The Virtual Worlds Association is thrilled to announce the launch of a new interactive website, specifically designed to streamline how you engage and contribute with our Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA). This platform allows you to effortlessly navigate key insights, explore specific pillars of interest, and—most importantly—provide your direct feedback in real time topic by topic.
For reminder, the SRIA is strategic and guiding document setting out the main priorities, challenges, and expected impacts in terms of research and innovation for the virtual worlds industry. As part of the Virtual Worlds Partnership, it serves as an official recommendation document to the European Commission for the elaboration of Horizon Europe funding program for Virtual Worlds and Web 4.0 related calls.
As this year marks the first time we invite our community to update the document, given the importance of properly reflecting the European private stakeholders' point of view in this strategic and guiding document and the important task digesting comprehensive industry agendas can be because of the depth and length of document, we were willing to provide a tool to ease everyone's contribution to the SRIA with this into a dynamic, user-friendly digital experience.
The Association's warmly thanks Frank Feinbube and Yannick Heiling (SAP) for their leadership on this project, and Spiros Nikolopoulos (CERTH), Tasos Papazoglou Chalikias (CERTH) and Laszlo Arnould (PopulAR) for their contributions.
New platform for the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda
Your voice is vital to shaping the future of the European Virtual Worlds Industry, and this interactive space ensures your insights-sharing experience to be in a smooth and collaborative way.
Introduction
Virtual Worlds, solving real world problemsVirtual Worlds (VW) represent a transformative convergence of physical and digital realities, creatingimmersive environments where users can interact, work, learn and play in unprecedented ways. ThisStrategic Research and Innovation Agenda identifies the required foundational concepts andtechnological advancements driving VW, highlighting their potential to revolutionise various sectors,including industry, entertainment, education, and commerce. By examining the interplay betweenAugmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), or Mixed Reality (MR) and other emerging technologies likeDigital Twins (DT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), we aim to provide a comprehensive overview of VWs'prospects and associated research and innovation gaps. A deeper exploration of VWs' impact on societyand the economy gives context to the application and technology perspectives.VW are 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 purposessuch as designing, making simulations, collaborating, learning, socialising, carrying out transactions orproviding entertainment1. They encompass a wide range of digital experiences, from fully i
