Recently, a global digital giant and The University of Hong Kong’s Centre for Civil Society and Governance jointly released an RFP (Request for Proposals) for the company’s AR/VR Policy Research in the Asia Pacific region. This research effort invites the academic community in the area to do research that focuses on finding solutions to help with the ethical advancement of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology. This involves figuring out effective ways to address policy problems and difficulties, as well as opening up chances in the metaverse and augmented and virtual reality, ultimately empowering individuals to forge relationships with one another and unite the world.
Within ten years, Meta wants a billion people to use the metaverse as a regular part of their lives as the metaverse develops into the next chapter of the internet. People must feel in control of their experiences and safe and secure for that to happen. The tech behemoth’s dedication to assuring the ethical development and application of AR/VR technologies and forging strong partnerships with industry partners, academics, and policymakers to realise the metaverse is reiterated by this RFP. The RFP is a component of the Tech for Good Initiative, according to the director of the Centre for Civil Society and Governance, which aims to bring scholars and practitioners together to stay current on technological developments and examine how emerging technologies interact with public policy. The Center is dedicated to achieving a sustainable society, and cutting-edge technologies will aid in resolving some of the most pressing sustainability issues we are currently facing.
Faculty are invited to respond to this request for research proposal responses on the following issues from the Center for Civil Society and Governance of The University of Hong Kong and the company:
- Economic opportunity: people can be given more choice, how competition can be encouraged, how a thriving digital economy can be maintained
- Privacy: how the amount of data used can be minimized, how to build technology to enable privacy-protective data uses, and give people transparency and control over their data
- Safety and integrity: how people can be kept safe online and be given tools to take action or get help if they see something they’re not comfortable with
- Equity and inclusion: ensuring these technologies are designed inclusively and in a way that’s accessible
- New Use Cases: what are new applications of immersive technology that create substantial value for people and communities.
The firm’s XR Programs and Research Support, a two-year US$50 million investment in programmes and independent external research to aid in the process of sustainably developing the metaverse, will fund a total of 6 grants, each in the amount of US$100,000. The results will be made public on September 5, 2022, and the submission deadline is July 25, 2022. Within a 5-year projection period, the global augmented reality and virtual reality market are anticipated to increase from its present market value of US$37.0 billion to US$114.5 billion by 2027 at a market growth rate of 25.3 percent.
The elements driving this rise include greater augmented reality applications in healthcare, as well as growing augmented reality and virtual reality applications in retail and e-commerce, strong government investment to support the expansion of the AR and VR markets, partnerships between augmented reality device manufacturers and numerous service industries, increased usage and demand for virtual reality in e-learning, medical training, and manufacturing divisions.
