The Metaverse: Survey, Trends, Novel Pipeline Ecosystem & Future Directions
Hani Sami, Ahmad Hammoud, Mouhamad Arafeh, Mohamad Wazzeh, Sarhad Arisdakessian, Mario Chahoud, Osama Wehbi, Mohamad Ajaj, Azzam Mourad, Hadi Otrok, Omar Abdel Wahab, Rabeb Mizouni, Jamal Bentahar, Chamseddine Talhi, Zbigniew Dziong, Ernesto Damiani, Mohsen Guizani
TL;DR
This paper argues that Metaverse development currently lacks a coherent, end-to-end pipeline. It proposes a novel three-layer Metaverse pipeline ecosystem—Infrastructure, Environment Digitization, and User Interactions—comprising nine components, each analyzed with enabling technologies (AI, Blockchain, Networking, Computing) and social enablers (Privacy, Security, Ethics, Business, Socio-psychology). It surveys existing literature, analyzes trends, and maps a taxonomy and future directions to guide academia and industry toward interoperable, secure, and monetizable Metaverse deployments. The work aims to standardize realization guidelines, identify opportunities, and catalyze cross-domain contributions for practical, scalable Metaverse ecosystems.
Abstract
The Metaverse offers a second world beyond reality, where boundaries are non-existent, and possibilities are endless through engagement and immersive experiences using the virtual reality (VR) technology. Many disciplines can benefit from the advancement of the Metaverse when accurately developed, including the fields of technology, gaming, education, art, and culture. Nevertheless, developing the Metaverse environment to its full potential is an ambiguous task that needs proper guidance and directions. Existing surveys on the Metaverse focus only on a specific aspect and discipline of the Metaverse and lack a holistic view of the entire process. To this end, a more holistic, multi-disciplinary, in-depth, and academic and industry-oriented review is required to provide a thorough study of the Metaverse development pipeline. To address these issues, we present in this survey a novel multi-layered pipeline ecosystem composed of (1) the Metaverse computing, networking, communications and hardware infrastructure, (2) environment digitization, and (3) user interactions. For every layer, we discuss the components that detail the steps of its development. Also, for each of these components, we examine the impact of a set of enabling technologies and empowering domains (e.g., Artificial Intelligence, Security & Privacy, Blockchain, Business, Ethics, and Social) on its advancement. In addition, we explain the importance of these technologies to support decentralization, interoperability, user experiences, interactions, and monetization. Our presented study highlights the existing challenges for each component, followed by research directions and potential solutions. To the best of our knowledge, this survey is the most comprehensive and allows users, scholars, and entrepreneurs to get an in-depth understanding of the Metaverse ecosystem to find their opportunities and potentials for contribution.