II International Congress:
A Metaverse for The Good

Alicante, 11-13 June 2025

Part I

II EMRN Conference: “Exploring the Intersection of AI and the Metaverse” 11-12 June.

Provisional Program

In this second edition of the EMRN Conference “A Metaverse for the Good”, we expect that discussions will focus on technical developments in particular in the intersection between the Metaverse and Artificial Intelligence, applications of AR/VR technologies in specific fields, and their societal, ethical and legal implications, in particular in relation with the protection of digital rights in the new technological environment. 

In the two days on the Conference we envisage 6 working sessions including the communications of the papers selected from our call for submissions, and panel discussions. This will be complemented with eight keynote speeches from prominent scholars in the field of Web 4.0 and artificial intelligence. However, the final program will depend on the papers and panels submitted.

 The Congress is organized in the framework of the Project on the Implementation of the Charter of Digital Rights financed by the public entity Red.es» and is part of the activities of the European Metaverse Research Network.

PROGRAM

Wednesday 11 June

13:00 – 14:00

 Registration

Recurso 2

Registration

Recurso 2

14:00 – 14.15

Opening Remarks

Mel Slater, Researcher at University de Barcelona, Coordinator of EMRN.
Aurelio López-Tarruella, Director of the Chair for the Responsible Development of the Metaverse
Representative of the University of Alicante (TBC).

14:45 – 15:30                          Keynote Speech

Recurso 2

Professor Olaf Blanke, Center for Neuroprosthetics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland
«The Neuroscience of the Metaverse: Embodiment, Consciousness, and Human Augmentation»

15:30 – 17:00

Session 1: Generating Virtual Worlds

Recurso 2
  • 2-4 submitted papers on AI-driven world-building,procedural content generation, ethical and legal implications
  • Panel Discussion: «How far can AI take world creation, and where does human creativity fit in?» Is the Intellectual Property system ready?

17:00 – 17:30                        Coffee Break and Posters​

tea

17:30 – 18:15                        Keynote Speech​

Recurso 2

Professor Frank Steinicke, Department of Informatics, Hamburg University, Germany.
«Virtual Humans»

18:15 – 18:45

Session 2: «Virtual humans: Agents, avatars, and AI-driven personalities»​

Recurso 2
  • 2-4 submitted papers on AI-driven NPCs, virtual assistants, autonomous avatars and legal implications.
  • Panel Discussion: «AI-Driven Virtual Beings: Companions or Ethical Risks?»

18:45 – 19:30                    Conclusions for Day 1​

Recurso 2

Thursday, 12 June​

09:15 – 10:00    Keynote Speech

Recurso 2

Professor Yvonne Rogers, UCLIC, Computer Science Department, University College London, UK.

«The Metaverse and AI»

10:00 – 11:30

Session 3: The Metaverse and the Future of Work & Learning

Recurso 2
  • 2-4 submitted papers on AI-powered training, education in the Metaverse and remote work, including their legal implications
  • Panel Discussion: «Will AI and the Metaverse revolutionize how we work and learn?

11:30 – 112:00

Coffee Break and Posters

tea

12:00 – 13:30

Session 4: AI in Virtual Worlds

Recurso 2

Keynote Speech: Professor Doron Friedman, Sammy Ofer School of Communications, Reichman University, Israel «Humans and AI in Virtual Worlds»

  • 2-4 submitted papers on reinforcement learning or similar topics, AI behavior simulation in the Metaverse
  •  Panel Discussion: «Can AI trained in virtual environments be safely deployed in the real world?»

13:30 – 14:30

Lunch Break and Posters

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14:30 – 15:30

Keynote Speech

Recurso 2

 Professor Patrick Haggard, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL, UK. «Ethical Issues in the Metaverse»

15:30 – 17:00

Session 5: Ethical AI, Responsible and Legal Metaverse Design

Recurso 2

Keynote Speech: Nuria Oliver, Director of Research, Ellis Alicante (TBC) “Ethics, Bias, and Regulation in AI & the Metaverse”

  • 2-4 submitted papers on fairness, transparency, accountability and the protection of digital rights in AI-driven virtual worlds
  • Panel Discussion: «Designing the Metaverse responsibly»

17.00 – 17:30

Coffee Break and Posters

tea

17:30 – 19:00

Session 6: «Clinical and well-being applications of the Metaverse»

Recurso 2

Keynote Speech: Professor Mavi Sánchez-Vives, IDIBAPS (ICREA), Barcelona, «Clinical and well-being applications of the Metaverse»

  • 2-4 submitted papers on therapeutic and clinical uses of the Metaverse
  • Panel Discussion: «Clinical and well-being applications of the Metaverse»

19:00 – 19:30

 Closing Speech

Recurso 2

Miguel Barreda Ángeles (Scientific Project Leader at Joint Research Center, European Commission), «Virtual Worlds and Society: A Science for Policy Perspective»

19:30

19:30. Dinner (at the venue)

cena-01

Information

Registration fee: EUR 40.

Venue: Salón de Actos Ramon Martin Mateo, Facultad de Derecho, Universidad de Alicante.

Pre-registration (without payment) is now open: fill in this form and we will notify you once registration opens

 

The Call for Submissions is open until Friday 18th April 2025.
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