Web 4.0 and virtual worlds (RP 2024)

(A.) Policy and legislation

(A.1) Policy objectives

In 2023, the Commission adopted a new strategy on Web 4.0 and virtual worlds to steer the next technological transition. The Communication (COM(2023) 442 final) An EU initiative on Web 4.0 and virtual worlds: a head start in the next technological transition outlines the vision, high-level objectives and actions. The Commission aims for a Web 4.0 and virtual worlds that reflect EU values and principles and fundamental rights, where people can be safe, confident and empowered, where people’s rights as users, consumers, workers or creators are respected, and where European businesses can develop world-leading applications, scale up and grow. Furthermore, the Commission aims for a Web 4.0 and virtual worlds that are powered by open and highly distributed technologies and standards that enable interoperability between platforms and networks and freedom of choice for users, and where sustainability, inclusion and accessibility are at the core of technological developments.

The Communication describes virtual worlds as “persistent, immersive environments, based on technologies including 3D and extended reality (XR), which make it possible to blend physical and digital worlds in real-time, for a variety of purposes such as designing, making simulations, collaborating, learning, socialising, carrying out transactions or providing entertainment” and Web 4.0 as “the expected fourth generation of the World Wide Web. Using advanced artificial and ambient intelligence, the internet of things, trusted blockchain transactions, virtual worlds and XR capabilities, digital and real objects and environments are fully integrated and communicate with each other, enabling truly intuitive, immersive experiences, seamlessly blending the physical and digital worlds.”

The Staff Working Document (SWD(2023) 250 final) accompanying the communication provides further information and insights on stakeholders’ views, technology, market trends and relevant existing legislation impacting Web 4.0 and virtual worlds. The second part of the Staff Working Document (SWD(2023) 250 final Part 2/2) provides the final 23 recommendations put forward by the citizens from the work of the citizens’ panel on virtual worlds. Additional scientific evidence is available in the study “Next Generation Virtual Worlds: Societal, Technological, Economic and Policy Challenges for the EU” carried out by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in 2023.

The Communication presents a range of actions to build the foundation for the long-term transition towards Web 4.0 and the development of virtual worlds. The actions are structured around the objectives of the Digital Decade policy programme:

People & skills
Business: supporting a European Web 4.0 industrial ecosystem
Government: supporting societal progress and improving public services
Governance

The business and governance strands address aspects that are of particular relevance from an ICT standardisation perspective:

In section 3.2.3 Fostering a supportive business environment, the communication states: “Open standards are key to ensuring that the future Web 4.0 ecosystem will not be dominated by a select few, setting de facto standards and creating market entry barriers. The Commission, in cooperation with Member States and stakeholders, will engage with key organisations active in the development of standards for open and interoperable virtual worlds and Web 4.0. These efforts will feed into the EU Strategy on Standardisation and will draw on the work of the High-Level Forum on European Standardisation.” This objective is directly linked to Action 6 of the communication “Support the development of standards for open and interoperable virtual worlds [Q4 2023]”.

In section 3.4.1 Governance at the EU and global level, the communication addresses the further evolution of the internet “To ensure that Web 4.0, starting with virtual worlds, is shaped as an open, secure space, respectful of EU values and rules, international engagement is needed on a broad scope of topics, from technological issues (such as standards for interoperability, identity management or connectivity) to content and practice (such as content access and creation versus disinformation, censorship versus freedom of speech, and surveillance versus privacy).” This objective is associated to Action 9 in the communication “Engage with existing multi-stakeholder internet governance institutions to design open and interoperable virtual worlds [from Q4 2023]; and support the creation of a technical multi-stakeholder forum to address certain aspects of virtual worlds and Web 4.0 beyond the remit of existing internet governance bodies [from Q1 2024].”

(A.2) EC perspective and progress report

As explained in the SWD and the JRC report, reaching the full potential of Web 4.0 and virtual worlds will require a coordinated integration of digital technologies such as low latency and high throughput networks (e.g. 5G/6G, WIFI 6/7), flexible and high performant computing and storage systems (e.g. HPC or cloud-edge), VR/AR, data & AI, blockchain/NFT and cybersecurity.

The communication also states the importance of influencing developments in Web4.0 and virtual worlds now, while they are shaping up and major players are positioning themselves.

