South Korea creates ‘metaverse alliance’ to build an open national VR platform

Virtual world ethics and industry development also on the agenda

South Korea has created a “metaverse alliance” of local companies to foster the development of a national virtual and augmented reality platform and sort out the ethics of virtual environments.

The alliance will see organisations including carriers, Korea’s indigenous web giant Naver, researchers from the university and private sectors, and even industrial giant Hyundai try to figure out how to build a South Korean metaverse, how to govern it, and how to ensure it is of benefit to South Korea.

The group has been given the job of defining a national metaverse platform that is open to all comers that wish to provide virtual services. It’s assumed that 5G will have a big role to play.

Cho Kyung-sik, second vice minister for science and ICT, expressed his hope that the alliance will ensure that the metaverse “is not a space that is monopolized by a single large company” but instead one in which participants collaborate.

Good luck with that, minister.

Three working groups have been created to move things along.

One will convene participants to discuss recent innovation. Another will discuss legal issues. The third will plan collaborations among participants. Regular conferences will move things along too.

The hoped-for outcome is a platform that South Korean companies can use to innovate, preferably with new industries and efficiencies.

No timeframe has been set for the platform to be delivered. ®