The SMG's Metaverse Seoul Master Plan (2022-2026) was established as the first comprehensive plan among local governments to start the establishment of a new technology-based administration platform called Metaverse Seoul, which quickly responds to the changing administrative environment, such as post-pandemic society, and provides all-new public services. (Oct. 2021)
The high-performance independent platform of Metaverse Seoul will be established by late 2022, and a metaverse ecosystem across all areas of administration (including economy, culture, tourism, education and complaints) is planned to be implemented.
Vision
Metaverse Seoul, a New Territory of Seoul
- Economy - Postering Metaverse Ecosystem
- Invest seoul
Fintech Lab
Digital content Playground
Metaverse Campus town - Education - Metaverse Learning Support
- Seoul Learn Metaclass
Seoul Learn DreamCenter
Metaverse Campus of Seoul Citizen colleage - Culture Tourism - Contactless Cultural Marketing
- Metaverse Seoul Tour
Participatory Festival Platform
Exhibition Service - Communication - Customized Open Communication
- Metaverse 120 Call Center
Seoul citizen Platform
Virtual Mayor's Office - City - XR based Urban Innovation
- XR City
Intelligent City Management - Administration - New Concept of Virtaual Administration
- Conference Service
Smart Work
Big Data Service
Infra for Seoul's Metaverse Initiatives. Metaverse Seoul Platform User Guidelines
RoadMap
- 2021 Pilot - Virtual meeting, Gyeongbokgung Palace XR, Virtual new year countdown
- 2022 Phase 1
- 2023~2024 Phase 2
- 2025~2026 Phase 3
- Economy
- Phase 1 - Fintech Lab
- Phase 2 - Invest Seoul and Start-Up Campus Town
- Education
- Phase 1 - Avatar Virtual Counseling
- Phase 2 - Learning support and Citizen University
- Communication
- Phase 1 - 120 chatbot
- Phase 2 - Services created by citizens & the call center
- Phase 3 - Public space reservation
- Culture
- Phase 2 - Metaverse sightseeing, festivals, exhibitions, etc
- Urbanization
- Phase 1 - Time travel in XR
- Phase 2 - Intelligent city management
- Phase 3 - XR Smart Town
- Admin
- Phase 1 - Conference & handling citizen requests
- Phase 2 - Smart Work System, & AI city offical
- Tax
- Phase 1 - Tax payment and counseling
- Infra
- Phase 1 - Creating user guidelines and navigation map, etc
Economy (Nurturing an industrial ecosystem utilizing the metaverse)
- Company support services which were previously carried out offline is created in the metaverse to attract foreign investment and provide an area for training and cooperation between companies to stimulate the contracted industrial ecosystem due to COVID-19.
- Digital content creation training and networking among new campus town companies is carried out within the metaverse to nurture companies.
Education (Metaverse-based interactive learning support)
- Being the most actively promoted sector, a virtual campus of Seoul Open City University will be created and Seoul Learn will provide various interactive content, such as lectures, mentoring, and career counseling, for youths who are more digitally literate and familiar with the metaverse environment.
Culture & Tourism(Experiencing content and culture via virtual marketing)
- Seoul's unique tourism resources will be reproduced in Metaverse Seoul to increase cultural tourism competitiveness, and interactive content will be featured, such as for various festivals and exhibitions, to faciliate offline tourism due to the pandemic.
Communication (Citizen-oriented open communication)
- Public services frequently used by citizens are provided through the metaverse, such as complaints, consultations, and public reservations, as well as supporting the strengthening of citizens' digital literacy required in the era of digital transformation.
Urban (XR-based urban innovation)
- Extended reality (XR) technology which combines virtual and reality like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) is applied to upgrade urban management compentency and develop services for the safety and convenience of the socially vulnerable, such as persons with disabilities.
Administration(All-new virtual administration more convenient than reality)
- The metaverse will be introduced to the SMG's municipal administration to increase efficiency, quickly respond to environmental changes through providing an all-new virtual administration directly to citizens.
- The metaverse conference service will be introduced to host various events and use as a communication channel, and a metaverse-based remote work environment using various new technologies will be established. Big data services which allows intuitive usage and sharing of public and private big data will be provided.
Infrastructure(Creation of a stable infrastructure in Metaverse Seoul)
- With the above agenda, the establishment of Metaverse Seoul as a physical foundation for operating metaverse services in each sector will be carried out starting next year, along with establishing institutional foundations to secure integrity.
- Furthermore, a management system will be created such as establishing a guideline to regulate the standard operation of Metaverse Seoul.
| Area | Goal | Task | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economy | 1. Nurturing an industrial ecosystem using the metaverse | ① Seoul Fintech Lab Playground | ’22 |
| ② Invest Seoul | ’23 | ||
| ③ Digital Content Creator Space | ’24 | ||
| ④ Metaverse Campus Town | ’22 | ||
| Education | 2. Metaverse learning support targeting Millennials and Gen Z | ① Seoul Learn Meta Class | ’22 |
| ② Seoul Learn Youth Dream Center | ’22 | ||
| ③ Seoul Open City University Metaverse Campus | ’23 | ||
| Culture & Tourism | 3. Virtual culture/tourism-related content and marketing | ① Metaverse Seoul Tourism | ’22 |
| ② Metaverse Festivals | ’23 | ||
| ③ Metaverse Exhibitions | ’23 | ||
| Communication | 4. Citizen-oriented open communication | ① Metaverse 120 Center | ’23 |
| ② Metaverse Seoul Citizens' Platform | ’22 | ||
| ③ Virtual Mayor's Office | ’22 | ||
| Urban | 5. XR-based urban innovation | ① XR Urban Immersion | ’22 |
| ② Intelligent urban management | ’22 | ||
| Administration | 6. All-new virtual administration more convenient than reality | ① Metaverse Conferences | ’22 |
| ② Metaverse Smart Work | ’25 | ||
| ③ Metaverse Big Data | ’23 | ||
| Infrastructure | 7. Creating a stable infrastructure within Metaverse Seoul | ① Metaverse Seoul Platform | ’22 |
| ② Metaverse Seoul Guideline | ’22 |
- Tasks closely connected to citizens will be prioritized for the early stage of Metaverse Seoul and to provide a stable service foundation at the introduction stage (2022)
- (Millennials & Gen Z) Seoul Learn Meta Class & Seoul Learn Youth Dream Center
- (Industrial Ecosystem) Seoul Fintech Lab Playground, Seoul Metaverse Campus Town
- (Joint Infrastructure) Metaverse Seoul, Metaverse Seoul Citizens' Platform, Metaverse Conferences, etc.
