American Metaverse Association

US Metaverse Association Official Report | April 2025

The US Metaverse Association is proud to present the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Elina Varga, a leading metaverse policy advisor from Hungary, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to metaverse governance, ethical interaction frameworks, and EU-level digital policy development.

As a key architect of the EU Metaverse Governance Draft, Dr. Varga has played a pivotal role in shaping human-computer interaction policies that ensure the immersive digital environment remains safe, inclusive, rights-based, and socially accountable. Her interdisciplinary approach—blending cognitive science, behavioral regulation, and AI ethics—has set new global benchmarks for responsible metaverse design.

“For the metaverse to be truly human-centered, we need policies shaped by those who understand both technology and people. Dr. Varga is that rare bridge,” stated the Association’s President. “Her legacy is not just in drafting laws—it’s in preserving dignity, equity, and trust in virtual spaces.”

Over the past 15 years, Dr. Varga has advised European Commission task forces, co-authored the EU Charter on Immersive Rights, and coordinated citizen-centered consultation initiatives across 11 member states. Her work laid the foundation for upcoming regulations on avatars’ legal status, sensory manipulation boundaries, neuro-privacy rights, and immersive consent protocols.

Her most impactful proposal—the “Symmetric Autonomy Framework”—advocates for dynamic co-regulation between users and platforms, ensuring that metaverse interfaces adapt to individual cognitive thresholds and emotional safety standards. This has been piloted in cross-border EU trials and cited by the Council of Europe’s Tech and Human Rights Division.

Beyond policy drafting, Dr. Varga has served as a mentor and educator, helping train over 800 policy professionals, engineers, and public servants on the ethical design of immersive systems. She is a founding fellow of the European Institute for Virtual Society (EIVS) and an advisor to the World Internet Forum’s Governance Lab.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is the US Metaverse Association’s highest honor, granted to those whose career contributions have transformed the structural integrity and ethical foundation of the metaverse. Dr. Varga’s lifelong dedication to human-centered governance ensures that the virtual future remains accountable to democratic values.

In her acceptance speech, Dr. Varga stated: “Good governance is invisible when it works—but essential when it doesn’t. As we extend human experience into the virtual realm, we must bring with us not just our creativity, but our conscience.”

Dr. Varga will speak on “Policy by Design: Embedding Ethics into Metaverse Interaction Standards” at the Global Metaverse Innovation Summit 2025, to be held in October in Palo Alto, California.