About the workshop
Toward open standards for shared virtual worlds
Immersive virtual world technologies are evolving into persistent, shared spaces that increasingly blur the boundaries between physical and digital life. They hold transformative potential across industry, education, healthcare, entertainment, commerce, and scientific research.
At the same time, current systems remain fragmented across closed hardware and software ecosystems. This workshop addresses interoperability, asset portability, platform lock-in, and the need for design and ethical frameworks that safeguard privacy, fairness, transparency, and human agency.
Call for Papers
Submit a position paper or case study
We invite 2–4 page submissions, excluding references, following the IEEE Computer Society VGTC conference format.
Friction Points
Identify where current virtual worlds introduce rigid standards, interoperability barriers, and asset portability challenges.
Platform Innovation
Explore novel approaches promoting federated architectures as an alternative to centralized platform models.
Sovereignty and Ethics
Develop frameworks that prioritize user autonomy and data privacy over centralized corporate control and profit.
Workshop goals
Participants will share experience and research findings, engage in collaborative discussion, and contribute to a Strategic Research Agenda for designing virtual worlds around interoperability and shared standards.
- Discuss open-standard reference frameworks for interoperable virtual worlds.
- Surface shared challenges across platforms, tools, workflows, and ecosystems.
- Develop design heuristics for open, interoperable, and ethical virtual worlds.
Submission
Format: 2–4 pages excluding references, IEEE Computer Society VGTC format.
Types: Position papers and case studies.
Publication: Workshop materials are planned for inclusion in the conference proceedings.
Submit via EasyChairImportant dates
Mark your calendar
Program
Planned full-day agenda
Introductory plenary session
The organizers frame the importance of open standards and interoperability in future virtual worlds, followed by Q&A.
Position paper presentations
Selected participants present their position papers, with time for questions and discussion. Lunch break planned around 12:00–12:45.
Collaborative synthesis and discussion
Participants synthesize emerging insights into a shared Strategic Research Agenda and close with next steps for disseminating outcomes.
People
Organizers
Program Committee
Contact
Questions?
Please contact the workshop organizers at tommy.nilsson@fit.fraunhofer.de or leif.oppermann@fit.fraunhofer.de.