When your office is in the metaverse
A TECH company in Seoul has opened a new office branch that is identical to its headquarters but located in the metaverse. Same chairs, same coffee cups but all virtual. It represents a revolution for remote working, and the foundation hopes that will encourage better production and connections among employees.
On Dec 22, the Seoul Digital Foundation (SDF), associated with the Seoul Metropolitan Government in South Korea, announced it was opening an office in Gather Town. Don’t bother consulting your regular mapping applications: Gather Town is a video conferencing application in which each individual logs in with an avatar and can roam the virtual world to meet other users.
“The SDF aims to apply key technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, such as metaverse and AI, to its administrative tasks,” declared the foundation in a press release. It added, “Particularly to help Seoul improve its competitiveness as a global smart city, it will use metaverse in its entire work process.”
Remote employees will be able to meet once a month in a metaverse office that has the same features as the headquarters located in Sangam-dong, a business centre in western Seoul. Connecting to the platform will allow them to sit at
their virtual desk through their avatar while the SDF will be able to verify their presence at the office remotely.
The foundation hopes for an increase in “work efficiency as remote meetings are available regardless of physical barriers”.
Getting citizens involved
While using such a platform on a long-term basis to organise office life and work may seem revolutionary, the foundation wishes to allow citizens to also take advantage of its benefits in line with its mission of digital innovation as a smart city. Through this citizen platform, the SDF hopes to reduce social and cultural discrepancies.
“There are some citizens who cannot enjoy all of the services we provide due to physical restraints. We will try our best to use Metaverse Seoul in providing equal services to every Seoul citizen,” outlined Kang Yo-sik, president of the foundation.
Citizens will then be able to use the functionality to create content or organise virtual exhibitions. This aspect of the platform is expected to take shape as early as 2022. – AFP Relaxnews