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Open Standards Can Make Technology Pervasive

Open Standard = �Shared Specification

Implementation

Contributor

Open Source =

Shared Implementation

Open standards enable consistency across multiple implementations that can meet the needs of diverse markets and use cases

Open standards often use open source for �sample implementations, tools, samples, conformance tests, validators etc…

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Metaverse Interoperability

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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The Vision

A Venue for

Cooperation between

Standards Organizations and Companies to

Foster the Development of

Interoperability Standards for an

Open and Inclusive Metaverse

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Fostering Metaverse Interoperability

Darwinian Evolution

Diverse technologies will need to work together in novel ways – driving the need for a constellation of interoperability standards

Synthetic visual reality, practical XR optics, real-time environment scanning and semantic understanding, end-user 3D content creation tooling, accurate physical simulations, effective remote social interactions, servers scaling to millions of simultaneous users, streaming of vast geospatial data sets, real-world geo-anchoring with persistence, universal digital twins, online personas and social connections, realistic avatars, universally sharable consumer assets, security, privacy, interoperable run-times, online economies and currencies, IOT sensor networks, pervasive low-latency wireless connectivity … and many more �…

What will the metaverse be?

Some mix of the connectivity of the web with the immersiveness of spatial computing

Open interoperability standard specifications and conformance tests

Implementation

Standards enable pervasive deployment of proven technologies to build market opportunities for all

Metaverse Standards Forum Mission

Identify TODAY’S interoperability pain points and coordinate pragmatic action to help solve them through standardization

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Standards Developing Organizations in the Forum so far

Web Standards

Immersive Web

Avatars

X3D

XRSI Privacy and Safety Framework

Volumetric Video

Connecting physical

and digital worlds

Geospatial Standards

Run time APIs and file formats

IOT and Digital Twins

IEEE P2874

Business

VFX and Animation

Concept Management

Information Models

Scheduling

XR and Networking

Open Metaverse

Consumer

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Metaverse Standards Forum

Industry-wide forum to coordinate and encourage metaverse interoperability
Open to all, no participation fee, no NDA, no IP framework
Coordinated cooperation between industry and Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs)

Standards

Organizations

Standards

Organizations

Metaverse

Companies

Requirements

Resources

Expertise

Use cases

Project funding

Agreed

industry-wide

terminology

Coordinated requirements for current or new standards

Interoperability prototypes, hackathons, plugfests and tooling projects

Accelerated development of standards under existing SDO governance and IP Policies

Standards usage recommendations and guidelines

Open to any company or SDO

NOT another SDO!

All standardization at existing SDOs

Focus on pragmatic, actionable short-term opportunities to enhance metaverse interoperability

Standards

Organizations

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Forum Organization

Any entity interested to participate

(not individuals)

Principal Good Standing

Votes = 2 out of last 3 meetings

Active Principal = 1 out of last 4 meetings

Domain Working Group Meetings and Activities

Create Charter Documents

Project Execution

Yes

Plenary Meetings

Discussion and Discovery

Priorities and Goals

Domain Working Group Proposals

Any member may choose to become a Principal at any time

Principals

Wish to commit effort to Forum oversight, and/or

considering funding projects?

Participants

Principal Agreement

Designated as Principal

in outreach materials

Participant Agreement

Designated as Participant

in outreach materials

Oversight Committee

Refine Charter as needed

Approve Domain Working Groups

Project Funding

Logistics and scheduling

Forum initiated and hosted by Khronos for fast organizational bootstrap

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Founding Members

Leading platforms, hardware, tools, engines, users, and standards

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Over 1400 Members and Counting!

Principals

Participants

Wide diversity of organizations, including...

Platforms

Meta, Microsoft, Sony, Google, Baidu, �Huawei, General Motors, RedHat

Tools and Engines

Epic, Unity, Adobe, AutoDesk, Otoy, Maxon, Cesium, Blackshark.ai, Croquet, Lamina1, Ready Player Me, �Manticore, Avataar

HTC, Magic Leap, Nreal, Panasonic, Tobii

Hardware

NVIDIA, Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, Samsung, �MediaTek, Oppo, Lenovo, ZTE, LG

Wireless Carriers

China Telecom, Verizon

3D Commerce

Alibaba, Wayfair, IKEA, Avataar, VNTANA

Universities and Institutes

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

Advocacy

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

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Organizing for Effective Forum Action

Close to 200 topics suggested and counting..�… some examples so far

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

Metaverse Pharmacy

Etc. etc..

2. Organize Topics �into Domains

Consensus on where is member interest AND the Forum has quorum to 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

Focused discussions for smaller groups, Dedicated Portal group, chairs elected from membership

Generate

Project Proposals

Project Leads, What, Why

How, Who, Funding?

4. Working Group Projects

Focus on project execution, chairs elected from membership

5. Publish Project Work Products

Examples

Standards�Registry

Guidelines and recommendations

Open-source tooling

Plugfest resources �and reports

Requirements to pass to Standards Developing Organizations

…

Gather wide member input online

Establish focused groups ASAP

Upvotes

Topics naturally falling into Domains

Domain Working Groups and Projects will be formed and start work in 3Q22

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Example Project - Interoperable Metaverse Assets

A possible beachhead opportunity for meaningful industry standards cooperation between USD and glTF
Both formats actively adding attributes and behaviors to upgrade from ‘3D assets’ to ‘metaverse assets’

Authoring

Flexibility

Optimized Transmission

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Communication, Coordination, Cooperation

Authoring

�Composable Scene Graph

Node-based Materials

Multi-user Synchronization

Transmission

�Optimized Asset Size

Minimized Unpacking Effort

GPU Runtime Friendly

DISTILL

REMIX

Interchange

Optimize

Potential Requirements for 3D Metaverse Assets

Image courtesy of Zurich U.S

What we want to avoid

Behaviors

Properties

Audio

Advanced Materials

Metadata

Avatars

Coordination to streamline glTF distillation from USD could significantly reduce industry friction

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Example Asset Interoperability Testbed Project

Goals

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

All engine and platform vendors invited to participate
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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FAQ

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

No! The focus will be on practical, actionable interoperability projects that can ‘move the needle’ on aspects of the metaverse that are needed by broad consensus. We are ‘baking the open standard bricks’ for the metaverse, not ‘building the cathedral’

Is the Forum a new standards organization?

No, the Forum is simply to coordinate requirements and support for existing SDOs developing standards relevant to the metaverse

Why is Khronos acting as host?

Promoting industry cooperation is part of Khronos’ mission, our membership has requested we help bootstrap the Forum as an open, neutral forum for the benefit of all

Is the Forum going to be solely focused on 3D graphics?

No, the domains to be addressed will be driven by the Forum membership and may address any relevant metaverse domain e.g., avatars, privacy, geospatial, networking, VPS, XR, UX…

Can my organization join the Forum?

Yes! More information at metaverse-standards.org

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