为什么标准对元宇宙很重要？

IEEE标准协会推动标准化工作，为元宇宙铺平道路

我们越来越多地听到“元宇宙”一词，但它的真正含义是什么，又将如何使用它？

很多人说它指的是一组扩展的数字世界，它将从我们已经熟悉的数字环境中发展出来，例如用于在线游戏的数字环境。从这个角度来看，元宇宙将是一种增强的扩展现实 (XR) 体验。它将提供新的特性和功能，通过减少人们在现实世界中旅行和进行资源密集型活动的需要，加速社会的数字化转型并增强可持续性。

一些人则有不同的看法。他们对元宇宙的看法是，它应该是一个去中心化的生态系统，使用户能够创建自己选择的数字资产并参与数字商务。根据这个定义，因为元宇宙架构将是开放的、去中心化的，并且没有看门人，它将通过对每个人都透明、可访问和可互操作来实现互联网的民主化。

尽管这两种观点都基于元宇宙支持实时虚拟交互的想法，但显然，元宇宙概念对不同的人意味着不同的东西。但无论它如何发展，有一件事是肯定的：元宇宙具有从根本上改变我们工作、学习、娱乐和生活方式的巨大潜力。

设计和构建元宇宙环境也面临许多挑战，从技术问题到社会考虑。

元宇宙面临的技术挑战包括：

• 更好的用户界面

• 更低的系统延迟

• 更紧密集成、可互操作的 XR 技术

• 更好的 3D 建模和体积视频渲染

• 获取、呈现、存储和保护地理空间数据的更好方法

• 更低的功耗

• 我们如何与互联网互动

关于社会技术挑战，需要就用户身份和证书、隐私、开放性、道德、可访问性和用户安全等问题达成共识，以解决各种不同的观点。

这就是为什么 IEEE 标准协会 (IEEE SA) 处于为利益相关者开发范围广泛的元宇宙相关标准和资源的最前沿。利益相关者包括设备和技术开发商、服务提供商、元宇宙设计师、内容创作者、学者、政府机构等。总体目标是定义、开发和部署所需的技术、应用程序和治理实践，以帮助将元宇宙概念转化为实际现实，并推动新市场的发展。

就其本质而言，元宇宙是一个集合空间，它将许多不同的技术融合到新的应用中。作为世界领先的标准制定组织，IEEE SA具有独特的优势，可以领导满足新市场和应用不断变化的需求所需的标准化工作，因为它在必要技术方面拥有广泛而深入的经验。举几个例子：

• 网络通信——如果没有IEEE网络通信标准，元宇宙就不可能存在。IEEE SA 的连接和电信实践(https://standards.ieee.org/practices/connectivity-telecom/)汇集了来自工业界和学术界的全球利益相关者，以解决对稳健和可持续连接的需求。除此之外，IEEE 802®(https://standards.ieee.org/featured/ieee-802/)局域网技术标准系列是实施有线和无线通信的基础。

• 增强现实 (AR) ——增强现实可能是元宇宙的一种关键类型，与现有的 IEEE 标准直接相关。例如，增强现实学习体验模型的 IEEE 1589™ 标准(https://standards.ieee.org/ieee/1589/6073/)详细介绍了一个总体集成概念模型以及数据规范，说明如何表示活动、学习上下文、特定环境以及 AR 增强学习活动所需的其他潜在的组件，以标准化的交换格式。它降低了需要创建学习体验的用户的入门门槛，这些学习体验将使用传感器和计算机视觉的现实世界交互与 Web 应用程序相结合。

• 与元宇宙相关的人的因素——随着人们更深入地参与沉浸式体验，如何使这些体验看起来更“真实”并减轻晕动症等身体影响变得越来越重要。IEEE 3079 沉浸式内容人的因素工作组(https://sagroups.ieee.org/3079/)已经启动了多个标准开发项目来帮助解决这些问题。

