Named Data Metaverse
I had the pleasure of chairing a really interesting panel discussion at the NDN Community meeting (NDNComm 2023) on March 3rd 2023.
The panel discussed opportunities and challenges for building Metaverse systems with a Named Data Networking approach. Specific discussion questions include:
- What are architectural, security-related, and performance-related issues in Metaverse systems today?
- What communication patterns could be supported by NDN platforms?
- How can the data-oriented model and decentralized trust establishment help in developing better Metaverse systems and at what layer would NDN technologies help?
- What are gaps, challenges and research opportunities for NDN evolution to address Metaverse system requirements?
The panelists were:
- Paulo Mendes (Airbus Research)
- Michelle Munson (Eluvio)
- Todd Hodes (Eluvio)
- Jeff Burke (UCLA REMAP)
The panel discussed scenarios for Named Data in the Metaverse such as AR in live performance, real-time ML for transformed reality, architectures for emerging arts, media, and entertainment, commercial content distribution and experience delivery, as well as Metaverse VR experiences in challenged networks.
Jeff Burke introduced exciting ideas for re-imaging VR-enhanced live performances and shared some ideas and insights from building such applications. In his class of applications, there is a lot of local interaction (for example in a theater), creating interesting challenges and opportunities for local, decentralized Metaverses. On the application layer, Metaverse VR applications would like use scene and model descriptions such as USD and gITF, so the question arises, what opportunities exist for mapping the corresponding names to "network layer" names.
Michelle Munson and Todd Hodes introduced Eluvio's Content Fabric Protocol (CFP), a platform aimed at commercial-grade decentralized content distribition, providing content-native adressability programmability mechanisms for storage, distribution, and in-built streaming and content processing. CFP uses Blockchain governance for versioning, access control, and on-chain/cross-chain monetization. An example use case is the Warner Movieverse.
The panel discussed the different approaches of dealing with named-data as a fundamental building block and some specific use cases for networked Metaverse systems such as (secure) in-network content transformation. Overall, the panel was a great initial discussion on these ideas that should definitely be continued. Check out the list of related events below for possible venues.
Related Events
- Metaverse-focused ICN Research Group meeting at the upcoming IETF-116 meeting: (ICNRG meets on March 28, 09:30 to 11:00 JST, online participation possible).
- Metaverse side meeting at IETF-116 on March 30th at 11:30. See IETF Metaverse mailing list for agenda and details.
- IEEE MetaCom Workshop on Decentralized, Data-Oriented Networking for the Metaverse (DORM)