No one can ignore technology is undergoing a fast-paced development – notably with the on-going rise of the Metaverse. According to Gartner, by 2026, one in four people is to spend at least one hour a day in this digital alternative world. This raises questions about the future of the Internet, and in particular people’s safety in the Metaverse. As digitization moves forwards, so does crime. The recent Interpol Global Crime Trend report demonstrates that “crime has increasingly moved online”. The report’s top 3 crime threats are (from 3rd to 1st) phishing and online scams, ransomware, and money laundering.
Interpol’s objective is hence to keep protecting communities not only in the physical world, but also in the digital one. How to guarantee communities’ safety in the Metaverse? This is the moment Interpol’s Metaverse enters in action. The latter “allows registered users to tour a virtual facsimile of the Interpol General secretariat headquarters in Lyon, France without any geographical or physical boundaries”. This is aimed to facilitate interaction with other officers via their avatars, as well as taking training courses in forensic investigation and other policing capabilities.
“The Metaverse has the potential to transform every aspect of our daily lives with enormous implications for law enforcement” – Madan Oberoi, Interpol’s Executive Director of Technology and Innovation
Besides the protection aspect, the Metaverse represents a mine of opportunities for law enforcement, from remote work to delivering training, and also crime scenes’ evidence collection and preservation. During the Assembly, experts from Interpol’s Capacity Building and Training Directorate gave a live demonstration – using Interpol capabilities in a Metaverse classroom – delivering a training course on travel document checking and passenger screening. Afterwards, Students were teleported to an airport where they could apply their new skills at a virtual border point.
Discover Interpol’s Metaverse video presentation here.
