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Metaverse Standards Forum�Update and Transition to an Independent Consortium ��Neil Trevett �NVIDIA | Vice President Developer Ecosystems�Metaverse Standards Forum and Khronos | President��Embargoed until 18^th April 2023, 6AM PT

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The Metaverse Will be Built on Interoperability

Combining multiple disruptive technologies to work together �(AI, GPU, XR, Web3)

Building bridges between applications to scale beyond a series of disconnected silos

Evolving a platform that is open and inclusive for all – an immersive evolution of the web

Depends on�Interoperability

Pervasive metaverse interoperability will need a constellation of open standards …

… involving 100s of standards organizations

Khronos finds increasing interest in its standards for the metaverse…

… but discovers that there is nowhere to coordinate with other standards organizations

End 2021

The Forum grows to over 2400 Member organizations

Multiple Domain Working Groups working to improve interoperability one project at a time

End 2022

The Forum incorporates with unanimous agreement from �its membership

Independent, self-funded, non-profit industry consortium

The Forum’s mission is to create a wavefront of business opportunities through fostering interoperability ‘brick-by-brick’ on the road to the metaverse

Today

Khronos funds launching the Forum in bootstrap mode to determine industry interest

A venue for cooperation between standards organizations and the wider industry

Straightforward participation agreements with Khronos to enable standardization cooperation and communication

June 2022

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The Metaverse Brings Together Diverse Technologies

The Metaverse combines the connectivity of the Web� with the immersiveness of Spatial Computing

Combining multiple disruptive technologies

Social gaming with end user-generated content

E.g., Roblox

GPU-accelerated photorealistic rendering and simulation

E.g., Epic MetaHumans

Decentralized Trust �and Storage

ID and Reputation

Economic transactions

Persistence

Networking

Edge computing

5G, 6G, 10G

Advances in GPU-driven real-time photorealistic graphics and simulation

Scenes, avatars and objects

XR – Virtual Reality (VR) �and Augmented Reality (AR)

VR for generated environments�AR to overlay the real world

Affordable and accessible �XR Devices

E.g., Meta Quest Pro

Digital twins for modeling, monitoring and simulation

e.g., NVIDIA Omniverse

Artificial Intelligence (AI) �a.k.a. Machine Learning

Natural user interfaces

Semantic scene understanding �User generated 3D content

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How Will the Metaverse Evolve?

Darwinian Evolution

Elevates technologies and services that gain market success

Creating a wavefront of commercial opportunities as the metaverse emerges incrementally

Diverse emerging technologies are being brought together in novel ways

Synthesized visual reality

Universally portable 3D assets

Practical XR optics

Real-time environment scanning and semantics

End-user 3D content creation tooling

Accurate physical simulations

Realistic avatars

Online personas and social connections

Machine learning for semantic understanding and assisted content creation

User identity, security and privacy

Effective remote social interactions

Streaming of vast geospatial data sets

Real-world geo-anchoring with persistence

IOT sensor networks

Universal digital twins

Servers scaling to millions of simultaneous users

Interoperable run-times

Online economies and currencies

Pervasive low-latency wireless connectivity

and much more …

Technologies working together at pervasive scale need interoperability standards!

Standards accelerate market opportunities and drive increased volume

Reduce consumer confusion

Increase product capabilities and usability

Enable focus on differentiated innovation

Reduce costs and speed time to market

Pervasive metaverse interoperability will need a constellation of open standards from 100s of standards bodies

The World Wide Web changed the world

But in ways that were hard to predict when it was first invented

The development of the metaverse will be equally hard to forecast

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Ubiquitous Standards for the Metaverse

Multiple Standards

Widely adopted platforms require many hardware and software standards

Industry Standards

Standards are the basis for ubiquitous infrastructure

IEC 60038 Standard voltages

IEC 60228 Conductors of insulated cables

IEC 60269 Low-voltage power fuses

IEC 60320 C13 Connectors and C14 Inlets

IEC 60884 Household Plugs And Socket-Outlets

IEC 61970 APIs for energy management

Constellation of Standards

An open and inclusive metaverse at pervasive scale will need the right standards at the right time – from MANY standards organizations!

