"Metaverse, to Be Understood and Developed as a New Platform in Daily Life"

Korean Academy of Science and Technology, 'Metaverse, Future Value of New Virtual Convergence Platform' Forum

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] There are calls to utilize the Metaverse as a platform for new connections, communication, and collaboration.

At an online forum held on the 30th by the Korean Academy of Science and Technology under the theme "Metaverse, the Future Value of a New Virtual Convergence Platform," Woo Untak, Dean of the Graduate School of Culture Technology at KAIST, emphasized, "The Metaverse should not be thought of simply as a game or virtual reality (VR) experience, but understood as a new social media platform that can be used in everyday life." The Metaverse is a compound word combining 'Meta,' meaning 'beyond' or 'abstract,' and 'Universe,' referring to the real world, signifying a three-dimensional virtual world.

In his presentation titled "From Virtual and Augmented Reality to Metaverse Applications," Dean Woo argued that for the Metaverse to be utilized in daily life, the metaversification of cities must ultimately be achieved. A 'smart augmented city' with applied Metaverse integrates various ICT technologies such as 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Extended Reality (XR) to enable comprehensive city monitoring, efficient management, predictive and verification simulations, and through XR platforms, manages and solves urban problems with citizen participation, thereby improving citizens' quality of life.

Dean Woo explained that such Metaverse-applied cities have utility in two major aspects. First, data, networks, AI, as well as immersive and measured three-dimensional digital twins can be effectively used when planning or controlling cities and when creating new services within them. Additionally, from the citizens' perspective, the Metaverse allows people to visit and experience places that were previously difficult to access and to meet, communicate, and collaborate with people who were hard to encounter. In other words, the Metaverse can play an important role as a tool to expand the capabilities of individuals and society.

The technologies that realize the Metaverse are already being applied in industrial settings and are transforming our lives. Professor Park Jong-il of Hanyang University’s Department of Computer Software explained, "In a digital twin world where virtual and real coexist simultaneously, productivity will increase tremendously," adding, "We are already reducing costs and improving productivity through remote repairs using augmented reality (AR) technology." He further noted, "Productivity improvements will change the way people work and eventually lead to changes in how they play and live."

Meanwhile, there were also points raised about the need to consider the negative aspects inherent in the Metaverse to build a healthy Metaverse ecosystem. Kim Heungmook, Director of the Media Research Division at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), emphasized, "For the Metaverse to become a universal communication method, we must be cautious about the information gap caused by economic disparities." He warned that accessibility should not be discriminated against due to issues such as the high cost of VR equipment or physical differences caused by disabilities. He also added that discussions are needed regarding digital crimes within the Metaverse and the emergence of so-called 'Metapein'?addiction to the Metaverse.

Furthermore, since most currently commercialized Metaverse content is consumed mainly by people in their teens to thirties, caution is needed to prevent exclusion of the older generation. While it is inevitable that 'digital natives' will lead the growth of the Metaverse, in a society entering an aging phase, there is a need to consider services that can attract the interest of 'digital immigrants' born in the analog world.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.