Latin American Academia and Metaverse Meet for Important Research - News Brief

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The University of São Paulo and the United States of Mars, USM (formally called Radio Caca, RACA) announced the signing of an international cooperation agreement that aims to promote research on applications and technical, economic and legal aspects of the Metaverse [See, e.g. USP. USP will be the first Brazilian public university in the metaverse. (Accessed May 28, 2022)].

USP professor Marcos A. Simplicio Jr. highlighted that this is the first time USP had received a nonfungible token (NFT) via partnership. The token in question is a rare piece of land in the United States of Mars (USM) metaverse, which is being built in collaboration with other universities. 'USP is the first university in Latin America to have a partnership with USM to support the construction of its metaverse', said Simplicio.

[Gusson, C. Brazilian university USP will conduct academic research in the metaverse. (Accessed May 28, 2022)].

At first, the USP - USM partnership will work in a joint effort with researchers associated with the University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) which is an existing agreement sponsored by Ripple. But the USP - USM agreement "aims to promote research around the technical, economic and legal aspects of the Metaverse" [Id].

The University itself "wants to explore important research questions around psychology, human behavior and augmented reality inside the metaverse" [Id]. More specifically:

It is envisaged that the Metaverse in question may be useful for researchers in different areas, such as: research groups interested in 3D modeling, virtual and augmented reality and in an immersive environment can model the real space of the university within the virtual platform; researchers in the fields of education and psychology can assess learning and behavior in classes and interactions carried out in this environment; technology researchers can evaluate the effectiveness of different virtual/augmented reality devices for accessing the metaverse; etc. The internal mechanisms of the metaverse in question can also be studied by researchers in the fields of engineering, economics, law and communications and the arts, seeking to improve the platform as a whole.

[USP, supra].

Professor Simplicio concludes: "It is a very interesting opportunity for any USP researcher interested in the 'Metaverse' theme to carry out their research using such a platform" [Id].

It should be noted that research into the metaverse is becoming somewhat more focused. Potential uses and opportunities were discussed at the recently concluded World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting.

Specifically, the panel titled 'The Possibilities of the Metaverse' explored how metaverse technologies can be used to enhance children’s learning. The panel featured Philip Rosedale, co-founder of High Fidelity; Pascal Kaufmann, founder of Mindfire Foundation; Peggy Johnson, CEO of Magic Leap; Hoda AlKhzaimi, assistant research professor at New York University, Abu Dhabi and Edward Lewin, vice president of Lego Group.

[Gusson, supra].

Lewin stated one of the major conclusions of this group: "One in three people using the internet are young adults and children, so I would really focus on building from kids’ perspective, given they are the future users [Id].

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