Seoul, the capital of South Korea, will be the first city in the world to create its own metaverse. “Metaverse Seoul”- as the project has been called – it will be a new generation platform that will include all areas of the municipal administration. An excellent solution to create a contactless communication channel in the post-pandemic era, using cutting-edge technology.
Metaverse Seoul, the first metaverse for city administration management
“Metaverse Seoul” will be the first metaverse of a municipal administration in the world. Recently, in fact, the South Korean capital has invested a good 3.3 million dollars in this project as part of Mayor Oh Se-hoon’s “Seoul Vision 2030” plan, which aims to make the South Korean capital a “future emotional city”. Within a few years, citizens will be able to wear VR headsets to meet municipal officials’ avatars or to attend community events. In short, the life of the city will be completely transposed into a metaverse. An ambitious but necessary project.
The pilot program will begin at a ceremony scheduled for the end of the year. And this will be followed by the launch of facilities and services such asvirtual office of the mayor, Seoul FinTech Lab, Invest Seoul and Seoul Campus Town. Then, in 2023, the “Metaverse 120 Center“, A virtual public service center. Here the avatars of public officials will provide services and advice just as they did at the city hall. And that’s not all. The metaverse will also accommodate the main tourist attractions of Seoul such as Gwanghwamun Plaza, Deoksugung Palace and Namdaemun Market within the “Virtual Tourist Zone”.
Furthermore, also i lost historical sites, such as the Donuimun Gate destroyed during the Japanese colonial period, will be digitally reconstructed for visitors to explore. But the “Metaverse Seoul” project goes far beyond what has been described so far. Starting in 2023, all major city festivals, such as Seoul Lantern Festival, will take place within the metaverse, allowing users from all over the world to participate. And it will also include services for socially vulnerable people, as safety content for all users with disabilities using extended reality.
What is Seoul’s metaverse really good for?
The goal of the Seoul metaverse is to provide a public service to overcome the restrictions in the real world posed by time / space limitations and language barriers. Furthermore, the application of the platform will soon be extended to all areas of the municipal administration in order to increase the working efficiency of government officials. “Metaverse Seoul” is part of a five-year development plan, with 20 different promotional activities in the “economic, educational, cultural, tourism, communications, urban, administrative and infrastructural development” sectors.
The whole project will be structured in three phases. An “introduction” phase will come in early 2022, followed by “expansion” (2023/2034) and “regulation” (2025/2026). In short, within a decade – or a little more – the capital of South Korea will have its own metaverse. A decision that comes after Facebook decided to change its name to Meta, thus launching itself into the project of a metaverse. Followed by Niantic, Microsoft and many other technology giants. But Seoul is the first city to embark on something similar. But it also has all the basics to do it.