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Colombia Breaks New Ground By Hosting a Court Hearing in the Metaverse

Colombia last week became one of the pioneers to host a court hearing utilizing Meta’s metaverse. Lawmakers in Colombia held this virtual court hearing using the Horizon Workrooms, a Meta platform, and this hearing was around two hours long. Lawyers, wearing headsets, joined the meeting as cool cartoon avatars and it was also streamed live on YouTube. 

The virtual hearing, at which a complainant attempted to take legal action against the police, was deemed successful, according to the attendees. María Victoria, the magistrate of the Magdalena court, emphasized the importance of information technology in advancing judicial processes for the ultimate goal of providing justice. 

 

What’s the Reaction?

Viewing cartoon-like figures in Colombia’s first virtual court hearing sparked some criticism, and some of the viewers even called this idea a bit ridiculous. Other countries, however, have previously used the same Meta technology for hearings – for example, a Chinese court reportedly held one such meeting in September 2022. 

In 2020, COVID-19 had quite an influence, as virtual court hearings and meetings took the center stage. Due to government-enforced lockdowns all around the globe, a lot of working professionals turned to Zoom for video conferencing – sending the company’s stock value ‘through the roof’ and causing quite a stir. 

Future Plans in the Meta 

Meta, previously called Facebook, has spent billions on the metaverse technology, however, any prominent results are yet to be seen, with Reality Labs taking a massive loss of $4.28 billion in 2022’s fourth quarter. 

Despite this hefty financial burden, the company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has pledged his commitment to investing more in this realm. In a statement last month, Mr. Zuckerberg noted his roadmap was being driven by two main technological waves: AI in the present and, metaverse, over the long term.