STEaPP collaborates with Uni. of Oxford in pioneering Metaverse research for disabled individuals

The paper titled "Accessibility and Inclusiveness of New Information and Communication Technologies for Disabled Users and Content Creators in the Metaverse" explores the potential and challenges for physically disabled users and content creators as they interact with the digital realms of the Metaverse. This collaboration, led by Dr. Petar Radanliev and Professor David De Roure from the Oxford e-Research Centre of the University of Oxford, was co-authored by Dr. Peter Novitzky from STEaPP, UCL, and Dr Ivo Sluganovic from Oxford's Department of Computer Science. The study commenced in 2016 and concluded in 2023.

The research, robustly grounded in a multidisciplinary approach, provides a comprehensive review of the current technologies, alongside their potential to champion inclusiveness within the ever-evolving Metaverse landscape. Notably, the findings underline the need for an innovative framework designed to boost accessibility and inclusiveness in Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed realities within decentralised Metaverses.

UCL's STEaPP, revered for its commitment to marrying scientific and engineering expertise with public policy to address pressing global challenges, has been at the forefront of fostering collaborations that make real-world impact. The department's ethos resonates powerfully with the paper's overarching theme – the union of technological advancements with policy considerations to craft a more inclusive and equitable digital landscape.

The research has been bolstered by the invaluable support from the PETRAS National Centre of Excellence for IoT Systems Cybersecurity, championed by UK EPSRC. The PETRAS Centre, with its unyielding commitment to ensuring safe and secure technological advancements in the IoT sphere, perfectly complements the research's endeavour to embrace, understand, and address the socio-technical challenges of our digital age.

Embodying STEaPP's vision of collaborative policy making, the research has been informed by diverse inputs from academia, industry, and governmental entities. The study not only reaffirms the need for embedding science and engineering expertise in policy decision-making but also stresses the importance of academia and industry collaboration in shaping a future that's inclusively digital.

As the world stands on the precipice of a digital revolution led by the Metaverse, this collaboration between UCL's STEaPP and the University of Oxford is a testament to the power of interdisciplinary research in forging a path to a more inclusive, diverse, and equitable digital tomorrow.

Note: This news media blog article is a summary of the PETRAS collaborative research