Overview
How the newly approved IEEE 2874-2025 standard integrates with OGC's GeoPose and the broader open geospatial ecosystem.
The Spatial Web is moving beyond the screen. As AI, robotics, and IoT converge into Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), a shared, open world model becomes essential for safe and trustworthy autonomous intelligent systems operating in the physical world.
This presentation, delivered at the GeoPose Summit 2025, explains how the IEEE 2874-2025 Spatial Web standard — approved in May 2025 — defines that shared world model through the Hyperspace Modeling Language (HSML) and Hyperspace Transaction Protocol (HSTP), and how OGC GeoPose serves as a normative reference anchoring Spatial Web entities to precise real-world positions and orientations.
George Percivall, IEEE Spatial Web Chair and former CTO of the Open Geospatial Consortium, outlines the technical architecture and the path toward a decentralized, interoperable, and trustworthy Spatial Web.
Event Context
Hosted by
Metaverse Standards Forum Real/Virtual World Integration Working Group, in collaboration with OGC and W3C WebVMT
Focus
Advancing OGC GeoPose adoption across spatial computing, AI, robotics, and immersive environments
Significance
First major presentation of IEEE 2874-2025 to the geospatial standards community following its May 2025 approval
George Percivall's Role
IEEE Spatial Web Chair; formerly Chief Technology Officer & Chief Engineer at the Open Geospatial Consortium
Core Standards
The presentation centered on two interlocking standards — one newly approved, one established — that together anchor AI agents and autonomous systems to the physical world.
IEEE Standard · Approved May 2025
IEEE 2874-2025 — Spatial Web Protocol, Architecture & Governance
Hyperspace Modeling Language (HSML) · Hyperspace Transaction Protocol (HSTP)
IEEE 2874-2025 defines a secure, interoperable, and intelligent Spatial Web that enables collaboration between AI agents, IoT devices, robotic systems, and digital infrastructure. The standard's architecture rests on an open, interoperable reference model built on ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 System Architecture and the IEEE 7000 series on the Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems.
The Hyperspace Modeling Language (HSML) encodes the entities and properties of the Spatial Web Ontology — covering space, structure, behavior, and trust. HSML entities are specifically bounded by GeoPose, making OGC's position/orientation standard a normative reference within IEEE 2874-2025.
The Hyperspace Transaction Protocol (HSTP) governs how agents, devices, and systems interact within the Spatial Web — enabling secure, governed, real-time exchange of spatial context, sensor data, and instructions.
OGC Standard · Normative Reference in IEEE 2874-2025
OGC GeoPose 1.0 Data Exchange Standard
OGC Standard 21-056r11
OGC GeoPose 1.0 defines a standardized way to express the position and orientation of real or virtual objects in relation to Earth's surface — a foundational capability for any system that must situate digital entities in physical space.
Within the Spatial Web architecture, GeoPose provides the geospatial anchor for HSML entities: every object, agent, or structure modeled in HSML is localized through GeoPose. This integration ensures that Spatial Web deployments maintain a rigorous, interoperable connection to real-world geography, critical for physical AI, autonomous vehicles, smart infrastructure, and digital twins.
Presentation Topics
Six interconnected themes explored across the GeoPose Summit talk.
Architecture
The Spatial Web extends AI from digital environments into the physical world. Software integrates with robotic and IoT systems to create Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS). AI combined with CPS produces Autonomous Intelligent Systems (AIS) — requiring a common, trustworthy world model.
Standard
The Spatial Web Protocol, Architecture & Governance specification was approved in May 2025 as IEEE 2874-2025. This landmark approval establishes the foundational standard for how AI agents, robots, and people share a common world model at global scale.
Modeling Language
The Hyperspace Modeling Language encodes entities across four dimensions: space, structure, behavior, and trust. Each entity is spatially bounded by an OGC GeoPose, ensuring all modeled objects have a precise, interoperable real-world anchor.
Integration
OGC GeoPose 1.0 (21-056r11) is a normative reference in IEEE 2874-2025. This makes the OGC standard a required building block of the Spatial Web — bridging geospatial expertise with the emerging AI-driven spatial computing ecosystem.
Governance
The Spatial Web is designed to be decentralized, trustworthy, and governed — addressing the ethics and accountability challenges of autonomous systems. The architecture draws on IEEE 7000 series ethics standards and ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 to integrate governance at the foundational level.
Industry Context
The October 2025 Gartner Radar recognizes key Spatial Web components — HSML and HSTP (Spatial Web Protocols) and Universal Digital Governance (Spatial Web Systems) — signaling growing industry awareness of the standard's relevance to enterprise spatial AI deployments.
"The Spatial Web provides a decentralized, trustworthy, and useful foundation — guiding physical AI to serve the needs of people and society."
— George Percivall, GeoPose Summit 2025
George Percivall brings a unique vantage point to this intersection: as IEEE Spatial Web Chair, he led the development and approval of IEEE 2874-2025; as former CTO & Chief Engineer of the Open Geospatial Consortium, he has long championed the open standards ecosystem that makes GeoPose possible.
This presentation represents a direct bridge between the two communities — bringing the newly ratified IEEE standard to the geospatial world, and making the case for deep interoperability between spatial computing and geospatial infrastructure.
The GeoPose Summit 2025 was jointly organized by the Metaverse Standards Forum, OGC, and W3C WebVMT — making it a natural venue for this standards convergence.
Resources
The full slide deck is available from the Metaverse Standards Forum archive.
Slide Deck · PDF
Spatial Web Foundation — Presentation to GeoPose Summit
Interested in how IEEE 2874-2025 and OGC GeoPose apply to your systems, standards work, or research? Get in touch.
✉️ percivall@ieee.org