Internet governance

Virtual world developments are expected to have a large influence on the future internet. The corresponding standards emerging from competent multi-stakeholder organizations will bring about Internet governance discussions to be lead in existing Internet governance institutions or, on issues beyond their current remit such as the management of interoperability of virtual worlds based on public values such as privacy, security and safety, in a new technical multi-stakeholder forum on virtual worlds governance.

Technologies

In the topic of interoperability and standardisation, the Communication mentions that “Large distribution platforms (in both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer segments) are among the early movers in virtual worlds. These large market players have a heavy global presence, including in the EU. This market dynamic leads to two major concerns. First, large entities can contribute to a closed ecosystem by setting de facto standards. Second, they may become future gatekeepers of virtual worlds by exploiting network effects, thus creating new market entry barriers for SMEs and start-ups in the EU.”

Standardisation will be key to enable interoperability between different platforms and networks, enabling the seamless use of identities, avatars, data, virtual assets, experiences or environments and the associated rights across platforms and networks.

The table below shows the main building blocks listed in the forementioned Staff Working Document (SWD(2023) 250 final), where important technological developments are taking place with respect to virtual worlds. Each chapter number listed in the table refers to those outlined in the SWD. Promoting open standards in these technology areas will ultimately help to address the risk of lock-in effects.

The top three rows of the table depict the areas that need particular attention, since they are not or only partly addressed in other Chapters of the ICT rolling plan. This is particularly the case for Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and Human-Computer Interfaces (HCIs), both of which have already found their space in the gaming world and represent large commercial potential. The rows in grey are already addressed in other Chapters but may require additional focus on Virtual Worlds.

*Chapter numbers in the table refer to text in SWD(2023) 250 final

Key areas

Human interfaces and VR/AR devices

Human-computer interactions are traditionally screen, sound and keyboard oriented. With mobile, other kinds of interactions have become mainstream, in particular voice and motion.

Spatial computing is the most important newly emerging Human-Computer interface. Originating from the gaming world, applications are starting to find their way to other areas.

Extended reality (XR) technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR) and augmented reality (AR), enable users to interact with digital environments and objects in a more natural and intuitive way. Moreover, truly immersive virtual worlds would benefit from being experienced through VR or AR glasses or visors rather than traditional smartphones, tablets and PCs.

Furthermore, photonics technologies combined with microelectronics are steadily evolving AR/VR technology to be smaller, lighter, and less power-hungry, as well as more immersive and intuitive for end users. Innovative photonic technologies enabled projectors, displays, waveguides and cameras and have continuously improved the performance and power consumption of AR/VR headsets.

Interoperability aspects: Human-Computer interfaces are closely linked to device capabilities. Some degree of immersive experience can be accomplished through general purpose devices such as personal computers, mobile phones and tablets. Full immersion will require dedicated extended reality (XR) devices (used in combination with general purpose devices). VR/AR devices are currently still very diverse and vendor-specific, with closed vendors-platforms and vendor-specific techniques to optimise performance. In the gaming world, the device-lock-in has been an important strategy. It will be in the interest of European players to create more openness around VR/AR devices…

Virtual experiences

The virtual experiences area comprises tools and technologies used to create models and experiences for users. The creative aspect is key here, designing full applications such as games and simulations but also designing virtual components such as avatars, buildings or clothes.

Computer aided design of physical objects ‘still to be built’ and creation of fully virtual objects also fit in this area.

Three-dimensional (3D) technology helps to create a sense of immersion, allowing users to experience a virtual environment that feels real and responsive. 3D models are used to create virtual objects, buildings, landscapes and characters.

Digital twins are positioned in this area as well, since these highly accurate digital simulations of real objects can be used in the development of virtual worlds and the deployment of Web 4.0.

Interoperability aspects: Storage formats for models and scenes, media standards for 3D video, 3D imaging and 3D sound, IP protection, …

Virtual economy & society

The virtual economy & society area comprises the new kinds of presence and interaction that will emerge in virtual worlds. Digital presence of people, business and government is likely to increase, creating a greater need for interoperability and trust across virtual worlds.

Interoperability aspects: Cross-world identity, portability of virtual assets, … See also Rolling Plan chapters 3.0.3 ePrivacy, 3.3.6 Blockchain and Distributed Digital Ledger Technologies

OTHER AREAS

Infrastructure

Advancements in computing power and network bandwidth and latency will enable even more immersive experiences.

