Huawei and Qualcomm, are part of the Metaverse Standards Forum to develop industry guidelines that ensure the compatibility of immersive VR worlds. Creating interoperability and improving collaboration is at the heart of the forum.
Remember that the metaverse is a term coined by Neal Stephenson in the science fiction novel Snow Crash in 1992. Although there is no precise definition of the term, it encompasses the idea that the Internet exists as a world of immersive virtual experience , accessible through VR or mixed reality (AR/VR) headsets. Facebook is the strongest proponent of the idea that the metaverse represents the future of the internet, while Apple takes a more restrained view. Building a widespread, open and globally inclusive meta-universe will require cooperation and coordination between a constellation of international standards organizations, including the Khronos Group, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the Open Geospatial Consortium, OpenAR Cloud, Spatial Web Foundation and many more.
The Forum will not develop standards itself, but will coordinate requirements and resources to promote the creation and evolution of standards within standards bodies working in related fields. It is noteworthy that, at this stage, there is no Web3 company or any metaverse like TheSandBox, Decentraland, Cryptovoxels…
In a statement, the forum detailed plans to develop consistent terminology and deployment guidelines, as well as various projects to promote testing and adoption of metaverse standards. Open at no cost to any organization, the Metaverse Standards Forum provides a place for cooperation between standards organizations and companies to promote the development of interoperability standards.
The forum is hosted by the software company Khronos Group together with Adobe, Sony, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia… The Metaverse Standards Forum is open for free to all companies, standards groups, and universities. Meta, Microsoft and other technology giants struggling to build the emerging concept of the metaverse have formed a group to support the development of industry standards that will create new digital corporate worlds which match each other.
The forum’s activities are driven by the needs and interests of its members and may cover a variety of technology areas, including, but not limited to:
- Interactive 3D assets and photorealistic rendering
- Human interface and interaction paradigms including AR, VR and XR
- User Generated Content
- Avatars, identity management and privacy
- Financial operations
- IOT and digital twins
- Geospatial systems
Founding members include: 0xSenses, Academy Software Foundation, Adobe, Alibaba, Autodesk, Avataar, Blackshark.ai, CalConnect, Cesium, Daly Realism, Disguise, Enosema Foundation, Epic Games, Express Language Foundation, Huawei, IKEA, John Peddie Research, Khronos, Lamina , Maxon , Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA, OpenAR Cloud, Open Geospatial Consortium, Otoy, Perey Research and Consulting, Qualcomm Technologies, Ribose, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Spatial Web Foundation, Unity, VerseMaker, Wayfair, Web3D Consortium, World Wide Web Consortium and the XR Association (XRA).
Forum activities will be driven by the needs and interests of its members and may include various technology areas such as 3D assets and rendering, human interface and interaction paradigms such as AR and VR, user-generated content , avatar, identity management, privacy and finances. transactions. Forum meetings are expected to begin in July 2022.
Interoperability
Standards are the foundation of a widespread infrastructure, especially since widely adopted platforms require many hardware and software standards. An open and inclusive metaverse of scale will require the right standards at the right time, from many standard bodies! For example, there is a potential beachhead opportunity for meaningful industry standards cooperation between the USD and the glTF. Both formats actively add attributes and behavior to transfer from 3D properties to metaverse properties. Many questions are asked such as: To what extent do standards and protocols converge? What is the level of interoperability between different platforms? Is there a unified economy across all platforms? Can digital items purchased in one metaverse be used in another? Do identities persist across platforms? Are there consistent design and programming patterns?
Of course, there is a need for regulation so that IP and digital assets can be reliably protected.
Reaching
Although the future of the metaverse is still unknown, there are several actions that leaders can take today, according to Deloitte:
- Don’t underestimate the potential: Create a metaverse strategy, but keep it flexible enough to adapt to changes in technology and consumer preferences. Take a “test and learn” approach to consumer and business functions.
- Taking a long view: Since the overall metaverse and the corresponding revenue generation are likely to take place over several years, companies should take a long-term view of investments and consider KPIs around the engagement of those consumers and employees in addition to return on investment. Consider investments in the context of broader digital transformation programs.
- Focus on the need and what motivates users : Organizations need to focus on how to create compelling content and engaging experiences (eg exclusive partnerships, user-generated content, robust data and insights collection) to build market share and remain competitive.
- Commitment to a “responsible metaverse”: organizations must manage the various complexities and risks of the metaverse (eg privacy/security, accessibility, sustainable energy use) and ensure that they proactively build a responsible metaverse and effectively maintain consumers and trust in employees.