Envisioning the Metaverses

Exploring the future trajectories of the Metaverse as tomorrow’s digital frontier at a moment in time where technology, business models, and regulatory systems are still malleable, our interactive multi-stakeholder workshop was centered around four cases that affect and involve different user groups. 

Key insights from the discussion

XR Spaces and extended reality infrastructures by the XR Hub Bavaria.

Our partner from the XR Hub Bavaria presented a variety of different projects aiming at the creation of a digital infrastructure which can serve as common good technologies. Being a state-funded initiative, the focus of the XR Spaces as a use case for Government-to-Citizen project is on value-driven activities while commercial aspects take the backseat.  

Metaverse pilot by the EU Global Gateway Initiative.

The EU communication campaign provides another example for a Government-to-Citizen project. When public actors use Metaverse-applications to engage with citizens, it is a challenge to find the right balance between providing content as information and allowing visitors of the Metaverse to create, interact and change the environment. This leads to two suggestions: How can we educate across societal groups about the capability to interact in virtual spaces? And how far can the state be involved in the provision of Metaverse infrastructure as well as content creation? 

Digital twins in manufacturing for Small-Medium Entreprises by Umlaut @Accenture.

An example for Business-to-Business case was provided by the startup Umlaut which was recently acquired by Accenture. There is still a lack of knowledge concerning the high potential of digital twins for the training and education sector, demonstrated in the manufacturing use case. In addition to this, there is still a high inequality to access across the globe as some areas might not have access to the necessary data or still might not have access to the technology. 

Virtual Reality speech trainer through Artificial Intelligence by Straightlabs.

The last use case was presented by Straightlabs as an example for a Business-to-Consumer application. The tool shows the immense potential for different areas, especially capacity building and training, of application of immersive technology, but also the complexity caused by the degree of involvement of personal data and the human itself in a hard to explain and complex technology. 

The Metaverse workshop brought together stakeholders from academia, startups, business, government, administration, and media to jointly explore and experience the promises and pitfalls based on selected Metaverse applications from different areas.