Integrating Decentraland with 4 other platforms

by 0x18871a5a5f729b1c1f1bf62611773cc26b00c317

Should the following Tier 4: up to $60,000 USD, 6 months vesting (1 month cliff) grant in the Platform Contributor category be approved?

Abstract

Rather than see the Metaverse space dominated by one large corporation, it would be much more interesting to see a group of already successful virtual worlds join together to form a system-of-systems, a mini Metaverse. After the initial pioneering work, virtual worlds can be added to the system-of-systems, ever increasing the size of the would-be Metaverse. Several prototypes have already been created integrating disparate systems using IPSME. This proposal would enable the pioneering work to integrate Decentraland with other platforms, without requiring massive re-engineering efforts from Decentraland. IPSME does not require Decentraland to conform to a third-party protocol or SDK; IPSME uses Decentraland's existing infrastructure.

Grant size

48,000 USD

Beneficiary address

0x18871A5a5F729b1C1F1Bf62611773cC26b00c317

Description

This proposal would enable the pioneering work to integrate Decentraland with 4 other systems. Rather than incur large re-engineering costs to have Decentraland conform to a particular Metaverse protocol, the integrations with the other systems will be created external to Decentraland's implementation via IPSME. This is contrary to the often peddled approach which requires integrated systems to adhere to and implement a particular protocol or SDK. When protocols in the integrated system of systems are updated, Decentraland is not required to update in order to keep participating in the Metaverse space. Normally, integrating 5 systems together would require an exponential 5(5-1)/2= 10 integrations, but translations in IPSME are transitively applicable, reducing the number of integrations required to a linear (5-1)= 4.

Decentraland can choose exactly what APIs it would like to share with the other systems, whether that be teleporting, asset sharing, profiles, etc. Components will be created that can run along side Decentraland, with Decentraland only being required to update when it wants to make use of or offer services.

By integrating with other systems, Decentraland can onboard new users and dynamically make use of services that the other platforms provide. Decentraland can also operate as a service provider for other systems as well. The entire integrated system-of-systems can develop organically.

Specification

The specification for IPSME is here: https://doi.org/10.1145/3458307.3460966

And a simple video introduction can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvoeUydcInA\&list=PLc_eusB5Phcw8sZqLNdl3BwGqifK_HGPK\&index=1

Over the last 4 years, IPSME has been tested in several prototypes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc_eusB5Phcw8sZqLNdl3BwGqifK_HGPK

The integration of Minecraft and Doom. https://kim.nevelsteen.com/project/metaverse-doom3-minecraft-integration/

And, the integration of 123 third-party Minecraft servers: https://kim.nevelsteen.com/project/mim-web-of-interconnected-block-worlds/

IPSME:

• Doesn't avoid standards, but avoids the need for standards
• translations are external to the systems being integrated
• reduced costs: rather than bring down and re-engineer the system to adhere to a standard, external translations are dynamically updated instead
• reduced complexity: translations can be used transitivity, reducing complexity from exponential to linear
• each world gets to choose what they share by exposing APIs on their existing infrastructure
• ability to dynamically query the network for new services

Personnel

The aim of this proposal is a 6 to 12 month project. I've been working on interoperability since 1998.

Kim Nevelsteen Ph.D., Distributed Pervasive Applications

System of Systems Integration / Metaverse Research Scientist, Professional Software Developer

https://kim.nevelsteen.com

https://twitter.com/nev23

https://www.youtube.com/user/nevelsteen23

Roadmap and milestones

Due to the created prototypes, lots of code has already been written for the IPSME components. After the rudimentary infrastructure is ready, integration will start with two virtual worlds. If this proposal is granted, Decentraland will be the first to be integrated. Thereafter, the other integrations will be made until all virtual worlds form the system-of-systems.

As visible on my YouTube channel, I regularly release videos on the progress of my work. This grant is not for a prototype, but for releases. Also, if all goes well, the Decentraland community should be able to enjoy extra functionality (towards the end of the project).

Vote on this proposal on the Decentraland DAO