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Using the metaverse in education is one of the numerous new application areas that have recently evolved. The overall aim of this research study was to investigate the factors that influence university students’ acceptance of using the metaverse in education. A modified version of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology developed specifically for the metaverse was employed. In addition, common moderating constructs were added to the modified version of the employed model (namely, level of experience and gender) to further broaden the scope of the analysis. A survey questionnaire was administered to collect data from a sample of 326 students from the King Talal School of Business at Princess Sumaya University for Technology. Subsequently, data were analysed using structural equation modelling via the SmartPLS software. Results of this study revealed that the construct’s performance expectancy, social influence, effort expectancy and facilitating conditions all had significant positive effects on students’ satisfaction with using the metaverse in education. Furthermore, students’ satisfaction demonstrated a significant positive effect on students’ intention to continue using the metaverse in education. Contrary to expectations, the constructs, including level of experience and gender, did not have any significant effect on the results. The research study findings provided several theoretical and practical implications which would assist educational institutions and metaverse providers in their efforts to incorporate such an immersive platform into the educational domain.

Metaverse empowers learning and spawns learning metaverse. Learning Metaverse is a new type of Internet educational application and digital social ecosystem. Learning Metaverse Empowering Education will help promote the construction of new educational infrastructure and provide new opportunities for building a high-quality education support system. This paper aims at the online English teaching scenario in the multi-source and cross-domain environment, and constructs a new teaching scheme by using the metaverse technology. In order to improve the quality of English teaching and the interest of English teaching classroom, this paper proposes an immersive English learning visualization system with diversified interactive methods. Therefore, this paper designs an immersive interaction management method based on visual scene and a visual network management method based on visual algorithm tree, which can systematically manage user interactions and provide full-process support for visual operations in an immersive environment. In order to verify the effectiveness and naturalness of the interactive system, this paper conducts a comparative experiment between the two-dimensional desktop system and the immersive virtual reality system. The user experiment results show that the system can meet the needs of multi-source and cross-domain environment. The new online English teaching scheme proposed in this paper can provide users with efficient and natural interaction in the immersive visual English learning scenario.

The combination of metaverses and other recent technologies has sparked innovations in different industries. Driven by this motivation, our work aimed to articulate a theoretical essay covering the potential for innovation in the metaverses and its impacts on sociotechnical relations. Initially, a systematic mapping study was carried out, which allowed us to provide an analytical view of how the metaverse has been discussed in the light of innovation research. Then, we designed a framework (called MetaInnovation) grounded on the innovation drivers as elements of these sets of physical (domain) and metaverse (image) realities that are linked by the technologies that mediate these two worlds (realities). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work which (i) conducts a systematic mapping study about the intersection between innovation and metaverse and (ii) offers an approach to address these specific sociotechnical constructs regarding metaverse innovation.

The advent of the metaverse has ushered in a new era of digital interaction, commerce, and finance. As users increasingly immerse themselves in virtual spaces, the need for robust digital identities becomes paramount. This study investigates the intricate interplay of privacy, security, and user authentication within the context of digital identities in the metaverse, with a particular focus on virtual financial systems. Employing a cross-case analysis method within the qualitative research paradigm, the study extensively examines real-world instances to extract valuable insights, identify challenges, and propose potential solutions in navigating this dynamic landscape. This approach allows for a comprehensive examination of overarching patterns and trends across case studies, revealing persistent challenges in digital identity management. The study delves into the complexities of pseudonymity in virtual engagement, emphasizing the crucial balance required for user trust and accountability. Furthermore, it uncovers commonalities in successful implementations, spotlighting the transformative role of blockchain technology, exemplified by IBM Blockchain World Wire, and the growing trend of biometric authentication, as seen in the FIDO use case. The successful cases examined demonstrate that a user-friendly experience and scalability are integral to the adoption of advanced security technologies. Industry leaders should take note of the global trends in digital transactions, emphasizing efficiency, transparency and cross-border security. Additionally, the study offers forward-looking insights with implications for future research and practice, advocating for continued exploration of the nuanced dynamics between user privacy, trust-building mechanisms and accountability in the ever-evolving metaverse landscape.

This paper is an extended version of “Forget the Bat” (Holland, 2020). The philosophical legacy of the idea that there must be something it is like to be a conscious organism, together with an inclination to regard organic life forms as having qualities fundamentally distinct from other physical systems, have adversely affected the development of the nascent discipline of machine consciousness. The paper highlights some of the factors involved, and as a corrective proposes a reframing of machine consciousness within a thoroughgoing engineering context. This is shown to offer some significant avenues for progress, while bringing with it some theoretical problems requiring further consideration. In particular, recent work by others on the putative consciousness of wholly virtual systems points to the possibility of using the developing metaverse to host and enable interaction with conscious digital creatures.