“For the public administration, the Metaverse represents a new, interesting channel of communication with citizens. On the initiative of the Piedmont Region, here in CSI we have begun to experiment with some models of these possible futures”. Pietro Pacini, Director General of CSI Piedmont thus opens the Metaverse Open Day hosted by the House of Emerging Technologies, with the aim of allowing citizens, students, entrepreneurs, researchers to touch what is being experimented with a technology that is still in the first steps of its development, but has shown that it knows how to take quick steps.
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If we refer to the definition of the Metaverse standard forum, today the Metaverse does not exist (yet) and Gartner confirms it, which includes it in its hype cycle among the emerging technologies, but with a perspective of over 10 years. Today we have rather several Metaverses, not a single interconnected structure, and issues such as data security and privacy still remain to be demarcated. But the road seems marked and even the Piedmontese PA wants to keep up.
Virtual visits and new interaction models
The Piedmont Region has decided to start its journey in the Metaverse with a project linked to cyberbullying, a phenomenon that affects 7 out of 10 children in Italy. One of the major criticalities in dealing with the phenomenon is the way to intercept the victims, who often do not report even out of shame. Offering a virtual listening space, in which it is possible to discuss with a specialist through an anonymous avatar, in an immersive and safe environment, could be an effective solution to overcome the problem. The project is in its early stages, the goal is to arrive at the first trials in a few months.
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Among the most interesting innovations proposed as a demo in the House of Emerging Technologies, the possibility, once immersed in virtual reality, to interact with objects without having to use the controllers. All viewers are equipped with small front cameras, useful when moving in space to intercept any obstacles. An attempt has recently been made to use those low-resolution black and white cameras to recognize hands and allow them to be used in virtual worlds. Although it is still only an experiment, the result is surprising: by eliminating the intermediation of the joystick, the movements become much more fluid and one almost has the sensation of squeezing the objects that one takes in virtual reality between one’s fingers.
Furthermore, a virtual tour of Palazzo Lascaris in Turin, headquarters of the Piedmont Region, was presented. “A sort of street view to move inside the buildings – explained Mario Pissardo, Head of the Blockchain and IoT Center of Excellence of CSI Piemonte -. You can immerse yourself inside a building thanks to the 360-degree images, the links that allow you to access information and insights, and thanks to a very high resolution it is possible to appreciate even the smallest details of the objects encountered”.
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It is then possible to recreate counters or immersive environments in which the citizen can meet the public administration or implement public spaces with geolocated augmented reality, providing dedicated information, through a simple smartphone, to the user who is in a given place.
“There are numerous areas in which the PA will be able to derive real and immediate benefits – explains Pietro Pacini – and in addition to the social one, which we have decided to use as a first field of experimentation, there is certainly tourism, with the possibility of opening our architectural and artistic beauties, showing them from a distance and making them known. Without forgetting the relationship with citizens: relating to an avatar rather than to one’s computer will give a greater sense of closeness and interaction and queues and long waits will be avoided”.