The 7th BAIRAL Research Meeting for 2022 Report on “Possibilities and Challenges of Metaverse – Metaverse School of Engineering”

Atsuko Sano (Project Researcher of the B’AI Global Forum)

・Date: Wednesday, November 16, 2022, 18:30-20:00 (JST)
・Venue: Zoom Meeting (online)
・Language: Japanese
・Guest Speaker: Prof. Masahiko INAMI (Special Advisor to the President; Professor at the Information Somatics Laboratory of the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo)
・Moderator: Atsuko SANO (Project Researcher of the B’AI Global Forum)
(Click here for details on the event)

On November 16, 2022, “BAIRAL” (a study group organized by research assistants of the B’AI Global Forum) held its 7th meeting for 2022 online. The guest speaker was Prof. Masahiko Inami, Special Advisor to the President, and Professor at the Information Somatics Laboratory of the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, the University of Tokyo. He talked about his ongoing “JIZAI-Body Project” and the metaverse.

This meeting was planned based on the opening of the Metaverse School of Engineering in September 2022. The lecture was a valuable opportunity for us to hear not only about the Metaverse School of Engineering, but also about his “JIZAI-Body Project” and the possibilities and challenges of the metaverse which has currently been a trend.

The lecture by Prof. Inami was divided into three parts. The first part was an introduction to his ongoing “JIZAI-Body Project,” featuring a variety of actual research activities. In the next part, he described VR research and utilization at the University of Tokyo and how it led to the opening of the metaverse school. The last part of the lecture was about the possibilities and challenges of the metaverse.

After the presentation, a discussion was held with participants on various points, including technical and social issues: Compatibility of current metaverse with previously developed VR, effective use of eye-tracking and its risk that biometrics will increase the accuracy of personal identification, and whether a same platform would be sufficient given that ethics differ from region to region.

At the end of the session, the professor concluded by expressing his vision that there are many challenges because the metaverse is something that has never existed before, but rather than stopping because of the challenges, he would like to identify the problems, use it with an understanding of these problems, and increase the options available to the public.