Spatial Data-Driven Citizen Engagement in the Metaverse

Introduction

The Metaverse, a novel buzzword, represents the fusion of physical reality and digital virtuality, allowing for seamless communication and interaction with digital artifacts through virtual and augmented reality technologies. Its pervasive applications span across diverse industries including supply chain, tourism, health, education, sports, transportation, and beyond. As a concept, the Metaverse remains in a state of evolution, with numerous researchers offering varied definitions and perspectives on its essence and potential implications. (Ritterbusch and Teichmann 2023) define metaverse as a three-dimensional online environment in which users interact with each other through avatars, offering potential social, economic, and technical implications. According to (Weinberger 2022) the Metaverse is an interconnected web of ubiquitous virtual worlds that enhances the physical world, enabling users to connect, interact, and consume user-generated content in an immersive, scalable, synchronous, and persistent environment. (Shi et al. 2023) defined it as a parallel digitalized world, that combines virtuality and reality, offering intelligent services and applications, with four pillars: ubiquitous connections, space convergence, virtuality and reality interaction, and human-centered communication. (X. Huang 2021) called it a broader space formed by the integration of the natural and virtual universes, that allows human beings to walk freely between the two, enabling free ideological innovation and a new cosmology, body and mind.

Engaging citizens in virtual worlds holds significant importance as it endeavors to establish a communal digital space where individuals can interact and cooperate akin to the physical realm. By fostering citizen engagement in these virtual landscapes, we can amplify human-to-human social connections and interactions, potentially catalyzing advancements in various fields, including eye care. The seamless integration of citizens into virtual worlds facilitates real-time embodied communication and dynamic interactions with digital elements. Moreover, such engagement cultivates a fertile ground for collective knowledge creation and fosters active participation in electronics-related e-learning initiatives. Leveraging gamification, social networks, collaborative platforms, and personalized information dissemination, we can effectively foster citizen engagement in virtual environments, nurturing vibrant communities, and facilitating meaningful social participation.

Spatial data plays a pivotal role in enhancing citizen engagement by providing geographically relevant information that enables individuals to participate more actively in their communities and decision-making processes. Through spatial data, citizens gain insights into the physical aspects of their surroundings, including maps, satellite imagery, and geographic information systems (GIS), which help them understand the spatial relationships between different elements in their environment. Geospatial technology-mediated public participation in local governments enables new dynamics between local governments and citizens, improves openness and operational efficiency, and enhances citizen engagement (S. Zhang 2019). By leveraging spatial data, citizens can better comprehend local issues, such as infrastructure development, environmental concerns, urban planning, and public services. This understanding empowers them to voice their opinions, contribute ideas, and collaborate with government agencies, NGOs, and other stakeholders to address community challenges effectively. A citizen-led spatial information system can be used to collect updated information, perceptions, and preferences, building a crowd-sourced and sharable system of territorial knowledge useful for collective actions and effective strategies in emergency conditions (Cerreta, Liccardi, and Reitano 2021).