Edoardo is 25 years old: like many of his peers, he graduated. Unlike all his peers, he graduated from the metaverse. And by “everyone” we really mean everyone: Edoardo Di Pietro is the first graduate in the world in the metaverse. More precisely, as he pointed out during our chat, “the first we know of”. Which is a bit the same thing, because if someone had done it before him, it would have already been talked about.
Di Pietro did it last July, when he defended his thesis (by title Between present and future: the impact of the Metaverse on society? Analysis and applications with the Tembo case study on Minecraft) both on the Luigi Einaudi campus of the University of Turin and in a virtual classroom set up inside the Spatial metaverse (one of over 40 currently existing).
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After the linguistic high school, Di Pietro earned a three-year degree in Communication Scienceswhich was followed by the master’s in Information Technology: “I’ve always been passionate about the future, innovation and electronics – he told us – The first degree thesis was on 5G, it was 2019 and it wasn’t a very widespread technology yet, but I like to explore and look forward”. From there, from her interest in what is to come, she was born the idea of a graduation discussion to be held in the metaverse: “Together with my supervisor, Professor Michele Cornetto, we have begun to evaluate this possibility. It was June 2021 “.
Convincing the other teachers was not difficult: “They were and are aware of the importance of the topic, they were curious to understand how it would be possible but also aware that this is a very topical topic “. More than anything else, “they were all struck by the great resonance that this thing had”.
In practice, Di Pietro and Cornetto did as follows: “I was physically present in the university, with a computer and a tablet, together with 4 professors (the commission, ed) and some of my family “. However, not everyone could enter the classroom, due to anti-Covid restrictions: “The fact that there was another me in the metaverse was also useful for this, to allow more people to attend the discussion of the thesis”. In the end, there was everything to follow about 50 people in the form of avatarswho could see some slides only in the virtual world, while those present in the classroom could in turn see them on a large screen.
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A metaverse that is “beautiful to live”
For his thesis, Di Pietro has chosen the Spatial platform (which can be accessed from here): “We preferred it because a link is enough and you do not need an account to connect, because it is easier to use and because it can also be used with a smartphone or tablet and not necessarily with the viewer, which still few have “. In short: they chose it because it has fewer entry barriers and is more easily accessible, more or less in every way.
Yes, because today if you say “metaverse” you think of what Zuckerberg, Meta and Oculus have in mind, but metaverses are not just that: “Today the most widespread idea is that of virtual reality and viewers, but there is much more – Di Pietro reminded us – And it is a future still to be built and difficult to imagine, even if there are already strong investments in this direction by video game, entertainment and fashion companies ”.
As for his idea of the metaverse, it seemed very clear to us: Di Pietro, who intends to exploit the skills acquired during his studies in his work experience with Tembo, a Turin agency that (also) deals with providing help and assistance to those who want to take their first steps in virtual worlds, explained to us that “it is above all important to give an ethical indication”. And that he imagines “a metaverse that is a place nice to live, not just nice to use“. What do you mean? “In the sense that I would like environments where people, all people, can feel safe, not be afraid and not have to be attentive to others. Not as they have to do on some social networks, that is “.
Judging by the former episodes of bullying and harassment in the metaverse, which we already reported on Italian Tech at the beginning of 2022, unfortunately it is a well-founded fear. And it’s good that you start talking about it, before you find yourself with a new one virtual world that has the same problems as the old real world.