Court In Colombia Trial Of Virtual Sessions In Metaverse

Judge Maria Quinones Triana's avatar dressed in a black robe appeared during a hearing in the metaverse. (photo: dock. bitcoin.com).

JAKARTA - This month, a court in Colombia held its first trial in the metaverse and hopes to conduct another experiment with virtual reality.

In a two-hour trial held by Colombia's Magdalena Administration Court, participants in a traffic dispute appeared as avatars in a virtual court. Judge Maria Quinones Triana's avatar dressed in a black robe also appeared.

Reuters reported that the country was among the first in the world to test a real legal trial in the metaverse, a virtual reality technology that makes digital space feel more lively, often with avatars representing each participant.

"The sensation is more real than a video call," Quinones told Reuters on Friday, February 24. He described the experience in the metaverse as "amazing." On Zoom, he said, "A lot of people turn off their cameras, you don't know what they're doing."

Cases brought by regional transportation unions against police will partly continue in the metaverse, including perhaps the verdict, Quinones said. He did not rule out trials in the metaverse elsewhere.

"It's an academic experiment to show that this might be done... but where everyone agrees, (my advice) can continue to do things in the metaverse," he added.

While legal trials are increasingly being carried out via video calls hosted by Zoom and Google, few have been experimenting with the metaverse, a space Meta, Microsoft, and other tech giants are vying to build on it.

The early examples of interviews and meetings in the metaverse have been ridiculed for the visualization of cartoons that tend to be less than smooth. However, the Colombian court trial on February 15 - broadcast on YouTube - went without too much problems, except for some of the camera's movements that dizzy and some distorted movements.

Quinones confirmed the constitutional legitimacy of the virtual trial, but acknowledged that the experiment was unpopular, with 70% repulsion among spectators.

Juan David Gutierrez, a professor of public policy at Rosario University Colombia, said that the use of the metaverse in legal trials was far from perfect.

"You need hardware to do this that few people have. And it raises questions about accessibility to justice and equality," he told Reuters.

Quinones agrees that costs and accessibility should be discussed. However, he is fighting for the use of the metaverse in cases of abuse, for example, where participants can share space without having to see each other physically.

Gutierrez said judges in Colombia were looking for ways to defuse the overloaded justice system.

"We create the illusion that technology will make things more efficient, but sometimes the opposite," said Gutierrez.