Image: University of Wollongong

University of Wollongong Professor Willy Susilo has been awarded more than Au$400,000 (US$266,000) for research into green and sustainable energy-efficient metaverse technologies.

The research grant from the Australian Research Council’s Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment, and Facilities scheme will be used to build a state-of-the-art research infrastructure that is capable of precise, real-time monitoring of important electrical parameters.

The group will also conduct research into adaptive energy-efficient technologies that are essential for the metaverse with the goal of integrating these technologies in a prototype energy-efficient metaverse.

The initiative appears to be one of the first, if not the first worldwide.

Susilo, head of the University’s School of Computing and Information Technology, says the aim is to establish a world-class facility for conducting research on metaverse technologies.

“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,” he comments.

“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.”

Susilo’s research to date has focussed mainly on cybersecurity and cryptography.

Other University of Wollongong participants are Professor Son Lam Phung who specialises in artificial intelligence, power systems researcher Associate Professor Ashish Agalgaonkar, Associate Professor Yang-Wai Chow and Dr Yannan Li whose main research interest is blockchain.

The University of Wollongong in a release points to the growing demand for the development of the metaverse as people and companies are shifting their activities online and working remotely.

The release also quotes a Gartner figure that up to a quarter of people will spend at least an hour per day in the metaverse by early 2026.

University of Wollongong Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor David Currow commented: “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.”