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So, standards will be essential to deploying the metaverse at GLOBAL scale, as they are an effective way to make technology truly ubiquitous. Computing platforms such as the PC use hundreds of hardware and software standards to ship at scale and create a thriving ecosystem. Indeed, the act of plugging your PC into the wall outlet takes another WHOLE interoperability ecosystem that has become SO deeply embedded in our daily lives that we just take it for granted! If the metaverse is to reach its full potential, many of the technologies necessary to build it will need to become so ubiquitous that people take THEM for granted too. But bringing together so many diverse technologies is going to take an UNPRECEDENTED level of interoperability between different platforms and products – and THAT means we will need a CONSTELLATION of standards from MANY international standards organizations – just some of which are shown here. And this was the genesis of the Metaverse Standards Forum – up to now there has been no single venue to bring together standards organizations and companies constructing the metaverse, leading to potential misalignment and duplication of effort across the industry. Companies that wish to use open metaverse standards have needed to interact with dozens of standards organizations to try and understand a complex standards landscape, often with gaps and incompatibilities.

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Better Metaverse Standards – Sooner!

Coordination and cooperation between Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs) and wider industry
NOT another SDO! All standardization ‘heavy-lifting’ continues at existing SDOs
Open to all, Member access with no participation dues, no NDA, no patent licensing
The Forum exists to accelerate the mission of its members – including SDOs and advocacy organizations

Standards

Organizations

Standards

Organizations

Industry and

Academia

Use cases

Requirements

Resources

Expertise

Project funding

Domain and Technical Reports

Coordinated use case and requirement insights for current or new standards

Interoperability prototypes, pilots, testbeds, plugfests

Accelerated development of standards under existing SDO governance and IP Policies

Industry-wide

Standards Register and Glossary

Pragmatic, actionable, projects to

foster metaverse interoperability

Networking, Building Social Norms

Standards

Organizations

Open- Source Tooling

Best Practices and Guidelines

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If the Forum is successful, the industry will have more EFFECTIVE metaverse standards and it will have them SOONER! Open to any organization at no cost, the Forum is identifying where lack of interoperability is holding back the deployment of the metaverse - and directing requirements, use cases and implementation insights to standards organizations to help accelerate the evolution and development of needed standards. The Forum will also develop its own deliverables such as a metaverse standards register to help everyone navigate the metaverse standards landscape, together with recommendations and guidelines for DEPLOYING standards. Importantly, the Forum is NOT another standards organization, but a coordination forum to enable pragmatic, action-based projects to accelerate testing and ADOPTION of standards, such as implementation prototyping, pilots and testbeds, plugfests, and open-source tooling. All DEVELOPMENT of standards will continue at existing standards organizations operating under their proven governance models and IP Policies. The Forum has been initiated and bootstrapped by the Khronos Group as part of its non-profit mission to encourage industry interoperability.

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June 2022 - 37 Founding Organizations

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Today - Over 2400 Members and Counting

Wide diversity of �organizations, including...

SDOs

Khronos, W3C, Open Geospatial Consortium, IEEE, OMI, ASWF, Spatial Web Foundation, VRM Consortium, XRSI, OMG, Open AR Cloud, OMA3 …

Platforms

Meta, Microsoft, Sony, Google, Baidu, �Huawei, General Motors, RedHat, Siemens, Tencent, Mozilla, Paramount …

Tools and Engines

Epic, Unity, Adobe, Autodesk, Otoy, Maxon, Cesium, ESRI, Blackshark.ai, Croquet, Lamina1, Niantic, Ready Player Me, DGG, Manticore …

XR

HTC, Magic Leap, Nreal, Panasonic, Tobii, zSpace …

Hardware

NVIDIA, Intel, AMD, HP, Acer, Dell, Qualcomm, Samsung, �Sony, MediaTek, Oppo, Lenovo, ZTE, LG …

Wireless and Networking

China Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile, Verizon, NTT, AT&T, Telefónica, Juniper, Comcast …

3D Commerce

Alibaba, Alvanon, Avataar, CLO, Browzwear, IKEA, VNTANA, Metaverse Fashion Council, Target, Wayfair …

Universities and Institutes

Stanford, John Hopkins, Yale (XRP), Queens University Belfast, University Salford, New York Institute Technology, APMG …

Advocacy

XRSI, AREA, XR Association, VRAR Association, XR Guild, Web3 Marketing Association, International Virtual Reality Healthcare, Swiss Institute for Disruptive Innovation, IOT Consortium, Metaverse Japan, RIAA …

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Organizing for Effective Forum Action

Over 200 topics suggested and counting, for example..�

Database of metaverse standards

Taking 3D assets between worlds

Asset LODs

glTF / USD interoperability

Avatar customization / animation

3D Apparel and Fashion

Cloth Simulation

Metaverse traversal

Geospatial ontologies

Geospatial streaming

Decentralized User ID

Ethical framework

User privacy

Child safety

Payment frameworks

Etc. etc..

