OPENVERSE

Brief description

The OPENVERSE project aligns with the HORIZON-CL4-2023-HUMAN-01-23 call, advocating for  open, human-centric Virtual Worlds that place equal emphasis on people, technology, and infrastructure. The project aims to establish European Virtual Worlds that are open, transparent, inclusive, ethically and environmentally responsible, while also enhancing the technological sovereignty of the EU in a competitive global landscape. To achieve this, OPENVERSE will create a knowledge base, foster a community of stakeholders, and test a user co-creation methodology combined with Extended Reality (XR) in real-world industrial and societal cases. The project will also produce a comprehensive research portfolio, as well as technology and policy roadmaps, to guide the future development of an Open Metaverse concept both in Europe and globally. 

Our Role 

In the OPENVERSE project, Trust-IT plays a pivotal role in two key tasks. First, under Task 2.1, Trust-IT is responsible for the Technology Watch and Taxonomy, providing an in-depth and current overview of Europe's Virtual Worlds ecosystem through a technology radar visualization tool and an evolving taxonomy. Second, in Task 6.3, Trust-IT leads the development of the project observatory, which will feature the OPENVERSE watch and taxonomy, a Marketplace of opportunities, a policy and project repository, and Virtual Worlds case studies. Additionally, the observatory will showcase the OPENVERSE roadmap as an interactive web tool, offering a comprehensive view of the project's direction and impact. 

Impact 

• Increased Inclusiveness: OPENVERSE aims to create European Virtual Worlds that are open, transparent, and inclusive, aligning with European social and ethical values. The project focuses on ethical and legal requirements to ensure open and trustworthy participation for all users and developers.
• Job Sustainability: The project targets skills mismatches and aims to empower workers, including those at risk of social exclusion. It explores the potential of Virtual Worlds for corporate skills development and lifelong learning.
• Ethical Considerations: OPENVERSE contributes to ethical discussions around technological progress, particularly concerning privacy, security, and data usage in Virtual Worlds.
• Policy Impact: The project aims to influence policy by engaging with policymakers and providing recommendations that align with the EU Declaration of Digital Principles and Rights.
• Investment Opportunities: OPENVERSE seeks to attract investors interested in human-centred Virtual World technologies, offering them a framework for assessing potential investments.
• Community Building: By setting up and animating a community of stakeholders, OPENVERSE aims to co-create open use cases in various industrial sectors, thereby enriching the Virtual Worlds ecosystem.
• Technological Sovereignty: The project aims to restore the technological sovereignty of EU industry in the global scenario of competition by laying the foundations for a European Virtual Worlds ecosystem. 

Results 

• The OPENVERSE Roadmap for open and co-created Virtual Worlds, proposing concrete strategies and recommendations for future research and policy actions in relevant EU research and policy domains as well as guidelines for all key stakeholders in formats directly usable.
• An open, human-centric Virtual Worlds innovation portfolio for technology mapping and cross fertilisation which includes a technology watch, a project marketplace and an analysis of best practices.
• Perform technological analyses and forecasts and contribute to standards.
• Create and provide useful, real-world use cases for Virtual Worlds, concentrating on sector-specific applications that show stakeholder benefits and value in a measurable way.
• Analyse the ethical, legal, and socio-economic conditions and requirements of a European Open and Human-centric Virtual Worlds concept, including: a) a foundational overview of current trends in Virtual Worlds and their emerging potentials, b) the identification of suitable IPR and governance models based on free and open source principles, and c) the delivery of both an original demonstration case on Virtual Worlds enabled robotics as well as an exploratory study on the potential issues related to the user perspective within existing and upcoming Virtual World environments. 

Funding

OPENVERSE has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON) under grant agreement no. 101135701.