🌎 Nations Enter the Metaverse
Forget Meta, countries are now entering the metaverse. Here's what they plan to do.
The pandemic has ushered in a golden age of technology. There's a new term and a new tech concept coming up every other day. Each, more revolutionary than the first. The latest concept that has jolted our lives is the metaverse.
Everyone from Facebook (sorry, Meta) to Nike to even BMW is now racing to be a part of the metaverse or create their own metaverse. But, hey, why should the corporate sector have all the fun?
Now even cities and countries are entering the space. Seoul and Barbados have both announced their entry into this new digital frontier. But what will their metaverses look like?
A Whole New World
Remember the dreamy world of fairylands that you grew up reading about? That's what the metaverse is like. It is basically a virtual reality space with computer-generated graphics.Â
Now, there are several metaverses. Each of these digital worlds will not just look different but also serve different purposes.
A metaverse created by Microsoft may focus more on a new way to work from home. Whereas other metaverses may be about having adventures. Take a look at what the Decentraland metaverse looks like.
The metaverse of Seoul, the first city to enter this realm, will focus on public service. Called Metaverse Seoul, it will allow people to meet with the avatars of city officials and discuss their issues.Â
So, no more wasting time and energy in the long lines at government offices. Seoul has just effectively removed a big annoyance from people's lives.Â
And that's not all. The metaverse isn't just supposed to be for this boring stuff. It will also feature Seoul's major tourist spots. People can also virtually attend mass events like Seoul's Lantern Festival. As an added bonus, Seoul is also recreating its lost monuments in the virtual space. The project is expected to be up and running by 2022 and complete by 2026.
The city is taking this metaverse business very seriously and has dedicated €2.8 billion to develop it. The country even launched a Metaverse Alliance in May, much before Facebook jumped into the bandwagon. Wait, what?
The alliance is a group of over 200 companies, including giants like Samsung and Hyundai, that have come together to develop metaverse-related technology. The alliance will also consult each other and form ethical and cultural rules about how the metaverse should be governed.Â
Looks like South Korea is trying to get ahead in the metaverse race before other countries even realise what is going on. Isn't this what you expect from a country that ranked 5 in the Global Innovation Index?Â
While South Korea's entry into the metaverse may not be a surprise, Barbados' entry definitely is. The country has just become a republic after rejecting Queen Elizabeth as head of the state. And one of its first tasks after doing so was buying a piece of land on Decentraland to create an embassy.Â
Why an embassy though? You see, the tiny nation cannot really afford to create many embassies in the real world. By building a digital embassy, it is trying to gain more of an international presence.Â
But will the move have any benefits? Before we answer that question, let's look at how the metaverse could change the tourism industry as we know it.
An End To Tourism?
Like we said, South Korea plans to recreate its tourist destinations on the metaverse and the idea could soon catch on. So, will this be the final nail in the coffin for the tourism industry which is already battered by Covid?
What if we say that, it could instead provide the tourism industry with a new revenue source?Â
With new variants of Covid cropping up every now and then, travelling has become a no-no for most.Â
But the metaverse could provide a balm for our wanderlust souls and the tourism industry by allowing us to travel via the digital world. The metaverses could charge an entrance fee to visit tourist spots just like the real world.Â
In such a future a digital embassy could become very important. It could provide visas to enter Barbados' metaverse or help Barbados' citizens in other metaverses.Â
But now the question is will digital travel be enough for us? And even though it may be a cheaper option in the long run, currently this form of travel will cost a pretty penny, thanks to expensive VR glasses and haptic gloves.
Whatever be the case, these small countries are betting big on the metaverse, much the same way as El Salvador has bet on Bitcoin. You see, by becoming the first to invest in these futuristic technologies, these tiny nations could have the opportunity to become the next superpowers. This might be their only shot at development and they are not throwing it away.Â
Should India also enter the metaverse?
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