long time, sleep quality would be affected; although Guanghui Technology explained the reason and pushed a firmware update immediately, under the magnification of those with ulterior motives, these small problems immediately became ready-made ammunition for attacks.

"Too heavy."

"Average battery life."

"Burdensome to wear for long periods."

"Content ecosystem relies on Guanghui Technology pushing it themselves."

"Insufficient global distribution capability."