A village of traditional Hanok houses in central Seoul will be recreated in a metaverse world so that tourists can explore it in virtual space. Various cultural and tourist content will be created in the virtual village.
Namsangol Hanok Village with traditional houses called "Hanok" and gardens is a popular tourist destination. About 1.5 million foreign and domestic tourists visit the restored village every year to feel the vibe of construction during the Joseon dynasty that ruled the Korean peninsula from 1392 to 1897. Cultural events take place in the 79,934 square meters-wide village, such as traditional tea ceremonies and taekwondo demonstrations.
Users can enjoy the tourist spot using avatars and create their own content, and engage in commercial activities. Copyrights will be protected by issuing non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a unit of data stored on a blockchain network of interlinked virtual ledgers.
"We will take the lead in building an industrial ecosystem that can create a new business model in the digital world by creating an open environment where anyone can experience beautiful Hanoks and develop different content," Seoul's smart city policy director Park Jong-su said in a statement on July 18.
It is part of a state project to develop extended reality (XR)-based real-world-like content for various tourist spots. XR technology refers to all digital environments created using virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR). Government officials will collaborate with 18 metaverse-related organizations to actualize local tourist spots in the virtual space.