• 道德准则——元宇宙将提供强大的新功能，从一开始就需要道德准则来适当地设计和使用它们。IEEE SA 的一系列白皮书(https://standards.ieee.org/beyond-standards/ethical-considerations-of-extended-reality-xr/)探讨了 XR 对用户隐私、安全、身份和包容性的影响，及其对教育、医学、金融和其他领域的伦理影响。这项工作还促成了IEEE P7030™(https://standards.ieee.org/ieee/7030/10799/)的开发，这是 XR 技术伦理评估的推荐标准。

• 超空间交易协议 (HSTP) – 数据计算的进步，特别是在网络物理领域，迫切需要不同硬件和软件系统之间的互操作性，以及人类和数字系统之间的信任、隐私和安全。IEEE P2874™ 标准项目(https://standards.ieee.org/ieee/2874/10375/)的创建就是为了提供这种急需的协议。

为了继续满足不断变化的市场需求，IEEE 最近成立了元宇宙标准委员会 (CTS/MSC)(https://sagroups.ieee.org/metaverse-sc/)来开发和维护元宇宙的标准、推荐做法和指南。该标准委员会取代了之前的虚拟现实与增强现实标准委员会，是全球主要标准组织中第一个专注于推进元宇宙相关技术和应用的委员会。

随着这个标准委员会的成立，还有两个开创性的标准和两个行业联系 (IC) 活动，以孵化业界非常感兴趣的元宇宙主题的新想法。

IEEE SA 针对元宇宙的两个新标准项目是来自全球主要标准组织的第一个和第二个元宇宙标准项目。一个专注于为元宇宙开发人员提供一致的词汇和清晰的路线图的需要，而另一个致力于元宇宙系统的设计和操作的道德考虑。

IEEE SA 的行业连接 (IC) 计划(https://standards.ieee.org/industry-connections/cyber-security-for-next-generation-connectivity-systems/?utm_source=beyondstandards&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=ct-2022&utm_content=cybersecurity)旨在为快速发展的技术（如元宇宙）孵化新标准和相关产品和服务。该计划促进参与者之间的合作和共识的建立。它为他们提供了 IEEE 资源，用于生成标准提案等可交付成果；白皮书和报告；活动；数据库和注册服务；软件工具和网络服务等。

IEEE SA 最近推出了两项专门针对元宇宙的新 IC 活动。

• 去中心化元宇宙推进计划(https://standards.ieee.org/industry-connections/activities/decentralized-metaverse-initiative/)旨在为去中心化的元宇宙开发经济和治理基础设施。这项工作的目标是开发和提供实施去中心化元宇宙的指南，它不仅可以以去中心化的方式利用知识产权和虚拟资产，还可以从去中心化架构的其他潜在特征中受益。

• 元宇宙持久计算推进计划(https://standards.ieee.org/industry-connections/activities/persistent-computing-for-metaverse-initiative/)针对的是VR 和元宇宙之间的异同。许多 VR 体验都是一次性的，例如在游戏中。但元宇宙需要一致性和持久性，而要实现这一点，需要各种技术来构建、运营和升级元宇宙体验。这些技术包括但不限于计算、存储、通信、数据结构、人工智能 (AI) 等。该 IC 将促进关于持久计算的讨论和合作；指导和建议元宇宙的研究和开发；并为持久虚拟世界和元宇宙提供技术指南和参考实现。

元宇宙有可能成为人类历史上最重要的技术发展之一。但要发挥其潜力，它需要技术开发人员、软件专家、设备制造商、学术研究人员和许多其他人的才能和经验。

IEEE SA 的元宇宙相关活动正在迅速扩展。IEEE Metaverse Congress（IEEE全球元宇宙大会）(https://engagestandards.ieee.org/IEEE-Metaverse-Congress.html)包含由IEEE SA 基础技术实践发起的一系列研讨会，旨在与涉及元宇宙技术开发、设计、治理等方面的专家一起提供一个全球和全面的元宇宙视图。

我们邀请您参与进来，帮助开发这个令人兴奋的新领域，传播您的观点，并与其他像您一样想要参与对世界有意义的大事的人进行交流。立即加入我们的元宇宙社区(https://engagestandards.ieee.org/IEEE-Metaverse-Congress.html)。

作者：

• 袁昱, IEEE标准协会候任主席

• Srikanth Chandrasekaran，IEEE标准协会基础技术实践负责人

附英文原文（链接：

https://standards.ieee.org/beyond-standards/industry/technology-industry/why-are-standards-important-for-the-metaverse/）

What Does Metaverse Mean?