2. Organize Topics �into Domains

Consensus on member interest AND where the Forum can add industry value

1. Gather interoperability Topics from all members

Online input from all members on actionable topics that need improvement today!

3. Create Domain Working Groups

Make recommendations and work products publicly available

Topics naturally falling into Domains

Any Forum member can propose and participate in a Domain Working Group

Forum Working Groups focus on short-term pragmatic projects to create a wavefront of business opportunities

Domain and technical reports

Use case and requirements recommendations

Pilots, testbeds and plugfests

Open-source tooling

Best practices and guidelines

Other interoperability data, insights and visibility

Etc.

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Having over 2200 members in the Forum is a unique opportunity to create widespread visibility, and drive cooperation on metaverse standards with a meaningful participation that can make a significant difference in the industry. But of course, it also creates interesting challenges to ORGANIZE for effective action and decision making. The Forum is following a three-step process to identify which topics the Forum membership wishes to focus on, to organize those topics into Domains, and then establish WORKING GROUPS to execute projects focused on solving interoperability issues IN those Domains. ALL data and results generated by Forum Working Groups will be made publicly and openly available. The Forum will prioritize Domain Working Groups with strong member expertise and where we can identify.

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Forum Domain Group Pipeline

Metaverse Standards Register

Publicly available database mapping the landscape of metaverse-relevant standardization activities

glTF/USD 3D Asset Interoperability (visuals, behaviors)

Cooperation between USD and glTF to increase synergy �and reduce duplication of effort, gaps, fragmentation and industry confusion

Real/Virtual World Integration (Digital twins, IOT)

Constructs to describe and integrate the physical world and created representations

Asset Management (web3, protection, digital rights)

Digital rights, protection, portability, access, availability

Interoperable Avatars

Cross-platform avatars and characters for film, gaming, fashion and social platforms

Digital Fashion/Wearables

Clothing (including layering), shoes, hats, accessories

Network Requirements and Capabilities to Support Metaverse Applications

Industry requirements for seamlessly transitioning traffic on multiple wireline and wireless �technologies for deploying metaverse applications at scale

Privacy, Cybersecurity & Identity

Recommendations for responsible innovation that mitigates human and societal harm from �objective and subjective privacy risks – including cybersecurity and identity risk management

Technical Interoperability and End-User Troubleshooting�Enabling end-users to ensure reliable metaverse experiences

3D Web Interoperability

Enable the broadest possible interoperability of Metaverse Content using the Web

Ownership and Identity

Accessibility

Best Practices for Living and Working in the Metaverse

Key

Working Groups

Exploratory Groups

Exploratory Group Proposals

https://metaverse-standards.org/domain-groups/

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Typical Domain Group Activities

Awareness�Understand the standardization landscape in this Domain

Create a Group-maintained list of key players: companies, organizations

Invite key players to join the Forum

Invite key players to present to the Domain Group on their activities – as members or guests

Analysis�Identify where there are �interoperability gaps or misalignments

What are the clearest problems or opportunities where communication and cooperation can make a difference today?

Are there standardization organizations working and willing to fill standardization gaps?

Are industry players willing to cooperate on better alignment on creation and use of best practices or standards?

Action

Initiate Projects to generate and publish work products that foster interoperability

Publish ‘Domain Interoperability Reports’ to build industry understanding and consensus on the need and benefit of increased interoperability

Establish subgroups to deep dive and generate and publish use cases and requirements for needed standardization work

Initiate testbed/plugfest projects to encourage real-world testing, and publicly release assets and tools for ongoing compatibility

Promote and publish Domain Group results

Exploratory Group

Working Group

Charter Approved and�Working Group Formed

Ongoing blend of Awareness, Analysis, and Action as the group transitions and grows

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Metaverse Standards Register Working Group

Providing insights into the metaverse standardization landscape

Register�Database

Glossary Terms

Standards-related Publications and Projects

Pre-qualified Organizations and Groups

Publicly-accessible searching and filtering

Standards Register Working Group

Standardization-related organizations

Glossary Terms and QA/oversight

Approve qualified organizations

Publications and projects information

Commencing outreach for standards organizations to apply to be qualified to enter data on their initiatives into the Register database

