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Can’t be bothered to leave the house for a court date? Too lazy to attend your own wedding? Well, Singapore authorities may just have the solution for you.
Last week, the Second Minister of Law in Singapore Edwin Tong stated that court cases, including marriage proceedings could occur in the metaverse.
Tong even eluded to government services being held in the virtual space too.
“Such a highly personalised, very intimate, once-in-a-lifetime event, like solemnisation of marriages, can take place in the metaverse,” Tong in a speech at the TechLaw Fest 2022.
“It would not be unthinkable that, besides registration of marriages, other government services can soon be accessed online via the metaverse. There is no reason why the same cannot be done for legal services.”
Read more: Singapore’s Web3 Journey Hits Another MAS Speed Bump
Tong pointed towards the pandemic demonstrating that dispute resolution can be just as efficiently conducted without physical attendence.
“The pandemic has already shown us that even dispute resolution – once seen to be a physical, high-touch process. You must see the witness, look at the whole demeanour. Cross-examination was one particular skill that is needed to be very much in-person – can also be held almost entirely online.”
The minister went on to visualise a future fully immersed in augmented and virtual reality.
Read more: Is an Interoperable Metaverse a Pipe Dream?
“In construction disputes, ‘transporting’ the disputants to the construction site instead of poring over 2D plan diagrams… can put [themselves] into the actual tunnel or the oil containment facility to look at the construction dispute from the perspective of an augmented reality, representing the actual space,” he said.
Tong’s pro-metaverse message comes off the back of resistence from MAS towards the crypto scene. Although MAS recently quashed rumours of a retail CBDC in Singapore, the body announced it would roll out more stringent measures for the space in the coming months.
