This paper explores the potential of using machine-generated descriptions to characterize a place in a way that humans can identify it. It presents a hybrid approach for generating place descriptions by combining rule-based generation of spatial relation facts with a LLM that converts these facts into natural language descriptions. The study focuses on urban areas and street-level scale, using OpenStreetMap as the primary data source. The rule-based method is informed by an experimental study that analyzed human-made place descriptions to understand reference object types used, their quantities, distances, and spatial relations. An experiment is carried out to assess the quality of machine-generated descriptions compared to human-made descriptions in a place identification task. The evaluation involved 70 participants identifying locations based on both human and machine-generated descriptions across a 200-hectare urban area. The results show that the same average identification accuracy was not achieved. However, the proposed method reached lower variance and the difference in accuracy is not substantial enough to impede place identification in the anticipated use cases. The method shows promise for applications in navigation systems, virtual assistants, and location based services, particularly in situations where visual media cannot be used.

This chapter explores the evolution of virtual environments in the Metaverse. It examines historical shifts in technology adoption, comparing the gradual acceptance of electricity in the industry and the spread of the Internet to the current development of the Metaverse. The role of open standards in the proliferation of new technologies is highlighted, along with the limitations of solutions that do not adhere to these standards. Emphasizing the importance of thinking beyond traditional para-digms, the chapter argues that simply transferring existing solutions to new platforms often fails to deliver the expected user experience. Therefore, it advocates for innovative approaches that enhance user experience and foster new forms of digital interaction within Metaverse services. Addi-tionally, the chapter examines the transformative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on gaming preferences, highlighting the rise of games that emphasize creativity and collaboration over com-petition. We argue that the pandemic was a key driver that forced developers to rethink current design approaches. By analyzing these trends, the chapter provides insights into how virtual environments reshape social interaction and entertainment.

Smart IoT devices, such as lights, locks, washing machines, security cameras, etc., are becoming omnipresent in households and companies across all industries. However, most of these devices communicate over non-secure local protocols or via cloud services where security policies are not transparent. Vulnerabilities may lead to unauthorized access to such IoT devices. Blockchain is a technology that brings security by design and can be exploited also in the area of controlling access to IoT devices. The goal of the paper is to test the use of blockchain with IoT devices to increase the security of device usage while ensuring that the user experience remains efficient and user-friendly. Three approaches to use blockchain are proposed and tested: a) application without the blockchain using standard HTTPS protocol; b) an application using blockchain, where users sign the transactions themselves; c) an application using blockchain where the server signs the transactions. The paper successfully shows that blockchain can be used to enhance IoT device security, with an focus on user-friendliness testing to ensure the solutions are practical for everyday use.