The Openverse – an Interdisciplinary Platform for Co-Creation of Virtual Spaces
About this project
Extended Reality (XR), which encompasses more immersive means of interacting with people and data, has been at the forefront of technological development in recent years. However, research on virtual environments and data is severely hampered by a lack of interoperability and knowledge sharing, limiting our ability to explore how XR can be used for scientific breakthroughs.
Through this project, we intend to:
- Establish standardized data sharing protocols within and on XR research.
- In line with these ORD protocols, virtual assets and (meta)data can be collected and made publicly available to researchers on our platform.
- Build an international community of researchers and practitioners with whom we can share data on human functioning in virtual environments and enable members to co-create experiences in virtual spaces using our collection of interoperable tools.
Through our efforts, we are addressing the issue of reusability of virtual environments and data collected within them, as well as the replicability of XR studies. In addition, by establishing open lines of communication and data sharing protocols, we intend to steer the narrative for the "metaverse" - facilitating human-centered research projects - so that XR solutions benefit people and society.
Scientific summary
XR is increasingly seen as the next evolutionary phase in the way we interact online, building on the foundations of the mobile Internet without replacing it. For example, current remote interactions through platforms such as Zoom may soon be enhanced by XR technologies to provide a more immersive experience that simulates physical presence through the use of avatars in virtual environments.
Despite robust scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of XR for immersive engagement, there is a notable gap in research focusing on the human-centered aspects of XR technologies, particularly in professional settings. This oversight is concerning as many organizations rush to develop their own XR spaces - such as Accenture's "Nth Floor" or Microsoft's "Mesh" - potentially missing critical insights into how these technologies affect stakeholders' behaviors and emotions. The urgency to adopt XR is partly driven by fears that latecomers will fall behind competitors, similar to what happened to some companies after the advent of the Internet.
To address these challenges, our goal is to advocate and facilitate the development of an open XR infrastructure, called the Openverse. This platform would differ from proprietary models such as Horizon Worlds, which require specific accounts and hardware, by being anchored in international protocol standards supported by a broad range of XR scholars and practitioners. This open model would allow researchers from diverse fields to engage with and contribute to XR projects without the limitations of corporate-controlled environments.
By making data from XR environments universally accessible, we aim to catalyze multidisciplinary research that advances our understanding of human interactions in virtual spaces. This inclusive approach not only accelerates the integration of XR technologies into a wide range of projects, but also preserves the autonomy of researchers and the integrity of their work, allowing data to be freely used and shared across global research communities.
Challenges and goals
XR research is still in its infancy, with most researchers and practitioners only beginning to recognize the potential value of immersive virtual environments during the pandemic. While several recent XR studies have helped advance our understanding of human functioning in cyberspace, progress is still slow due to a lack of adherence to common standards and protocols among XR researchers. In order to accelerate this line of research - to improve the generalizability, reusability, and replicability of XR studies - it is essential to fill knowledge gaps related to XR methodologies, including which common protocols virtual environments should be built upon, and which metadata is most relevant to XR researchers and should therefore be shared publicly.
To accomplish this, the Openverse was launched with the following goals:
- Develop sustainable ORD practices
- Generate conscientious research through ORD
- Foster international collaborations for XR research
- Publish ORD protocols and best-practice recommendations
- Build a tool for scholars to co-create XR simulations
Results and Output
Within the Openverse community, researchers and practitioners use, study, and build virtual experiences that benefit people. Researchers from around the world have already joined Openverse, including scholars from Harvard Business School, INSEAD, and Berkeley.
Within Switzerland, we count members from several institutions, such as the University of Zurich, ETH, University of Lausanne, University of St. Gallen, and others. Together we discuss protocols for the design and operation of virtual environments and data, ensuring the accessibility and interoperability of XR applications and data for research.
For example, we have developed a comprehensive overview of the different existing coding structures implemented in XR applications, resulting in dozens of programs and (coding) languages that inhibit the use of virtual data across research streams and domains, ultimately making replication studies infeasible.
The Openverse community is now working together to create protocols and best practice recommendations that will inspire and enable scientists to apply norms and rules to their XR research for the benefit of scientific progress and integrity. Finally, Openverse members are actively planning collaborative and interdisciplinary research projects.
Impact on Open Science practices
With the protocols and best practice recommendations for XR research in place, we will enable all of our research to be reused and repurposed for alternative research purposes, regardless of the research domain. For example, the UZH Center for Leadership in the Future of Work's VR Lab has developed virtual environments that include AI-powered human-like avatars that can be freely customized to the needs of the user.
With data openly shared in the Openverse, community members can acquire and customize these assets to conduct research on a variety of topics, including leadership, ethics, cognitive attention, policy, and sustainability. In other words, the Openverse provides scholars with a tool to build their own virtual environments and experiences using a collection of virtual assets and data developed by other community members.
The Openverse is a dynamic and ever-expanding platform, growing in scope and sophistication with each contribution from our diverse community to our vast repository of digital data. We therefore invite scientists-regardless of their background-with a (potential) interest in XR to join our community, thereby increasing the impact and functionality of the Openverse and furthering scientific progress.
We understand that initiating XR research may seem daunting and costly, but our resources - i.e., community-developed tools, data, and knowledge - are freely available to make this cutting-edge research approach both accessible and rewarding. For more information or to express your interest, please contact us at the email address below.
