A survey of metaverse technology

As an emerging concept, metaverse has attracted extensive attention from industry, academia, media, and the public, prompting many companies worldwide about its layout. However, the layout is inseparable from strong technical support. In the early developmental stage of the metaverse, its technology is the core foundation. The development and innovation of technology are the top priority. This paper dived into the metaverse from the technical view. First, the paper discussed the metaverse’s concept and connotation from the perspective of science and technology and summarized the opinions of practitioners, experts, and scholars about it. Second, it outlined the key technologies of the metaverse, including network and operating technology (5G, 6G, Internet of things, cloud computing, fog computing, and edge computing); management technology (energy consumption, resource, session, and spatiotemporal consistency managements); virtual real object connection, modeling and management technology (Internet of X, identity modeling, social computing, and decentralized management); and virtual real space interaction and fusion technology (extend reality, video game, and brain–computer interface). The metaverse is not a novel technology but an all-inclusive internet application. The progress and development of technology play a solid foundation for realizing and applying the metaverse. At the same time, metaverse development also promotes upgrading existing technologies to drive the product, scenario, and application innovation. Finally, this paper looked into many challenges facing metaverse development. Metaverse enables the connection and integration of the real and virtual worlds. It may become a novel form of social development and change people’s way of life. Meanwhile, the growth of the metaverse concept, its development speed, ultimate form, and even its impact on philosophy, culture, society, and economic governance, as well as human beings, are unknown. By implementing a metaverse prototype, the enabling economy will also be of major interest. Moreover, the government adheres to policy guidelines to enable the real economy with technology, which will still apply in the metaverse era. No matter what trend we are in, we should have a clear understanding, make rational decisions, and steadily explore the metaverse!