Interoperability aspects: See Rolling Plan chapters 3.1.1 5G And Beyond, 3.1.7 Broadband infrastructure mapping, 3.1.11 Quantum Technologies. An important foundational driver is Cybersecurity, see Rolling Plan chapter 3.0.2.

Data

Data is raw material for virtual worlds and Web 4.0 applications. The conditions under which data is used and shared, raise questions on data protection, privacy, security, market power, and intellectual property.

Interoperability aspects: As a result of the EU strategy for data, new mechanisms for data sharing have been introduced. The European Common Dataspaces and Open Data from EU public sector bodies (high-value data sets) closely align with EU virtual worlds priorities. See Rolling Plan chapters 3.0.1 Data Economy, 3.0.3 ePrivacy, 3.1.3 Data Interoperability

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is becoming a commodity. While AI models are developed using powerful computers, the resulting algorithms can be deployed in many places (Cloud – Edge paradigm), helping to capture reality, generating avatars, …

The European AI strategy addresses the key challenges.

Interoperability aspects: Standardisation needs are addressed in chapter 3.1.9 Artificial Intelligence of the Rolling Plan.

Reality capturing

Virtual worlds may include aspects from the real world, creating augmented or mixed reality experiences.

The Internet of Things is an important enabler for the capture of events and state changes from the real world.

Traditional Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) techniques such as barcodes are of importance as well, enabling to efficiently capture data about disconnected objects such as products and packages.

Positioning systems, outdoors as well as indoors, are another building block.

Interoperability aspects: The technologies in this area tend to be quite generic and open, due to the wide range of applications. Main objective is to preserve this level of openness while the technologies evolve, with more computing power and intelligence moving to the ‘edge’. See Rolling Plan chapters 3.1.4 Internet of Things, 3.1.10 European Global Navigation Satellite System.

(A.3) References

(B.) Requested actions

Action 1: Based on the Communication on Web 4.0 and virtual worlds and the corresponding Staff Working Document, the EC to facilitate an activity of identifying interoperability requirements for standards for virtual worlds, including all relevant stakeholder groups and taking into account the various building blocks as outlined in section A.2 above.

Action 2: SDOs to provide a mapping of ongoing or planned standardisation activities of relevance in supporting the development of interoperable virtual worlds and related technologies such as AR/VR or digital twins. This mapping should be done in relation to the areas provided in section A.2 above which also outline the policy needs and objectives.

Action 3: SDOs to identify and inform about virtual worlds related standardisation activities in vertical sectors such as design & manufacturing, health, cultural heritage or education.

(C.) Activities and additional information

(C.1) Related standardisation activities

ETSI

ISG ARF (Augmented Reality Framework) defines a framework for the interoperability of Augmented Reality (AR) components, systems and services that specifies relevant components and interfaces required for AR and XR solutions as the basis for Metaverse applications. The design as a modular architecture allows components from different providers to interoperate through defined interfaces. Transparent and reliable interworking between different AR components fosters the successful roll-out and wide adoption of AR/XR applications and services.

Collection of use cases:

GR ARF 002 “Augmented Reality Framework (ARF) Industrial use cases for AR applications and services”

Specification of the framework:

GS ARF 003 “Augmented Reality Framework (ARF) AR framework architecture”

Specifications for interoperability requirements:

OpenAPI specification:

GS ARF 005 “Augmented Reality Framework (ARF); Open APIs for the Creation and Management of the World Representation”

ISG CIM (cross-cutting Context Information Management) has consistently demonstrated a strong interest in Digital Twins, which is evidenced by the implementation of the document 'Feasibility of NGSI-LD for Digital Twins' (GR CIM 017 v1.1.1). The group is investing time and resources to identify how to align the NGSI-LD API (GS CIM 009 v1.7.1) for use in VR/AR applications (ETSI ISG CIM GR 0052 “VR and AR for Smart Learning: Guidelines for using NGSI-LD to train personnel in Smart Industries”).

IEEE

IEEE has established the IEEE Metaverse Congress series and the IEEE Metaverse Community. IEEE has standardisation and pre-standardisation activities relating to the metaverse, including:

IEEE P2048, Standard for Metaverse: Terminology, Definitions, and Taxonomy
IEEE P3322, Guide for Comfort Requirements for Extended Reality (XR) Devices
IEEE P3812.2, Standard for General Requirements for Identity Framework for Metaverse
IEEE P7016, Standard for Ethically Aligned Design and Operation of Metaverse Systems
IEEE P7030, Recommended Practice for Ethical Assessment of Extended Reality (XR) Technologies

A list of additional IEEE standards related to the metaverse is found here.

