A Multidisciplinary Approach to Understanding the Technology, Opportunities, Challenges, and Implications for Society of the Metaverse

Mel Slater, Michele Di Dalmazi, Doron Friedman, Jessica Galissaire, Henri Isaac, Anna Kobusińska, Aurelio López-Tarruella Martínez, Lucio Lamberti, Jean-François Lucas, Omar Niamut, Xueni Pan, Yannick Prié, Matthias Quent, Raul Ruiz Rodríguez, Maria Sanchez-Vives, Piotr Skrzypczyński, Anthony Steed and Petter Wannerberg
Additional contact information
Mel Slater: Event Lab [Barcelone] - UB - Universitat de Barcelona
Michele Di Dalmazi: POLIMI - Politecnico di Milano [Milan]
Doron Friedman: RUNI - Reichman University [Herzliya]
Jessica Galissaire: Renaissance Numérique
Anna Kobusińska: Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science [Poznan] - UAM - Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu = Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
Aurelio López-Tarruella Martínez: Universidad de Alicante
Lucio Lamberti: POLIMI - Politecnico di Milano [Milan]
Jean-François Lucas: Renaissance Numérique
Omar Niamut: TNO - Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research - TNO Science and Industry
Xueni Pan: University of London [London]
Yannick Prié: LS2N - Laboratoire des Sciences du Numérique de Nantes - Inria - Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - IMT Atlantique - IMT Atlantique - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - Nantes Univ - ECN - NANTES UNIVERSITÉ - École Centrale de Nantes - Nantes Univ - Nantes Université - Nantes univ - UFR ST - Nantes université - UFR des Sciences et des Techniques - Nantes Université - pôle Sciences et technologie - Nantes Univ - Nantes Université
Matthias Quent: Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal (Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences (en)
Raul Ruiz Rodríguez: Universidad de Alicante
Maria Sanchez-Vives: IDIBAPS - Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer - UB - Universitat de Barcelona, ICREA - Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats = Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies
Piotr Skrzypczyński: Institute of Computing Science [Poznan] - PUT - Poznan University of Technology
Anthony Steed: UCL East - University College London East - UCL - University College London [UCL]
Petter Wannerberg: RISE Research Institutes of Sweden

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Abstract: Since late 2021, there has been increasing interest in the idea of the "metaverse." This is a virtual, augmented or mixed reality system that potentially millions of people can simultaneously inhabit and where people can interact with one another in real-time, irrespective of the physical distance between them. It is heralded by some as the next-level world wide web that will use a 3D immersive interface, with the potential of mixing virtual and physical reality, with environments persisting over time and all interoperable between different platforms and devices. Nevertheless, there is still no true example of a metaverse, only a number of nascent examples. Here we discuss the technical foundations for such metaverses, the role of generative AI, and its possible impact on society—including education, healthcare and quality of life, business and consumers, the future of work, and its implications for democracy. We also discuss public perceptions of the metaverse, issues of governance and regulation, and its legal implications. Overall, while the metaverse may radically and positively alter the way that we live, we must take into account ethical and regulatory issues in order to avoid predictions of a dystopian future being realized. This study is, therefore, a multi-disciplinary introduction to the metaverse concept that may be useful to readers with many different interests.

Keywords: regulation; governance; Democracy; virtual humans; AI; augmented reality; Extended Reality; virtual reality; Metaverse (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-10-27
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Published in Frontiers in Virtual Reality, 2025, 6, pp.1566419. ⟨10.3389/frvir.2025.1566419⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05370407

DOI: 10.3389/frvir.2025.1566419

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