Linux Foundation Announces Launch of the Open Metaverse Foundation

New Open Metaverse Foundation sets the stage for practical, powerful progress in  building immersive, global, scalable worlds, together. 

SAN FRANCISCO – January 18, 2023 – The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization focused on fostering innovation through open source, has established the formation of the Open Metaverse Foundation (OMF) with a mission to provide a collaboration space for diverse  industries to work on developing open source software and standards for an inclusive, global, vendor-neutral and scalable Metaverse. 

Many thought-leading organizations and open source communities have joined as founding  members to support the effort to bring this vision to life. These include the ChainHub  Foundation, Cloud Native Computing Foundation, Futurewei, GenXP, Guangdong Digital Industry Research Institute, Hyperledger Foundation, LF Edge, LF Networking, OpenSDV,  Open Voice Network and Veriken, among others. Together, these constituents bring years of  knowledge and experience to address initiatives spanning artificial intelligence (AI), cloud and  edge computing, digital assets, transactions, identity, networking, simulations, security and  more. 

“We’re still in the early days of the vision for an open Metaverse, and we recognize that many  open source communities and foundations are working on vital pieces of this iterative puzzle,” said Royal O’Brien, executive director of the OMF. “While the challenges may seem daunting,  I’m energized by the opportunities to collaborate with a broad, global community to bring these pieces together as we transform this vision into reality.”  

OMF Foundational Interest Groups
The Open Metaverse Foundation is organized into Foundational Interest Groups (FIGs) that  enable a focused, distributed decision structure for key topics. FIGs provide targeted resources  and forums for the identification of new ideas, getting work done and onboarding new  contributors. They are comprised of members from specific disciplines committed to advancing  projects or scalable technologies within their topic as well as ensuring that code ownership of  every identifiable subpart of projects (e.g., GitHub.org, repository, subdirectory, API, test, issue,  PR) is addressed and managed. The eight Foundational Interest Groups of OMF are: 

Learn more about the Open Metaverse Foundation by visiting the website or contacting us.  Connect with the community on Discord, and join the community at upcoming events, including  the Open Source Summit North America, May 10-12 in Vancouver. 

Supporting Quotes: 

Taylor Dolezal, Head of Ecosystem, Cloud Native Computing Foundation
"The Metaverse brings exciting possibilities in revolutionizing the way we interact and engage,  but with it comes immense technical challenges. Through the power of open innovation, the  Open Metaverse Foundation will foster collaboration and community-driven development to  realize this promise. The Cloud Native Computing Foundation looks forward to contributing its  deep expertise to evolve cloud technologies and infrastructure in tackling these challenges.  Together, we'll build a truly open, accessible virtual world, where anyone can participate." 

Anni Lai, Head of Open Source Operations and Marketing, Futurewei 
“Our industry needs innovation through interoperability driven by open source and open  standards to realize the promise of the Metaverse—if we’re to build something that benefits  everyone—just as was the case with the early architecting of the Internet. Futurewei believes in  the power of open source and open collaboration, and we’re excited to engage in building the  Open Metaverse Foundation community to extend initiatives we already have underway in XR,  Web3, mobile gaming and more.” 

Vince McMullin, CEO, GenXP 
"The Metaverse isn't some expensive VR headset. It isn't NFTs. It isn't even Web3. The  Metaverse is an open set of data standards that enables shared, accessible, persistent 3D  experiences. The Open Metaverse Foundation provides a vehicle for industry-wide, community driven collaboration to develop open standards and open source implementations for an open  Metaverse. As leaders in delivering tools and technology, we enable new and extraordinary  ways to experience, engage and excite our users through interactive, immersive 3D  experiences. GenXP is excited to join the Foundation to help make these experiences possible.” 

Daniela Barbosa, Executive Director, Hyperledger Foundation and General Manager, Blockchain and Identity, Linux Foundation 
"We are just starting to see the potential of the Metaverse. The impact of combining the Internet  of place and value will be enormous if we work together to build open, scalable, decentralized  technologies. The OMF brings the proven Linux Foundation open development model to this  complex but exciting new opportunity and gives the companies and developers shaping it a  neutral home to fulfill their vision. Hyperledger Foundation's distributed ledger and digital trust  expertise and technologies will be critical building blocks for the effort."

Ranny Haiby, CTO, Networking, Edge & Access Technologies, Linux Foundation
“The Metaverse is presenting unprecedented challenges for edge computing and networks. We  expect the Open Metaverse Foundation to become the platform for defining the required  technological solutions. Industry-wide collaboration is the only way to embark on such complex  endeavors. The LF Edge and Networking communities are well suited to deliver the open  source technologies defined by the Open Metaverse Foundation. We are looking forward to  close collaboration with the new Foundation and foresee many potential synergies between it  and our projects.” 

Jon Stine, Executive Director, Open Voice Network 
"At its core, the Open Metaverse Foundation is all about bringing a diversity of industry experts  and open source communities together to transform the concept of the Metaverse from promise  to reality, while ensuring it delivers an amazing, immersive experience for all users. This is  about optimal choice, a rich development ecosystem, safety and ease of use. That’s why the  Open Voice Network – a Linux Foundation community developing open standards and ethical  use guidelines for the inevitable interface for the metaverse, conversational AI – is delighted to  link arms with the Open Metaverse Foundation." 

Chris Clason, Founder and CEO, Veriken 
"The Metaverse will drive the demand for innovative digital products while providing the  frameworks to connect creators directly with consumers, setting the stage for a disruptive  opportunity not seen since the early days of the Internet. Veriken is excited to work with the  Open Metaverse Foundation to create the open standards for digital commerce and property  ownership necessary to accelerate the initial adoption of the Metaverse and protect the long term interests of all stakeholders, including consumers, individual artists and enterprises." 

About the OMF  
The mission of OMF is to foster a strong community of developers, engineers, academics and  thought leaders who will solve the difficult challenges of building the open Metaverse through  open source software and open specifications that enable portability and interoperability for an  open, global, scalable world, which supports interactive and immersive experiences for the  benefit of any individual or industry. For more information, please visit us at  https://www.openmv.org/. 

Media Contact
Noah Lehman
The Linux Foundation
nlehman@linuxfoundation.org