Pre-standards activities include The IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Extended Reality. This group developed a series of papers that can be found on its website, and of particular note is “Metaverse and its Governance.” Other papers include:

For more information, see: https://ieee-sa.imeetcentral.com/eurollingplan/.

IEC

IEC/TC 100

TC 100 develops international standards in the field of audio, video and multimedia systems and equipment. Since its establishment, TC 100 has developed international standards regarding colour measurement and management, digital system interfaces and protocols, wearable electronic devices and technologies and applications for end-user networks.

Recently, it has established a WG 12 on metaverse (WG 12 Multimedia systems and equipment for metaverse), to define and analyze metaverse for future multimedia systems and equipment from a technical and standardization perspective. WG 12 has the following preliminary work item in its program of work:

Title: Concept of metaverse for multimedia equipment and standardization areas in the TC 100
Purpose: To identify standardization gaps in TC100, find potential new work items
Scope: 1) Definition of the metaverse. 2) Impact of the metaverse on multimedia systems and equipment (i.e., interoperability between devices, user interfaces, interaction methods, implementation aspects, etc.). 3) Standardization gaps and potential new work items for TC 100, 4) Development of a document based on the above study.

The following relevant standards are published by TC 100:

The following standards are under development in TC 100:

PWI TR 100-42 ED1 Remote control and remote assist system in home and local area (TA 18)
PWI TR 100-43 ED1 Haptic stimuli descriptors (Further discussion on standardization related to IEC TR 63344 - Haptics-conceptual model of standardization) (TA 18)
PWI 100-45 ED1 AR Technology (TA 1)

ISO/IEC JTC 1

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29

SC 29 (Coding of audio, picture, multimedia and hypermedia information) contains the well-known JPEG and MPEG standardization groups. Most of its work is related to interoperability standardization for efficiently coded media, and thus falls into two basic areas:

Efficient coding of media, including images, moving pictures, audio, graphics, fonts, haptic signals, point clouds, visual volumetric content, and other digital data
Digital information support, including synchronization, presentation, storage and transport of single or combinations of media and related security and privacy management

These technologies are fundamental to metaverse/VR/AR development. Efficient coded representations for storage and communication of audio, video, haptics, etc., is fundamentally necessary for such applications. Moreover, the systems protocols control and use of such media are also required for operation of such a system. In addition to the traditional projects for which JPEG and MPEG standards are especially widely known, some recent areas of work in SC 29 that relate to metaverse applications are highlighted as follows:

Point cloud coding for representation of spatial information
Visual volumetric content coding using either video-based or graphics-based representations.
3D audio with support for audio objects that interact with audio scenes, such as exhibiting appropriate behaviour in response to spatial navigation, including echoes, occlusion, spatial orientation and distance effects.
Haptic signal coding for interaction with virtual worlds.
Coding of visual content for use by machine analysis systems as well as for display to human observers

More information available here: https://www.iso.org/committee/45316.html

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24

To provide metaverse services for human life, the following fundamental standard technologies are needed in addition to knowledge information processing for each industry sector that integrates into a 3D virtual world:

3D virtual world representation, visualization, and information processing
3D avatar representation, visualization, and information processing
VR/AR/MR-based information processing with 3D virtual worlds and avatars

SC 24 has published the following standards relevant to these three areas:

3D virtual world representation

ISO/IEC 14772 VRML series (Virtual Reality Modeling Language)
ISO/IEC 19775 X3D series (Extensible 3D)
ISO/IEC 19776 X3D encoding series (Extensible 3D encoding)
ISO/IEC 19777 X3D language bindings series (Extensible 3D language bindings)
ISO/IEC 18023 SEDRIS series (Synthetic Environment Data Representation and

Interchange Specification)

ISO/IEC 18024 SEDRIS language bindings series
ISO/IEC 18025 EDCS (Environmental Data Coding Specification)
ISO/IEC 18026 SRM (Spatial Reference Model)