Standardization-related organizations

Standardization�related organizations

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USD glTF Interoperability Potential Testbed Project

Goals

Confirm asset behaviours and attributes satisfy use cases
Test publishing and transmission pipeline
Exercise interoperable behaviours in multiple runtimes

All tool engine and platform vendors invited to participate

Whether or not they are Forum Members

Cooperative shared open-source and assets

Runtime Demos

Open door, start engine�Drive course with physics simulation

USD-based tools�Author assets and

publish into glTF

Web-based�Configurator

Material variants

DISTILL

TRANSMIT

Run time engines ingest and process assets

Tools create assets

using open standards

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An important Forum principle is that it will focus on pragmatic, actionable, short-term projects to enhance metaverse interoperability. An example of such a high-impact project is to test the interoperability between two important 3D standards for the metaverse, USD and glTF. USD is a Pixar open-source 3D format and run time system that enables sophisticated AUTHORING of 3D content. glTF is a Khronos open standard 3D asset format that is designed for pervasive DELIVERY of 3D content, the 3D analogy to the JPEG format for images. Many 3D content pipelines will use USD to author 3D content that is then distilled to glTF for efficient run-time delivery and deployment. As both USD and glTF begin incorporating metaverse behaviors and attributes, it is becoming ESSENTIAL to test USD to glTF distillation in practice, by creating real-word assets, making them freely available, and discovering functionality and performance gaps and issues to inform the evolution of BOTH formats AND the tools and engines that use them.

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Metaverse Standards Forum Inc.

The Forum is now incorporated as an independent non-profit industry consortium!

Delaware 501(c)(6) non-profit, non-stock corporation bylaws - financially and legally independent

The goals and daily operation of the Forum are unchanged for a seamless transition

We are STILL not an SDO, there is no NDA for Forum activities, consensus-based with one vote per organization

Still two membership levels ‘Participants’ and ‘Principals’ plus and now and elected Board

Participant membership remains free and provides access to all Domain Group activities
Principals continue to be key to Forum oversight: participation in Oversight Committee and Board Elections

Dues

Election

Domain Groups �Any member can propose, lead, and

Election

Principal Members (Paid)

Nominate to stand for Board or COPP Advisory Panel elections

Voting participation in plenary meetings and elections

Full Domain Group participation and voting rights

Priority participation in Forum outreach and marketing

COPP Advisory Panel�Open to any Principal with COPP designation

Non-voting Board meeting participation

Participant Members (Free)

Non-voting participation in plenary meetings

Full Domain Group participation and voting rights

Participate in Forum outreach and marketing

Oversight Committee �Voting participation to manage Domain Group Pipeline

Domain Groups �Any member can propose, lead, and participate

Board�Directors serve �two-year terms

To encourage participation by a broad diversity of standardization organizations the Forum designates some members as ‘COPP’s with reduced or waived fees

‘Collaborative Organization with Public Products’ produce publicly available, specifications, policies, recommendations, or open-source software through a collaborative member-driven process.

A COPP may stand for election to the COPP Advisory Panel for non-voting Board meeting participation

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Principal Dues

Principal Annual Membership dues introduced for self-sufficient funding of operations and projects

Principal fees tiered on member size to enable participation by organizations of all sizes and geographies

All Principals can cast one vote in decisions and elections, regardless of dues paid

Avoid any concerns over inappropriate ‘buying of influence’

Principal dues capped at $999 for COPPs and accredited academic institutions

COPPs and non-profits may apply for a due waiver to $0

Size and Type of Organization	Principal Dues (US$)
COPPs and Non-profits approved for Principal Fee Waiver Invited Industry Experts (individuals) and Liaison Orgs	$0
Micro Enterprises (< 10 emp. AND <$2M revenue/assets)	$50 per employee
Small Enterprises (< 50 emp. AND <$10M revenue/assets) Accredited Academic Institutions COPPs without fee waiver	$999
Medium Enterprises (< 250 emp. AND <$50M revenue/assets)	$4,999
Large Enterprises (>250 emp. OR > $50M revenue/assets)	$9,999

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Membership Transition

Six-month transition period for all members to execute updated membership agreement

For agreement terms consistency between all members

All members retain current level of membership without payment for three months�EXCEPT no Board election nomination or voting rights unless execute new Principal agreement

