The concept of the Metaverse has grown in popularity as "the successor to the mobile Internet". While there exist lite versions of the Metaverse today, they are still far from realizing the full vision of an immersive, embodied, and interoperable Metaverse. Without addressing the issues of implementation from the communication and networking, as well as computation perspectives, the Metaverse is difficult to succeed the Internet, especially in terms of its accessibility to billions of users today.
The possibility of synchronization of the physical and virtual world has also led to the birth of the Metaverse. The performance of Metaverse is heavily dependent on the collection and processing of data that reflects or describes human movements and changes of surroundings, which can guide Metaverse server operations, e.g., shifting rendered targets, displaying particular videos, and giving the corresponding tactile feedback. To guarantee the ideal immersive experience for users, the requirements for data rates, as well as timing of the data transfer and processing, need to be strictly met. In this regard, effective tracking and accurate prediction are key to reducing transmission and computation latency and ensuring a smooth user experience. In this context, the notion of Semantic Communications becomes essential, as there is a need to extract the semantics from the data collected and tracked by the end devices, such as head movement, arm swing, gestures, and speeches. This allows the end device to transmit the information concerned by the Metaverse server for operation after understanding and filtering out the irrelevant information to save bandwidth and reduce computing latency at the Metaverse server. Meanwhile, the Metaverse server can also extract semantic information from video based on the user’s preference, ignoring irrelevant details in the face of bandwidth constraints, thus reducing downlink pressure. The scope of this Special Issue is to present and highlight the advances and the latest communication technologies, implementations, and applications of Semantic Communications for the Metaverse. Consequently, the topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:
New Architectures for Semantic Communications for the Metaverse in Future Networking and Communications
Semantic mapping of haptic, gestural and other forms of communication to the Metaverse.
Physical layer Technologies of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Semantic Communications for the Metaverse
Next-generation semantic communications-enabled applications over Metaverse
Semantic-aware digital twin for Metaverse
Future Metaverse applications through/with Semantic Communications
Optimization of Resource Allocation and Management for Semantic Communications for the Metaverse
Security and Privacy Issues in Semantic Communications for the Metaverse
Application of other emerging technologies, such as blockchain and edge computing, in the context of Semantic Communications for the Metaverse
Experimental Prototyping and Testbeds of Semantic Communications for the Metaverse
Prospective authors should prepare their submissions in accordance with the rules specified in the Information for Authors of the IEEE Wireless Communications guidelines.
Authors should submit a PDF version of their complete manuscript to Manuscript Central. The timetable is as follows:
Manuscript Submission Deadline: 1 December 2022
Initial Decision Date: 1 February 2023
Revised Manuscript Due: 1 March 2023
Final Decision Date: 1 April 2023
Final Manuscript Due: 1 June 2023
Publication Date: August 2023
Jiayi Zhang
Beijing Jiaotong University, China
Jiangtian Nie
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Jiangming Jin
TuSimple, China
Tao Han
New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA
Dong In Kim
Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea
Petar Popovski
Aalborg University, Denmark