Marriage in the Metaverse? Yes, and Singapore Is Expecting Various Government and Legal Services To Take Place There Too

Edwin Tong, Singapore’s Second Minister for Law, is expecting a wide variety of government and legal services to become available in the metaverse.

According to Wikipedia, Tong is “a Singaporean politician and lawyer who has been serving as Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law since 2020.” As a a member of the governing People’s Action Party, he has been “the Member of Parliament representing the Joo Chiat ward of Marine Parade GRC since 2011.”

According to a report published on July 29 by Cointelegraph, on July 20, while speaking at the “TechLaw Fest 2022”, Tong said:

“It would not be unthinkable that, besides registration of marriages, other government services can soon be accessed online via the Metaverse.“

The Minister also mentioned that there was “no reason” why legal services could not also take place in the metaverse:

“The pandemic has already shown us that even dispute resolution — once seen to be a physical, high-touch process […] can also be held almost entirely online.“

Tong also gave practical examples for the use of the metaverse in settling legal disputes. He outlined an accident occurring on a construction site as being viewable for participants via augmented reality and a “single virtual platform”:

“You can put yourself 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.“

As Cointelegraph reported, on February 5, “a Phoenix couple tied the knot with their digital identities”, with the wedding ceremony taking place in Decentraland, with around 2000 guests virtual attending.

Image Credit

Featured Image by ‘geralt’ from Pixabay