South Korea is taking its capital city Seoul into the metaverse with the launch of ‘Metaverse Seoul’, which it claims is the world's first city-backed public metaverse platform.
Metaverse Seoul is a three-year project aimed to improve public services with the assistance of the immersive environment that metaverse provides.
Following beta testing, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon launched the first phase of Metaverse Seoul in a press conference on January 16.
This online environment, according to the mayor, will be a “place of communication for citizens” of the capital city, allowing them to virtually visit many of Seoul’s attractions, file certain complaints, access official documents and receive answers to questions about filing municipal taxes.
A second phase, expected in 2024, will expand the services to real estate, counselling and connecting foreign investors with local industries.
The most interesting is phase three where we will see augmented and virtual reality integration in managing the city’s infrastructure, expected to be launched in 2026.
Big moves on the metaverse
South Korea has been expanding its metaverse initiatives as a part of its 'Digital New Deal' political campaign.
In February 2022, South Korea’s Ministry of Science and Information and Communications Technology revealed its agenda to earmark about $280 million to invest in the country’s metaverse industries.
The country’s president Yoon Suk-yeol said that developing Metaverse technology was a national priority with home-grown powerhouses such as Samsung Electronics (KRX:KS:005930), SK Telecom and Naver Corp expanding their footprint on the metaverse.
What is the Metaverse?
Ever since Facebook (NASDAQ:META) Inc’s rebrand as Meta, the term metaverse has become the new buzzword in the tech space.
Trailblazing this new frontier is Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is triggering a new wave of interest in the metaverse.
Zuckerberg said: “In the metaverse, you’ll be able to do almost anything you can imagine — get together with friends and family, work, learn, play, shop, create — as well as completely new experiences that don’t fit how we think about computers or phones today.
“In this future, you will be able to teleport instantly as a hologram to be at the office without a commute, at a concert with friends, or in your parent's living room to catch up. This will open up more opportunities no matter where you live.
“You’ll be able to spend more time on what matters to you, cut down time in traffic, and reduce your carbon footprint,” he said.
Simply put, the end goal is an immersive virtual world where people live, work and socialise connected to VR devices in the comfort of their own home.