We increasingly hear the term “metaverse,” but what does it really mean, and how will it be used?

Some say it refers to an expanded set of digital worlds that will grow out of the digital environments with which we are already familiar, such as those used for online gaming. In this view, the metaverse will be an enhanced extended reality (XR) experience. It will offer new features and capabilities that will accelerate the digital transformation of society and enhance sustainability, by reducing the need for people to travel and perform resource-intensive activities in the physical world.

Others take a different view. Their view of the metaverse is that it should be a decentralized ecosystem that empowers users to create digital assets of their own choosing and engage in digital commerce. According to this definition, because the metaverse architecture would be open, decentralized, and without gatekeepers, it would serve to democratize the internet by making it transparent, accessible, and interoperable to everyone.

Although both of these viewpoints are based on the idea that a metaverse enables virtual interactions in real-time, clearly, the metaverse concept means different things to different people. But however it may evolve, one thing is for certain: the metaverse has tremendous potential to fundamentally transform the ways we work, learn, play, and live our lives.

What are the Key Challenges to the Metaverse?

Designing and building metaverse environments also come with many challenges, ranging from technical issues to socio-technical considerations.

Technical challenges to the metaverse include:

• Better user interfaces

• Lower system latency

• More tightly integrated, interoperable XR technologies

• Better 3D modeling and volumetric video rendering

• Better ways to acquire, render, store and protect geospatial data

• Lower power consumption

• How we interact with the internet

With regard to socio-technical challenges, a consensus is needed to address the wide variety of views held on issues such as user identity and credentialing, privacy, openness, ethics, accessibility, and user safety.

That is why IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA) is at the forefront of developing a sweeping range of metaverse-related standards and resources for stakeholders, who include device and technology developers, service providers, metaverse designers, content creators, academics, government agencies, and others. The overarching goal is to define, develop, and deploy the technologies, applications, and governance practices needed to help turn metaverse concepts into practical realities, and drive new markets.

Building on Existing Technologies and Evolving into New Applications

By its nature, the metaverse is a collective space that converges many diverse technologies into new applications. As the world’s leading standards development organization, IEEE SA is uniquely positioned to lead the standardization efforts required to meet evolving needs of new markets and applications, given its broad and deep range of experience with the necessary technologies. To mention a few examples:

• Connectivity – A metaverse could not exist without IEEE standards for connectivity. IEEE SA’s Connectivity and Telecom Practice (https://standards.ieee.org/practices/connectivity-telecom/) gathers global stakeholders from the industry and academia to address the need for robust and sustainable connectivity. In addition, the IEEE 802®  family of local area network technical standards, for example, is fundamental to implementing wired and wireless communications.

• Augmented reality (AR) – Augmented reality is likely to be a key type of the metaverse, and existing IEEE standards are directly relevant. For example, IEEE 1589™ Standard for Augmented Reality Learning Experience Model (https://standards.ieee.org/ieee/1589/6073/), details an overarching integrated conceptual model, along with data specifications, on how to represent activities, the learning context, the specific environment, and potentially other components needed for AR-enhanced learning activities, in a standardized interchange format. It lowers entry barriers for users who need to create learning experiences that integrate real-world interactions using sensors and computer vision, with web applications.

• Metaverse-related human factors – As people engage more deeply with immersive experiences, how to make those experiences seem more “real” and to alleviate physical effects such as motion sickness become increasingly important. The IEEE 3079 Working Group on Human Factors for Immersive Content (https://sagroups.ieee.org/3079/), for example, has initiated several standards development projects to help address these issues.

• Ethical guidelines – The metaverse will offer powerful new capabilities, and ethical guidelines are needed from the outset to design and use them appropriately. A series of white papers by IEEE SA (https://standards.ieee.org/beyond-standards/ethical-considerations-of-extended-reality-xr/) explores the impact of XR on user privacy, safety, identity, and inclusion, and its ethical implications on education, medicine, finance, and other areas. The work has also led to the development of IEEE P7030™, a recommended practice for the ethical assessment of XR technologies.

