I participated in the 7thmeeting of the European Commission’s Virtual Worlds Steering Group, held on 8 October 2026, delivering a presentation entitled “Future of Virtual Worlds: ViWAS – Virtual Worlds Skills Academy.” The presentation explored the rapidly evolving landscape of virtual worlds, highlighting advances in Extended Reality (XR), Artificial Intelligence (AI), immersive displays, spatial computing, digital humans, and intelligent virtual environments. Particular emphasis was placed on their transformative potential across education, cultural heritage, healthcare, industry, and digital collaboration, alongside critical challenges related to interoperability, accessibility, technological limitations, privacy, and sustainability. Prof. Liarokapis also introduced the ViWAS (Virtual Worlds Skills Academy) project, which aims to address Europe's emerging digital skills gap through innovative learning pathways, a pan-European competence and qualification framework, interoperable learning infrastructure, and inclusive educational opportunities for learners, educators, and professionals.
The presentation highlighted the initial research activities of ViWAS, including its Baseline Data Research Phase 1, focusing on identifying skills requirements and engaging stakeholders from industry, higher education, and vocational education and training. A key scientific contribution was the Extended Six-Dimensional Framework for Intelligent XR Learning Environments (6D-XR Framework), which integrates learner characteristics, pedagogical design, immersive representation, contextual environments, adaptive intelligence, and ethical and sustainability considerations. The presentation also introduced the project's emerging XR learning ecosystem and demonstration platform, illustrating how AI-supported personalisation, open educational resources, and interoperable technologies can facilitate accessible and future-ready immersive education. Through its participation in this European-level dialogue, CYENS reinforces its commitment to advancing responsible virtual worlds technologies, strengthening European digital competences, and fostering collaboration between research, education, industry, and policymakers.
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