Incorporation Publicly Announced

Members that have not executed a new membership agreement are provided Participant-only membership for an additional 3 months

Announcement�+3 Months

Members that have not executed a new Participant or Principal membership agreement and paid dues (if required) are terminated

Announcement�+6 Months

New Principals may request to be elected to an Initial Board

Initial 90 Days

10% off membership dues for members executing new membership agreement in initial 90 days following incorporation public announcement

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Post-Incorporation Board Timeline

Board processes for quorum and actions as per bylaws

Initial Board�Consent

Khronos President and Managing Director elected as Directors �Terms through to �Interim Board Election

Officers Elections�Khronos President as �President and Secretary

Khronos Managing Director as Executive Director and Treasurer

Forum President and Executive Director Officer terms through to Full Board Election �for continuity

Incorporation Publicly Announced�April 18th, 2023

Interim�Board�Election

Up to total 11 Directors elected by and from Principals �Up to 3 seats reserved for non-Large Enterprises.�Terms through to Full Board Election

Announcement +3 Months

Full Board�Election�AGM

Up to total 19 Directors elected by and from Principals �5 seats reserved for non-Large Enterprises.�Staggered two year terms

Announcement�+9 Months

Board may elect up to 5 additional Directors At least one seat reserved for non-Large Enterprises.�Terms through to Interim Board Election

Board may elect Secretary and Treasurer Officers �from Directors�Terms through to Interim Board Election

Initial Board

Board elects Secretary and Treasurer Officers�Terms through to Full Board Election

Interim Board

Board elects all Officers�Terms through to �upcoming AGMs

Full Board

Initial Board

Officers serving until first AGM after 9 months

Neil Trevett: President and Secretary

Emily Stearns: Executive Director and Treasurer

Directors serving for 90 days until first Board Elections

Ulrich Dropmann, Nokia

Paul Higgs, Huawei

Yu Yuan, Versemaker (IEEE SA President)

Matt White, Berkeley Synthetic Inc.

Aditya Mani, YOLOgram

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Post Incorporation FAQ

Is the Forum now going to try to ‘define and solve the metaverse’?

No! The focus remains on practical, actionable interoperability projects that can create a wavefront of short-term opportunity. We are ‘baking the open standard bricks’ for the metaverse, not trying to ‘build the whole cathedral’

Is the Forum now a new standards organization?

No, the Forum remains a unique venue to coordinate requirements and support for existing SDOs developing standards relevant to the metaverse, complementing existing standards bodies

Is the Forum competing with other metaverse-related organizations?

No! We welcome other organizations to join the Forum, and we hope that the opportunity for wider visibility and cooperation can help them further their mission

Why did Khronos acting as host and bootstrap the Forum?

Promoting industry cooperation is part of Khronos’ non-profit mission, our membership requested we help create an open, neutral forum for the benefit of all. Khronos is delighted to see the ongoing success for the Forum and for it to become an independent incorporated consortium

Now Principals pay dues, will larger companies be able to ‘buy outsized influence’?

No, Forum processes mandate on vote per organization, regardless of the size of paid dues to encourage decisions to continue to be made by consensus

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So, to begin wrapping up, I would like to re-emphasize a few key points. Firstly, the Forum is not trying ‘solve’ the whole metaverse, but is focusing on practical, actionable projects to help solve real-world interoperability issues, and create commercial opportunities TODAY - we like to say we are ‘baking the open standard bricks’ for the metaverse, not trying to ‘build the whole metaverse cathedral.’ Secondly, the Forum is not a new standards organization, it won’t create standards itself, rather it is a unique venue for enabling cooperation that we hope will enable MULTIPLE standards organizations to build standards that better meet the needs of the industry - sooner. Thirdly, there are many organizations being formed around the industry to work on metaverse topics, the Forum does not wish to compete with their good work – indeed, if any of those organizations are interested in open STANDARDS, they are welcome to join the Forum and we hope that the opportunity for wider cooperation can help further THEIR mission too. And lastly, the Khronos Group has helped bootstrap the Forum, as fostering standards cooperation is consistent with Khronos’ non-profit mission, but in Forum meetings, Khronos is happy to be just one more Forum member among many others.

