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First Court Hearing in Metaverse with Avatars, Colombia holds

A Colombian court held its first legal trial in the Metaverse and it further hopes to experiment again with virtual reality.

Ever since virtual reality and augmented reality allured the users, an auxiliary tech – metaverse had accompanied along which is now possessing huge capabilities, immersive entertainment and moreover convenience.

In a first, the two-hour hearing held by Colombia’s Magdalena Administrative court, participants involved in traffic litigation appeared as avatars in a virtual courtroom, Reuters reported.

Court Hearing in Metaverse

The lawmakers of the court held the hearing using Horizon Workrooms, a Meta platform that allows teams to get together via a virtual workspace. Members may have to wear on virtual headsets for the immersion into the virtual world. The avatars were dressed on the respective roles with the magistrate Maria Quinones Triana’s avatar appeared in black legal robes.

“It felt more real than a video call” Quinones told, sharing the metaverse experience as “amazing”.

“This is an academic experiment to show that there it’s possible… but where everyone consents to it, (my court) can continue to do things in the metaverse,” she added. The virtual courtroom hearing was live-streamed on YouTube.

Though early examples of meetings in metaverse have been mocked for technical lags in avatars, with clunky and glitchy appearances, Colombia’s court proceedings didn’t have too much of them. However, some viewers found the meeting to be ridiculous on seeing cartoonish figures. “I feel it takes away from the seriousness [of the case],” one commented.


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Meetings in Metaverse – Long way to go

On questioning the magistrate regarding the matter, Quiones reiterated the constitutional legitimacy of the virtual tribunal, but acknowledged that the experiment had not been popular, citing 70% disapproval among viewers.

Juan David Gutierrez, a public policy professor at Colombia’s University of Rosario, said use of the metaverse in legal proceedings has a long way to go.

Criticisms apart, as the world steps to online-based adaptations due to convenience and other reasons, the court’s step into a virtual world could be a pavement for the followers from other sectors to let themselves ready in case of any pandemics or situational obligation.

Nonetheless, it can never match with reality.

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