- Infrastructure for Metaverse Seoul will facilitate digital administration following technological standards demanded by citizens and continuous target expansion
Kicking off the beta release of Metaverse Seoul with Virtual Seoul City Hall! Seoul launched a pilot service of Virtual Seoul City Hall where citizens can get a firsthand experience of the high-tech platform of Metaverse Seoul before the official release.
The pilot service can be experienced on mobile by searching for Virtual Seoul City Hall on Google Play for Android (coming soon on the App Store for iOS).
※ Download the Metaverse Seoul City Hall app for Android. (8.0 Oreo or later)
Virtual Seoul City Hall allows citizens to gather and suggest opinions on the city's municipal administration and metaverse services.
Opinions can be registered by clicking the 'Feedback' button from the hallway in front of the virtual Mayor's Office. Registered opinions can receive a reply from the relevant department if it receives over 50 votes following the citizen opinion procedures in 'Democracy Seoul', a citizen participatory platform operated by the city.
Watch the video below to learn how to use the metaverse app's pilot service. Check it out right now!
[Video subtitles]
Hello, everyone. My name is Seoul Kim, and today I would like to introduce the Metaverse Seoul's Virtual Seoul City Hall.
After Seoul announced the establishment of an independent metaverse platform last November.
We have finally taken the first step with a pilot service.
The first floor lobby and Mayor's Office was recreated in the metaverse for this pilot service.
Now, let's go explore Virtual Seoul City Hall!
First, we will learn how to access the metaverse and create your avatar.
① Open the Metaverse Seoul City Hall app, then log in with your Google or Facebook account.
② Create a nickname to use on the metaverse.
③ Make your own avatar to use on the metaverse.
④ Complete your avatar by dressing up your hair, shirt, pants, and shoes. Much like playing an online game, right?
⑤ Shall we enter the Metaverse Seoul City Hall together with my avatar?
Your current location is shown on the top left.
You can move around using the arrow keys on the bottom left.
You can take a selfie with the camera button on the bottom right, jump around when you are moving your avatar, and even join a chat!
We are currently on the first floor lobby of Seoul City Hall.
Let's explore!
We can see the main entrance, glass walls, and a vertical garden.
Now, let's go look at the cherry blossom tree over there!
This is a policy tree which shows Seoul's key policies.
Let me select on the keyword "Youth."
Look, a future career ladder! And details on Seoul Software Academy (SeSAC).
You can easily see Seoul's policies for citizens from this policy tree.
Let's keep on exploring the first floor lobby.
There is an information desk in front of us. Shall we take a look?
Let's look at some other areas.
We can also see the building entrance, the elevator, the situation room, and the reception desk.
But what is that cute little yellow creature flapping its wings in the lobby?
Let's go take a closer look.
Ah! It's Haechi! Haechi is the official mascot of Seoul. It looks so adorable.
Currently, there is an ongoing event called Catch Haechi! in Virtual Seoul City Hall.
Users can catch Haechi by touching it like this.
See? Haechi following your avatar around is so cute.
You can get your own Haechi pet by catching 20 Haechis which appear all across Virtual Seoul City Hall.
And if you repeat cathing 20 Haechis, it is said your Haechi pet will grow bit by bit, which is another fun thing to do.
Now, let's go to where the red carpet is.
Ah, this looks like a photo spot for visitors.
I'll pose for a photo alongside! Cheese!
Now, let's go visit the Mayor's Office.
Maybe we'll even get to see the Mayor! Let's go down the hallway.
This is the hallway which leads to the Mayor's Office. Huh, what is this room?
Ah, this room is the reception room to hold meetings and for guests to wait.
Huh! What's that red mailbox? Let me try clicking it!
Ah, this is for collecting citizens' opinions through policy proposals.
I'm going to send my own opinion, too.
The bulletin board right beside shows registered opinions and another board which only shows popular opinions.
Various opinions can be collected from citizens, and popular opinions may get an official reply from the city!
This is the Mayor's Office. Let's see what's inside. Oh, there's Mayor Oh Se-hoon!
Hello!
I'm going ot get a photo with the Mayor of Seoul. Cheese!
Ah, so this is how the Mayor's Office looks like.
But hold on! See the finger icon on the Mayor's chair?
I can sit down on the chair by clicking on the icon. Let me sit down on the Mayor's seat.
What is the '!' icon on top of the Mayor? Click!
You can start the Catch the Haechi event!
Click the icon on top of the Mayor to start catching Haechis!
You can also watch Seoul's promotional videos in the Mayor's Office.
Today, we explored the Virtual Seoul City Hall pilot service of Metaverse Seoul.
Virtual Seoul City Hall will open its doors starting in May 2022.
Metaverse Seoul will then be officially released with more content in late 2022.
Come visit Virtual City Hall to raise your own cute Haechi pet!
And leave your valuable opinions and feedback! Thank you!