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Call for Participation in Unique Cooperative Opportunity

Broad global participation in the Forum enables a unique opportunity for metaverse standards cooperation, coordination and leadership

for Forum members to accelerate their organizations objectives�https://metaverse-standards.org/

Comprehensive, international gathering of industry requirements and expertise in Forum Working Groups

Wide visibility and adoption of Forum initiatives

Any Forum member can propose, lead, contribute to, participate in, or monitor Domain Working Groups

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Background Materials

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Khronos “Connects Software to Silicon”

Standards Organization founded in 2000�~200 Members ~ 40% US, 30% Europe, 30% Asia

Non-profit, member-driven, open to any company

Well-defined multi-company governance and IP Framework

Open, royalty-free interoperability standards to harness the power of GPUs, multiprocessors and XR hardware

3D graphics, augmented and virtual reality, parallel programming, inferencing and vision acceleration

XR displays and devices

Embedded camera, sensor and ISP

Vision and inferencing acceleration

3D rendering acceleration

Runtime Control

Sensor Stream

Pose and scene data

Pixels

Augmentation 3D Assets

Khronos APIs used for XR �(augmented or virtual reality)

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Proto-Metaverse Consumer Use Cases

Realtime, multi-user gaming and socialization

Fortnight, PUBG, Valheim

Virtual spaces where gamers create their own content

Roblox, Minecraft, Manticore

Augmenting Reality with persistent geo-locking, linking, occlusion and realistic scene illumination

Open AR Cloud, Niantic

Realistic environments where users can import their own authored assets

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Enhanced student learning and engagement by transforming how educational content is delivered

Forbes, iLRN, Virbela

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Enterprise Proto-Metaverse Use Cases

Digital twins - virtual representation of a product, process, or place that measures mirrors and its physical counterpart – for monitoring, optimizing and prediction

GE, Siemens, Bentley, NVIDIA

Spatially indexing and streaming the digitized world for planning, visualization and simulation

OGC, Cesium, NVIDIA

Augmented Reality used in guided tasks and remote assistance are proven to boost productivity

PTC, AREA

Immersive Training significantly increases understanding and retention

Microsoft, Google

Virtual Sports Leagues and immersive viewing of sports events

Algorand, �Sports Tomorrow

3D application interoperability for real-time immersive collaborative simulation and design

NVIDIA Omniverse

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The Promise of Metaverse Interoperability

Interoperability is the key to the metaverse scaling �beyond a series of disconnected silos

Decentralized trust and storage�Enable any service to access and confirm ID, reputation, payments, �and ownership with a persistent history

Interoperable 3D objects and avatars�Take your personal avatar and objects you have earned, built or purchased �seamlessly across multiple services

Travel between different spaces�With minimal friction and consistent user interface but with agreed ‘border customs’ to respect �IP ownership, business models, age appropriateness, gameplay, rendering style etc.

and much more…..

If achieved, this level of interoperability would escalate the economy and utility of the metaverse beyond any single space or service

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It is open standards that hold the promise of services and experiences interoperating through sharing data to enable the metaverse to scale in functionality and scope far beyond any single experience, creating a network effect to build a significant social and economic opportunity for all. One of the first interoperability opportunities is to be able to use your avatar, and any digital goods you have purchased across multiple worlds in the metaverse. Defining this kind of interoperability though is a multi-layer challenge – as just in the real world you are not permitted to take ANY object ANYWHERE in the world – we will need metaverse standards to enable ‘border customs’ between worlds to ensure IP ownership, business models, age appropriateness, gameplay, and rendering styles are respected. To take a gaming example, it wouldn’t be fair to enable a laser rifle purchased in a space sim to be taken into a medieval battle recreation.

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Metaverse Reality vs. Hype

Web3 is a young area of innovation – and is still evolving how to enable systems of decentralized trust for ID, reputation and economic transactions that will be essential to the metaverse

The Metaverse will be a wild west of crypto currencies and NFTs

There is only one Metaverse�The metaverse is a platform - just as there is only one Web �The metaverse will enable diverse ‘worlds’, spaces’ and ‘experiences’ etc. �Just as the Web enables ‘pages’ and ‘apps’ etc.

We will choose to use the metaverse when and if it is engaging, insightful and educational – and perhaps more productively than the average of 3 hours a day we on average spend watching TV today

We will live our lives in the metaverse!

