Blockchain-Based Spatial Registry and Management in Multi-User Mixed Reality
Persistent spatial anchors are essential for enabling shared and collaborative mixed reality (MR) experiences, but current anchor management mechanisms are typically centralized and lack transparent governance across multiple stakeholders. To this end, we explore a blockchain-based approach for governing spatial anchors in multi-user MR environments. We design and implement a decentralized anchor registry using a permissioned blockchain architecture that supports auditable anchor lifecycle management and cross-organization validation. A prototype system integrating a blockchain network, gateway services, and an MR client is developed to evaluate feasibility. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed architecture can govern anchor lifecycle operations without degrading on-device rendering performance, while revealing a substantial gap between server-side and headset-experienced synchronization latency. We further analyze system performance from both server-side and device-side perspectives, highlighting the importance of client-experienced latency in MR deployments. The evaluation also shows that appropriate blockchain configuration can significantly reduce governance latency: tuning BatchTimeout from 2s to 500ms lowers latency by about 70% (from 5449ms to 1635ms) without affecting rendering performance on the MR device.