Blockchain for the Metaverse: A Review

Abstract

Since Facebook officially changed its name to Metaverse in Oct. 2021, the metaverse has become a new norm of social networks and three-dimensional (3D) virtual worlds. The metaverse aims to bring 3D immersive and personalized experiences to users by leveraging many pertinent technologies. Despite great attention and benefits, a natural question in the metaverse is how to secure its users' digital content and data. In this regard, blockchain is a promising solution owing to its distinct features of decentralization, immutability, and transparency. To better understand the role of blockchain in the metaverse, we aim to provide an extensive survey on the applications of blockchain for the metaverse. We first present a preliminary to blockchain and the metaverse and highlight the motivations behind the use of blockchain for the metaverse. Next, we extensively discuss blockchain-based methods for the metaverse from technical perspectives, such as data acquisition, data storage, data sharing, data interoperability, and data privacy preservation. For each perspective, we first discuss the technical challenges of the metaverse and then highlight how blockchain can help. Moreover, we investigate the impact of blockchain on key-enabling technologies in the metaverse, including Internet-of-Things, digital twins, multi-sensory and immersive applications, artificial intelligence, and big data. We also present some major projects to showcase the role of blockchain in metaverse applications and services. Finally, we present some promising directions to drive further research innovations and developments towards the use of blockchain in the metaverse in the future.

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“…We believe that metaverse would be the next recent hype, especially in terms of theory-based research (Yung and Khoo-Lattimore, 2019). While metaverse is at its initial phase, researchers have called for future research in staging customer experience in metaverse and developing metaverse customer experience journey, evaluating the possible changes in consumer attitude and behaviour as well as transforming the businesses perspectives in marketing and operations (Gadekallu et al, 2022). As metaverse is becoming a new norm of social media, the security issues of users' data and the ownership of digital content become critical.…”

“…As metaverse is becoming a new norm of social media, the security issues of users' data and the ownership of digital content become critical. The decentralized, immutable and transparent characteristics of blockchain lend itself to metaverse application (Gadekallu et al, 2022).…”

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“…Yang et al [12] highlight the fusion of artificial intelligence technologies and blockchain to construct an intelligent, open, and promising metaverse by the description of the economic system in the metaverse. Gadekallu et al [13] investigate key-enabling technologies in the metaverse based on blockchain, including digital twins, Internet-of-Things, immersive applications, big data and so on.…”