3D avatar representation

ISO/IEC 19774 Humanoid Animation (HAnim) series

VR/AR/MR-based information processing with 3D virtual worlds and avatars

ISO/IEC 18038 Sensor representation in mixed and augmented reality
ISO/IEC 18039 Mixed and augmented reality (MAR) reference model
ISO/IEC 18040 Live actor and entity representation in mixed and augmented reality
ISO/IEC 18520 Benchmarking of vision-based registration and tracking methods for mixed and augmented reality
ISO/IEC 23884 Material property and parameter representation for model-based haptic simulation of objects in virtual, mixed and augmented reality (VR/MAR)
ISO/IEC 23488 Object/environmental representation for image-based rendering in virtual/mixed and augmented reality (VR/MAR)

The following standards are under development in SC 24:

ISO/IEC 3721-1 Information model for MAR contents
ISO/IEC 5927 Augmented and virtual reality safety – guidance on safe immersion, setup and usage
ISO/IEC 19774-3 HAnim facial animation
ISO/IEC 9234 Information modeling for VR/AR/MR based education and training systems

The following are potential new work items under discussion in SC24:

Metaverse concepts, terminology, and definitions
Sensor information modeling in MAR
Benchmarking of indoor localization and tracking systems
Use case classification for VR/AR/MR based education systems
VR/AR/MR based education and training systems – Part 1: Terminology and Concepts

More information available here: https://www.iso.org/committee/45252.html

ITU-T

The ITU-T Focus Group on metaverse (FG-MV) has been established in December 2022. The FG-MV lays the groundwork for international standards for the metaverse. The group is analyzing the technical requirements of the metaverse to identify fundamental enabling technologies in areas from multimedia and network optimization to digital currencies, Internet of Things, digital twins, and environmental sustainability. The FG structure is composed of nine working groups:

WG1 - General
WG2 - Applications & Services
WG3 - Architecture & Infrastructure
WG4 - Virtual/Real World Integration
WG5 - Interoperability
WG6 - Security, Data & Personally identifiable information (PII) Protection
WG7 - Economic, regulatory & competition aspects
WG8 - Sustainability, Accessibility & Inclusion
WG9 - Collaboration

FG-MV ongoing studies include draft deliverables on media coding, metaverse tourism, interoperability architecture for cross-platform metaverse, child protection in the metaverse, regulatory and economic aspects in the metaverse, accessibility requirements for metaverse etc. See the FG-MV workplan, complete structure and list of deliverables at: https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/focusgroups/mv/Pages/FG-MV-structure-and-workplan.aspx

The Focus Group has approved a Technical Report on “Exploring the metaverse: opportunities and challenges” (https://www.itu.int/pub/T-FG-MV-2023).

More info: https://itu.int/go/fgmv

ITU-T started metaverse specific studies within various Study Groups, namely SG16, SG17 and SG20. Many ITU-T Recommendations (standards) have been published that can be seen as building blocks for future metaverse applications and systems (including the field of Immersive Live Environments, Distributed Ledger Technologies and Digital Humans), some of which are:

There are also several ITU-T Recommendations (standards) under study:

In the framework of the United for Smart Cities and Communities (U4SCC) a new “Working Group on Multiverse - The Next Generation of Digital Platforms in Cities” has been established with a view to develop a report on metaverse in cities.

W3C

The Immersive Web Working Group develops APIs to interact with Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) (collectively known as XR) devices and sensors in browsers. Main specification is the WebXR Device API, but the group also publishes WebXR modules, e.g., to better support AR scenarios or provide hand tracking capabilities to web applications.

The GPU for the Web Working Group develops the WebGPU specification and its companion WebGPU Shading Language to allow web applications to leverage 3D graphics and computation capabilities offered by GPU cards, allowing the rendering of complex and immersive 3D scenes.

The Accessible Platform Architectures Working Group ensures W3C specifications provide support for accessibility to people with disabilities, through review of W3C specifications, development of technical support materials, collaboration with other Working Groups, and coordination of harmonized accessibility strategies within W3C. The group developed the XR Accessibility User Requirements document, which lists user needs and requirements for people with disabilities when using virtual reality or immersive environments, augmented or mixed reality and other related technologies (XR).

(C.2) Other activities related to standardisation

Metaverse Standards Forum (MSF)

Facilitates cooperation and coordination between international standards organizations. The Forum will not create standards itself but will coordinate requirements and resources to foster the creation and evolution of standards within standards organizations working in relevant domains.

Link: https://metaverse-standards.org/

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