• Hyperspace Transaction Protocol (HSTP) – Advances in data computation, particularly in the cyber-physical realm, are in urgent need of interoperability among disparate hardware and software systems, as well as trust, privacy, and security between human and digital systems. The IEEE P2874™ standard project (https://standards.ieee.org/ieee/2874/10375/) was created to provide this much-needed protocol.

Driving Future Directions - IEEE Metaverse Standards Committee

To continue to serve the shifting marketing needs, IEEE has recently established the Metaverse Standards Committee (CTS/MSC) (https://sagroups.ieee.org/metaverse-sc/)c to develop and maintain standards, recommended practices, and guides for the metaverse. This Standards Committee replaces the former Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Standards Committee and is the first committee in major SDOs worldwide that focuses on advancing metaverse-related technologies and applications.

Along with the formation of this Standards Committee are two pioneering standards and two Industry Connections (IC) activities to incubate new ideas on metaverse topics of great interest to industry.

Pioneering IEEE Standards for the Metaverse

IEEE SA’s two new standards projects for the metaverse are the first from any major global standards development organization. One addresses the need to provide a consistent vocabulary and a clear roadmap for metaverse developers, while the other deals with ethical considerations for the design and operation of metaverse systems.

New Industry Connections (IC) Activities for the Metaverse

IEEE SA’s Industry Connections (IC) program (https://standards.ieee.org/industry-connections/cyber-security-for-next-generation-connectivity-systems/?utm_source=beyondstandards&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=ct-2022&utm_content=cybersecurity) is designed to incubate new standards and related products and services for rapidly developing technologies such as the metaverse. The program facilitates collaboration and consensus-building among participants. It provides them with IEEE resources used to produce deliverables such as standards proposals; white papers and reports; events; databases and registration services; software tools and web services; among others.

IEEE SA has recently launched two new IC activities specifically for the metaverse.

• The Decentralized Metaverse Initiative (https://standards.ieee.org/industry-connections/activities/decentralized-metaverse-initiative/) is aimed at developing the economic and governance infrastructure for decentralized metaverses. The goal of this work is to develop and provide guidelines for implementing decentralized metaverses, which not only could capitalize on intellectual property and virtual assets in decentralized ways, but also could benefit from other potential features of decentralized architectures.

• The Persistent Computing for Metaverse Initiative (https://standards.ieee.org/industry-connections/activities/persistent-computing-for-metaverse-initiative/) addresses the similarities and differences between VR and a metaverse. Many VR experiences are one-time occurrences, such as in a game. But a metaverse requires consistency and persistence, and to achieve it, various technologies are required to build, operate, and upgrade metaverse experiences. These include but aren’t limited to computation, storage, communications, data structures, artificial intelligence (AI), and so forth. This IC will facilitate discussions and collaborations on persistent computing; steer and advise on metaverse research and development; and provide technical guidelines and reference implementations for persistent virtual worlds and metaverse.

Join IEEE SA in Advancing the Metaverse

The metaverse has the potential to be one of the most significant technological developments in human history. But to realize its potential, it needs the talents and experience of technology developers, software experts, device manufacturers, academic researchers, and many others.

IEEE SA’s metaverse-related activities are expanding rapidly. The IEEE Metaverse Congress (https://engagestandards.ieee.org/IEEE-Metaverse-Congress.html), a series of webinars launched by the IEEE SA Foundational Technologies Practice, aims to provide a global and comprehensive view of the Metaverse with experts who are involved with metaverse technology development, design, governance, and other aspects.

We invite you to get involved to help develop this exciting new area, advance your organization’s viewpoint, and engage with others who, like you, want to take part in something big and meaningful for the world. Join our Metaverse Community today (https://engagestandards.ieee.org/IEEE-Metaverse-Congress.html).

Authors:

• Yu Yuan, IEEE SA President-Elect

• Srikanth Chandrasekaran, IEEE SA Foundational Technologies Practice Lead