Overview
The Virtual Worlds and Society project aims to characterise the role that virtual worlds will play in the EU in the coming years, identifying their potential impact on individuals and society. It will generate early intelligence to support future policy interventions to protect European values and boost the contribution of European industry.
The project builds on the foundational analysis conducted at the JRC in 2023: Next Generation Virtual Worlds: Societal, Technological, Economic and Policy Challenges for the EU.
The project is hosted by the JRC Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS), which aims to enhance the JRC’s capabilities to better understand and address the often complex and long-term societal challenges facing the EU.
Approach
VirtueS adopts a sociotechnical approach that brings together perspectives from fields such as digital transformation studies, social psychology, human-computer interaction and digital anthropology. Over a period of three years (2024-2026), the project will combine quantitative (e.g. user surveys, computational approaches) and qualitative methods (e.g. interviews and focus groups with experts, content analysis) to address the different research questions.
Research questions
The project aims to answer the questions
- What value can virtual worlds provide to European industry? What are the most relevant use cases and business models? What competences and skills do European citizens need to make the most of virtual worlds, use them productively, and minimise their potential risks?
- What factors drive the adoption of virtual worlds among users? What is their potential (positive or negative) impact on consumers?
- What are the social benefits and risks of virtual worlds applications, and their ethical implications, in terms of political participation, access to education and the labour market, and representation of different identities?
What are virtual worlds?
The EU Initiative on Web 4.0 and Virtual Worlds defines virtual worlds as "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 purposes such as designing, making simulations, collaborating, learning, socialising, carrying out transactions, or providing entertainment."
Driven by the development of technologies such as extended reality, artificial intelligence and blockchain, as well as new visions for the future of digital connectivity (such as the metaverse(s), spatial computing and Web 4.0), a new generation of virtual worlds is poised to play a central role in our online lives. The European Commission emphasises the importance of understanding the opportunities and challenges that these new applications may bring to industry and consumers.
