Metaverse open standards group is formed by Microsoft, Meta, and others

• The Metaverse Standards Forum aims to promote open, interoperable standards for augmented and virtual reality.
• It has been founded by Microsoft, Epic Games, Meta, and 33 other firms and organisations.
• The club aims to conduct its first meetings in 2022, and will focus on “action-based projects”.

A standards group for “metaverse” technology has been founded by Microsoft, Epic Games, Meta, and 33 other firms and organisations. The Metaverse Standards Forum aims to promote open, interoperable standards for augmented and virtual reality, as well as geospatial and 3D technologies.

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The Metaverse Standards Forum will focus on “pragmatic, action-based projects” including hackathons and prototype tools for promoting shared standards, according to a press release. It’s also interested in adopting “uniform language” for the area, despite the fact that many participants disagree on what a “metaverse” is.

Major pre-metaverse corporations including the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Nvidia, Qualcomm, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and Unity, as well as younger ones like Lamina1, a blockchain payments business co-founded by Snow Crash author Neal Stephenson, are among the group’s founding members.

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However, there are a few notable omissions. There’s no trace of Apple, which is working on VR and AR technology, as Protocol’s Nick Statt points out. Niantic and Roblox, two companies that pioneered the merging of games and virtual worlds, are also conspicuously absent. The club aims to conduct its first meetings in 2022, and it is possible that more members will join when it starts operating.

According to the group says in a press release, “Industry leaders have stated that the potential of the metaverse will be best realized if it is built on a foundation of open standards,” added, “Building an open and inclusive metaverse at pervasive scale will demand a constellation of open interoperability standards.”