The Roadmap to a Quantum-Enabled Wireless Metaverse: Beyond the Classical Limits

Abstract

The metaverse intersects with the real world to establish a new era for wireless applications over next generation networks. Nevertheless, these applications are accompanied with a spate of challenges that can hinder their anticipated emergence. In particular, these applications are essentially capped with the profound communication and computing limits pertained by classical networks and end devices. Hence, to reap the full metaverse experience, a major leap that propels the metaverse apart from the classical paradigm of communication, computing, and artificial intelligence (AI) is demanded. In this paper, we shed light on the potential and recent advancements of quantum technologies that can drive the metaverse beyond the classical boundaries. In particular, with the substantial breakthrough witnessed in the versatile quantum streams, we leverage the quantum communication, computing, sensing, and AI tools that can pave the way for a groundbreaking version of metaverse applications to emerge. Up to this end, we present an overview of the metaverse in terms of its aspects, components, and persisting challenges. Then, we elaborate further on the applicable quantum tools (e.g., quantum federated learning, quantum key distribution, etc.) that can transform the different metaverse operational levels (e.g., digital twins, extended reality, etc). Finally, we present a set of open challenges and future research directions that arise along the lines of adopting quantum technologies for future metaverse applications.