Guest speaker: Verity McIntosh, Senior Lecturer – Virtual and Extended Realities, University of West of England

With metaverse shortlisted for 2022’s Oxford Word of the Year and the Online Safety Bill intended to become law in the UK before next summer, building safe immersive virtual environments and championing collective opportunity to create a better and safer future is vital as multiple technologies intersect to form the building blocks; from immersive technologies like VR and AR to blockchain and cryptocurrencies to AI. With events such as Metaverse Safety Week, an international community effort led by the XR Safety Initiative, and Metaverse Symposium part ofDigital Regulation Cooperation Forum’s (DRCF) technology horizon scanning programme, the UK XR industry is actively engaged in raising awareness and promoting policies, guidelines and research, exploring issues including interoperability, privacy, bias, transparency and data ownership. Join us to learn about challenges, opportunities, collective action and what’s on the horizon for 2023 from speakers at the forefront of the discussions.