News Edokawa-ku's ward office goes into Metaverse

thomas · 4 Oct 2023

Despite the slow pick-up and the focus on gaming and entertainment, the Tokyo ward office of Edogawa is experimenting with offering its services via the Metaverse. Ward officials said their goal was to achieve the "ultimate form of being barrier-free," which would allow anyone to freely seek advice or file applications without visiting the ward office building in person.

Photo credit: Edogawa Ward Office

The ward government began testing the system on 20 September, taking counselling requests and accepting applications from people with disabilities and other users. The Metaverse ward office is designed to look like the brick-and-mortar ward office building. Participants in the test run choose an avatar. This character represents them and moves around in the virtual office building to visit the general information lobby or a consultation room. Services of the same type available at the physical ward office are available in the metaverse space. The ward government will sort out the rules of use and other practicalities as it gradually expands the range of services. The officials said the system is set to be completed to coincide with a planned relocation of the ward office building five years down the road.

I'm curious how this works out, especially with senior citizens.

A point of entry to the metaverse ward office will be created on the ward government's website. Visitors will not need to authenticate their identity to access the online office. They will also be allowed to use a nickname and rely on voice chat or text chat to converse with the avatars of ward government workers.

Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward office goes into metaverse for better access | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

News Edokawa-ku's ward office goes into Metaverse

thomas

Unswerving cyclist

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