The International Criminal Police Organization — the Interpol for short — announced the introduction of a fully functional metaverse. It will be utilized for activities such as immersive training courses for forensic investigations.
The INTERPOL Metaverse, which was revealed at the 90th Interpol General Assembly in New Delhi, is characterised as the first-ever Metaverse made specifically for law enforcement globally.
The platform is stated to also enable law officers all through the world to connect with one another via avatars.
The term “metaverse” refers to a future concept of an immersive Internet in which virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets are expected to play a significant role in online experiences—and possibly even supplant some real-world activities.
Concerns are being voiced regarding future metaverse crimes such as crimes targeting children, data theft, counterfeiting, ransomware, sexual misconduct, and harassment as virtual worlds expand.
For many, the Metaverse seems to herald an abstract future, but the issues it raises are those that have always motivated INTERPOL – supporting our member countries to fight crime and making the world, virtual or not, safer for those who inhabit it.
Jürgen Stock, Secretary General at the Interpol
One of the issues that organisations have discovered is that what is considered a crime in the real world may not be so in the virtual world.
Executive director of Technology and Innovation Madan Oberoi stated that they can collaborate with stakeholders to create the required governance structures and stifle potential illegal markets by identifying these risks up front. “Only by having these conversations now can we build an effective response,” he added.
Interpol experts conducted a training session on travel document verification and passenger screening using the features of the recently introduced platform in a live demonstration at the event.
After that, students were transferred to an airport where they could use their newly learned abilities at a simulated border crossing.
A specialist team has also been established by Interpol to guarantee that new virtual worlds are safe by design.
The company confirmed that it has also participated in a World Economic Forum effort on metaverse governance — called “Defining and Building the Metaverse.” Other participants in the initiative include Meta, Microsoft, Mastercard, and other well-known Web3 companies, such as Animoca Brands and Decentraland.
