Humane Metaverse, the future beyond the hype

An article by Francesco Berlucchi

The concept of the Metaverse originated in science fiction. Neal Stephenson, in his novel Snow Crash published in 1992, imagines the United States at the end of the twentieth century. His is an America at the mercy of an out-of-control capitalist economy, in which even state authority has resigned itself to the economic power of large multinationals. In the novel, Stephenson talks about the Metaverse as a three-dimensional virtual experience that allows users to escape from a physical world that has become uninteresting.

"Today, the Metaverse has moved from the world of science fiction to that of technology," explains Giuseppe Riva, director of the Humane Technology Lab (HTLab), the laboratory of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore that investigates the relationship between human experience and technology. "It is no coincidence that all the major tech companies are investing significant amounts to try to create this Metaverse. Which can be defined as a form of mixed reality. It is therefore the fusion between the virtual and physical worlds. What we do in the physical world affects the virtual world, and vice versa."

To tell what can be done today in the Metaverse, presenting a series of concrete cases, the Catholic University strongly wanted "Humane Metaverse: the future beyond the hype. Theories, applications and experiences compared". An event organized by the university laboratories HTLab and Teaching and Learning Lab (TeLeLab), in collaboration with the Center for Studies in Communication Psychology (PsiCom). The red circle date, in the words of Rino Tommasi, is Tuesday 8 April, from 2.30 pm in the San Tomaso room (G018).

"The meeting aims to take stock of the many initiatives that are being carried out at the university with the Metaverse at the center, a technology that also opens up great prospects in the field of Education and which, however, must be used with great discernment in order not to lose contact with the human and with the community," explains Giovanni Marseguerra, director of TeLeLab. "The digitalization of educational environments today makes possible new and extraordinary opportunities for educational innovation and, as will be seen during the day, Università Cattolica has been studying and experimenting with new technologies for some time, with great passion but also with great attention: the Metalabs, immersive laboratories that integrate traditional teaching, activated in large numbers this academic year, They are a very significant example of this."

After the greetings of Andrea Gaggioli, director of PsiCom and coordinator of the ambitious Metaversity project of Università Cattolica, Giovanni Marseguerra and Giuseppe Riva, there will be a keynote speech by Lucio Lamberti, scientific director of Metaverse Marketing Lab at the Politecnico di Milano, followed by the presentation of the volume Humane Metaverse. Reflections on Self, Education, Organizations and Society by Daniela Villani, Professor of General Psychology at Università Cattolica. 

At 3.40 p.m. Andrea Gaggiolwill present the Metaversity project, while at 4.00 p.m. the round table "Experiences in the Metaverse: education, work, art and communication" will begin, moderated by Alessia Cruciani, journalist of Corriere della Sera, in which guests will be Ivan Montis, secretary general Web3 Alliance, Alessio Mazzolotti, CEO & creative director of IceCubes,  Sara Arlati, researcher at Stiima-Cnr and Alice Chirico, director of Experience Lab, the Study and Research Center of PsiCom. The initiative is open to students, faculty, researchers, and professionals interested in exploring the potential and challenges of the Metaverse.

Admission is free, subject to availability. To participate, you must register at this link.

For more information, please write to telelab@unicatt.it.

The article is published on Secondo Tempo.