You will need to plug into a VR headset to access the metaverse

Although VR will deliver some of the most immersive and AR could eventually replace mobile phones, there will be many ways to use Metaverse applications - including phones, tablets and PCs

The Metaverse market will be worth Trillions of dollars $ in the next few years

As with many transformative technologies, its evolution will take longer than we think, but its impact will likely be larger than we first imagined

The Hype

The Reality

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But there is also confusion and skepticism about the term “the metaverse” since it started getting widely used about one year ago. One big debate has been - is there is a single “metaverse” or multiple “metaverses”. Personally, I think it is most useful to think of the metaverse as an underlying platform that enables multiple ‘worlds’ or ‘experiences’ etc. just as we have just one world wide web that enables multiple ‘pages’ and ‘apps.’ Many articles state that we will spend significant portions of our life “in the metaverse” and to many this sounds dystopian - where technology is further disconnecting us from the real world. But I hope that the metaverse will be used when it is engaging – and perhaps be more interactive than the hours we spend today passively watching TV or games. Some make it sound that you MUST use a VR helmet to use the metaverse, and although that will often provide the most immersive experience - I think many people will not want or need to be isolated from their surrounding and access metaverse apps through phones and PCs – as they do with games today. Many have associated the Metaverse with the wild west of crypto currencies and NFTs, but they are not essential for a spatial web – and we should remember the field of “web3” is much younger than 3D graphics, XR or AI – and so be patient as more time is needed to evolve reliable systems for decentralized trust and payments. And lastly, there have been some rather exaggerated market forecasts for the metaverse – before we even know what the metaverse it is going to be! So, I suggest ignoring the hype – and focus instead on how metaverse technologies can begin to help your business or organization TODAY.

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Open Standards Make Technology Pervasive

Open Standard = �Shared Specification

Implementation

Contributor

Open Source =

Shared Implementation

Open standards with rigorous conformance testing enable consistency across multiple implementations that can meet the needs of diverse markets, price points, and use cases

Open standards often use open source to spread the implementation effort for �sample implementations, tools, samples, conformance tests, validators etc…

INTEROPERABILITY standards define precise COMMUNICATION

E.g., software to hardware, client to server, organization to organization

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So how DO open standards enable proven technologies to be pervasive? What is their superpower? The answer is that an open STANDARD is a shared specification, together with rigorous conformance tests that defines precise COMMUNICATION - for example between hardware and software, client to server or between worlds on the metaverse. This enables reliable implementations that know how to communicate to be built and shipped by MULTIPLE companies to meet the needs of diverse markets, price points, and use cases - enabling that technology to fan out WIDELY across the industry. By contrast, open-SOURCE projects enable multiple contributors to cooperate in building a single SHARED implementation. Both open source and open standards are powerful tools, and open-source projects are often used to enable open standard ecosystems, but the two are often confused. It is important to understand the different strengths of open standards and open source to be able to select the RIGHT tool for the job at hand.

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Open Standard Why’s, When's and How’s

Why
Grow Markets By reducing consumer confusion �and increasing capabilities and usability	Reduce Costs By sharing ecosystem development �between many companies and driving volume
Speed Time to Market With well-proven functionality, �testing and interoperability	Enable Innovation Free companies compete on value differentiators: quality, performance, power etc.
When
Proven Technologies Don’t do R&D by standards committee	Consensus Need The downside of not having a standard is clear to all
How
Multi-company governance Avoid single-company control or dependency	Well-defined IPR Policy Royalty-free standards have clearer path to wide adoption
With Extensibility Enable a responsive innovation pipeline �to meet customer and market needs	Thoughtful Abstraction Focus on interoperability and avoid over specifying implementation which stifles innovation

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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So just what IS an open standard? The term typically refers to specifications defining INTEROPERABILITY – enabling precise communication, such as an API for a software application to drive a hardware device. The tech industry uses thousands of hardware and software interoperability standards - they are essential to remove industry friction and to grow market opportunities for everyone. Well-designed open standards are careful to precisely define interoperability, but NOT to over-prescribe implementation details. This is really key – a good standard unleashes the power of innovation and healthy competition between implementations - effective standardization does NOT mean a race to the lowest common denominator. Also, truly OPEN standards are NOT controlled by any SINGLE company – and THAT means we need industry cooperation to create and evolve them. The industry uses Standards Developing Organizations – of which Khronos is one - to enable MULTIPLE companies to work together to develop a shared consensus on open standards that move the industry forward. Effective SDOs have well-defined multi-company governance and Intellectual Property frameworks - and each of these organizations typically has a specific area of expertise. As a general rule the more inclusive the governance model - and the wider the consensus built during the standardization process – the better the chance that a standard will be widely adopted.