Design Frameworks for Spatial Zone Agents in XRI Metaverse Smart Environments

The spatial XR-IoT (XRI) Zone Agents concept combines Extended Reality (XR), the Internet of Things (IoT), and spatial computing concepts to create hyper-connected spaces for metaverse applications; envisioning space as zones that are social, smart, scalable, expressive, and agent-based. These zone agents serve as applications and agents (partners, assistants, or guides) for users co-living and co-operating together in a shared spatial context. The zone agent concept is toward reducing the gap between the physical environment (space) and the classical two-dimensional user interface, through space-based interactions for future metaverse applications. This integration aims to enrich user engagement with their environments through intuitive and immersive experiences and pave the way for innovative human-machine interaction in smart spaces. Contributions include: i) a theoretical framework for creating XRI zone/space-agents using Mixed-Reality Agents (MiRAs) and XRI theory, ii) agent and scene design for spatial zone agents, and iii) prototype and user interaction design scenario concepts for human-to-space agent relationships in an early immersive smart-space application.