University of Wollongong granted $400K to improve metaverse sustainability

University of Wollongong (UOW) has received a $400,000 grant for research into energy-efficient metaverse technologies.

Distinguished Professor Willy Susilo, University of Wollongong

UOW Distinguished Professor Willy Susilo was awarded the Australian Research Centre (ARC) grant as part of the Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment, and Facilities (LIEF) scheme, which funds the equipment and infrastructure needs of Australian researchers.

The grant will be used by Susilo’s research team to evaluate the efficiencies of technologies including blockchain and AI, with the aim of prototyping an energy-efficient metaverse.

Susilo told Digital Nation Australia that Web3 technologies such as blockchain present sustainability inefficiencies due to the huge datasets required for deep learning.

“This is a pioneering initiative to improve metaverse sustainability. We expect to devise new energy-efficient algorithms that will improve on current algorithms for use in the metaverse,” said Susilo.

“Improvements in algorithms to reduce the computational load will result in more sustainable technologies.”

While no fully established metaverse currently exists, today’s various virtual worlds such as Decentraland and Roblox are made up of diverse components that can be extremely energy intensive, he said.

“The metaverse is widely anticipated as the next technological breakthrough that will revolutionise the way we interact, learn, work, shop and entertain in the new digital economy. However, metaverse technologies require a tremendous amount of computation and energy to serve millions of concurrent users,” said Susilo.

“The proposed facility is expected to support the development of energy-efficient algorithms and systems for the metaverse and establish Australia’s leadership in this emerging area of major economic and societal impact.”

According to Professor David Currow UOW’s deputy vice-chancellor (health and sustainable futures) and interim deputy vice-chancellor (research and innovation), the ARC LIEF funding enables innovative research to take place.

“The ARC funding shows these ground-breaking ideas have a sound foundation and will enable UOW researchers to keep searching for the next world-changing discoveries in science and technology,” he said.