Linux Foundation Takes on Metaverse, Physical World Mapping Challenges

The Linux Foundation (LF), one of the primary driving forces behind the continuing growth of open-source technology, is turning its attention to developing a better metaverse and creating a living digital record of the physical world.

In December, LF announced the Open Metaverse Foundation (OMF) with a mission to provide a collaboration space for diverse industries to work on developing open-source software and standards for an inclusive, global, vendor-neutral, and scalable metaverse.

Also in December, LF announced the formation of the Overture Maps Foundation (OMF) to build interoperable Open Map Data that allows developers to build new map services leveraging the combined contributions of Overture members.

The LF organization hopes the mapping plans will rally all forces to master the challenge posed by creating a living digital record of the physical world that no single organization can manage.

The newly formed OMF within the Linux Foundation will focus on initiatives spanning artificial intelligence, cloud and edge computing, digital assets, transactions, identity, networking, simulations, and security. The efforts will bring participating members to collaborate in creating open-source software and standards for an open, global, vendor-neutral, and scalable metaverse.

“We’re still in the early days of the vision for an open metaverse, and we recognize that many open source communities and foundations are working on vital pieces of this iterative puzzle,” said Royal O’Brien, executive director of the OMF, in the announcement.

“While the challenges may seem daunting, I’m energized by the opportunities to collaborate with a broad, global community to bring these pieces together as we transform this vision into reality,” he added.

Metaverse Organizational Plan

The OMF is organized into eight foundational interest groups (FIGs). The goal of each group is to enable a focused, distributed decision structure for key topics.

FIGs provide targeted resources and forums for identifying new ideas, getting work done, and onboarding new contributors. They are comprised of members from specific disciplines committed to advancing projects or scalable technologies within their topic and ensuring that code ownership of every identifiable subpart of projects.

For instance, the subdivisions could address and manage various elements such as GitHub.org, repository, subdirectory, API, test, issue, and public relations. The eight FIGS for the OMF are Users, Transactions, Digital Assets, Simulations and Virtual Worlds, Artificial Intelligence, Networking, Security and Privacy, and Legal and Policy.

The Metaverse offers exciting possibilities for revolutionizing the way we interact and engage. But it comes with immense technical challenges, noted Anni Lai, head of open source operations and marketing at Futurewei, as part of the announcement.

The Metaverse is not some expensive VR headset. It is not NFTs. It is not even Web3. The Metaverse is an open set of data standards that enables shared, accessible, persistent 3D experiences,” offered Vince McMullin, CEO of GenXP.