South Korea-based telecom provider LG Uplus has unveiled a metaverse platform for Yonsei University designed to cater to the needs of students.
Dubbed Meta Yonsei, the virtual world is a digital representation of the university campus, complete with iconic landmarks like the library, student centers, and resident halls. Unveiled on the university’s 139th anniversary, Meta Yonsei marks a major leap toward digitization and embracing emerging technologies.
To encourage greater participation, LG Uplus launched a naming contest among the student community and conducted a series of surveys to determine the functionalities of the metaverse offering.
Apart from replicating the university’s Sinchon campus, Meta Yonsei allows users to experience the campus across four seasons designed for heightened realism. Outside of appearances, the platform offers users a range of functionalities, including the ability to attend classes in real time.
While other metaverse platforms for universities are targeted toward prospective students, LG Uplus’ offering appears tailor-made for existing Yonsei University students. A closer look at the functionalities confirms the hypothesis, with capabilities revolving around action themes rather than merely operating as digital museums.
The metaverse solution allows students to improve collaboration on tasks via the “Team Play” functionality, supporting virtual workspaces and video conferencing. There is also the nifty functionality of speech recognition and auto-captioning to improve note-taking while advancing student productivity and efficiency.
“There is very high interest in the virtual campus based on the Sinchon campus among freshmen at Songdo International Campus,” said Park Tae-young, head of the Yonsei University Promotion Committee.
Given the rising interest in the offering, LG Uplus is eyeing a range of upgrades, including integration with artificial intelligence (AI), before the end of the year. Furthermore, there are plans to link Meta Yonsei with the university’s Learning Management System (LMS), with operators seeking to host social activities on the platform, such as alumni events and welcome parties for students.
Investing in virtual worlds
South Korea’s government has been spending considerable sums on metaverse technologies to improve its digital economy and maintain a lead in the ecosystem over its peers.
With nearly $1 billion invested in metaverse investment, South Korea says changes to the health, education, and tourism industries are in order, and early trials show significant promise.
The government is looking to use the fresh injection of capital to prop fledgling metaverse firms in the region while providing technical and regulatory support to allow them to compete with their peers in other jurisdictions.
