The Role of Identity in Connecting the Metaverse

By Patrick Johnson and Jonas Jetschni

In the physical and digital world today, our Identity is the currency underlying social and economic interactions. The drivers’ licenses we show to get into bars, the facial biometrics we use to unlock our phones, and the clothes we wear to show ourselves visually. Even the car we arrive at work in says something about our Identity.

This world is evolving into an increasingly immersive internet that is referred to as the “Metaverse”. The Metaverse consists of multiple interconnected spaces or platforms. Our Identity will need to be represented across this connected Metaverse, interoperable and portable across spaces and platforms. An Identity in the Metaverse will give people the freedom to build genuine societies across spaces, with social, economic, and political interactions that replicate those we have in our lives today.

This pivotal role of Identity can be pictured in a fully-interconnected Metaverse stack. The Metaverse will have four layers.

1. Foundations. The underlying infrastructure of the Metaverse, including protocols and blockchains, compute, storage, information flow, regulations, and standards.
2. Primitive Functions. The mechanisms of interaction that enable someone to express themself, prove who they are, transact, show what they own, and communicate with others. Identity is a core
3. Interconnected Spaces. The ‘worlds’ in which we will engage and interact. It can be in 2D or 3D and be rendered on a screen, VR or AR headset.
4. Apps & Experiences. The real tasks and interactions people will do, purposeful and relating to their lives, in a space, using some or multiple primitive functions to interact with objects or agents.

Alongside basic payment, communication, and ownership functions, Identity provides a critical primitive function for the creation of experiences and apps that allow us to express ourselves, prove who we are, and transact.

Identity in the Metaverse itself will consist of three aspects.

• Avatars. Avatars represent how we want to appear, visually in social or professional settings to those with whom we engage. This includes representative and non-representative digital twin characters, skins and other clothing and accessories, and PFP (profile picture) NFTs.
• Credentials. Credentials are claims about someone and are part of our Identity that provide trust in interactions and transactions with those we engage with. Credentials must be proved and are typically verified by third parties, rather than asserted by ourselves. This includes credentials such as credit scores, government ID, or university qualifications.
• Personal data. Personal data are the parts of our Identity that make us ourself, and can be asserted without needing to be proven. This includes our shopping history and preferences, our clothing sizes, and our associations and subscription data.

In the operating model for Identity in the Metaverse, the consumers of these Aspects of Identity are the Apps and Experiences within the Worlds that make up the Metaverse. However, in order to consume Identity, Identity Infrastructure provides the connections between the Aspects of Identity and Apps and Experiences (for example, Wallets are the infrastructure from which to share credentials, and a Decentralized Identifier is the infrastructure to which the Avatars, Credentials, and Data are tied). The way in which Identity is used is also governed by Standards and Frameworks.

This operating model creates four distinct roles for organizations participating in the market landscape.

• Creators of Spaces and Apps. These participants create the Worlds and Apps within these worlds in which our Identity is used. For example, Decentraland has created a world in which a user can engage socially with others through their Avatar.
• Builders of Identity Infrastructure. These participants build the connectivity to allow the aspects of our Identity to be used in the Metaverse. For example, Metamask has built a wallet that currently allows our payment identity to connect with DeFi applications.
• Providers of Aspects of Identity. These participants provide the key attributes of our Identity that we use. For example, Yuga Labs creates the NFTs that we use as our profile pictures and memberships to the Bored Ape Yacht Club ‘Otherside’ Metaverse.
• Setters of Frameworks & Standards. These participants set the standards and rules on which Identity operates. For example, the Open Metaverse Interoperability Group (OMI Group) is designing and promoting protocols for identity, social graphs, and inventory.

In summary, Identity is core functionality that will allow us to recreate our social and economic interactions in the online Metaverse, enabling us to appear how we want to, prove who we are, and interact with ease. It consists of three key aspects — Avatars, Credentials, and Personal data; and will require Identity Infrastructure to be built and Standards to be defined to help make Identity consumable by the open Metaverse.

Note: This is the first installment of a series of thought pieces on Identity in the Metaverse. Please Follow to stay updated as we release more. We also welcome any input you might have on our thinking.

Patrick Johnson is a Masters student at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Jonas Jetschni works at Protocol Labs and focuses on Metaverse & Identity.