From the metaverse to virtual worlds: Europe's path towards human-centric digital spaces - Notes on digital autonomy, sovereignty, and culture

Terms like Metaverse, Digital Twin, Virtual Worlds, and Artificial Intelligence remain prominent in global technology discourses. However, these debates often unfold at a global scale, leaving limited room to address regional priorities, cultural values, and political contexts. This paper provides a critical, HCI-informed reflection on current trajectories of Metaverse and Virtual World development from a distinctly European perspective. We provide a historical framing and implicate European cultural values and political frameworks in addition to technology and applied research perspectives. Our central argument is that Europe must chart its own path toward future Virtual Worlds and immersive systems: one that is as open and interoperable as possible, that leverages existing technologies where appropriate, and that aligns with democratic values such as privacy, transparency, participation, and human agency. Achieving this requires not only rediscovering the old world's overlooked strengths but also committing to open, interoperable design principles supported by sustained, coordinated public investment in strategic digital infrastructure. Only by pursuing such a trajectory can Europe secure its digital sovereignty and shape Virtual Worlds that genuinely reflect its cultural and political foundations.