6G-XR Partners Paving the Way to the Metaverse: Highlights from EBDVF 2023

We are back from EBDVF 2023, the event organised by the European Big Data Value Association which took place in Valencia from the 25 to 27 October 2023. 6G-XR partners contributed to the conversations on the future of Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Europe, shedding light on the enabling technologies for the virtual worlds and eXtended reality (XR) services. Read our summary of the event!

Summary of 6G-XR Participation to EBDVF 2023

6G-XR partners brought their expertise and perspectives in two sessions: “Metaverse Enablers: moving towards virtual worlds” part 1 and 2. The Metaverse and its expected positive impact on various aspects of society has been a hot topic of discussion in the research and industry ecosystem for some time. The concept of the Metaverse itself encompasses a very wide range of enabling technologies, and this session explored some of them, in particular virtual worlds and Extended Reality (XR) services.

The first part of the session “Metaverse Enablers: moving towards virtual worlds”, organised and moderated by 6G-XR partner Valerio Frascolla of Intel Corporation, brought together European SMEs and associations to discuss the challenges and opportunities of enabling technologies for virtual worlds. Among the panellists was Štefánia Puzderová from 6G-XR partner organisation Matsuko, who presented how holographic technology can enable immersive and interactive communication over distance, and how 6G networks can support such high-fidelity holographic applications.

“I found the panel discussion meaningful, providing a deeper understanding of the potential of the metaverse and the different perspectives in the industry. It helps to raise awareness of potential next-generation XR services and infrastructure”

commented Štefánia Puzderová.

In the second part, Mario Montagud Climent, Senior Research Scientist at the i2CAT Foundation, took the stage to present the contributions and progress of the 6G-XR project to the topic, in a panel that gathered representatives from the 6G SNS JU projects 6G-BRICKS and 6G-SANDBOX, as well the newly launched Coordination and Support Action (CSA) OpenVerse.