Barcelona in the metaverse

Those of us who are fans of Matrix would be very pleased to be able to have the experience of "living" Barcelona in the metaverse. I put all my intention into "living" in quotation marks because one thing is reality and the other is a temporary experience through virtual reality glasses. Luckily for us, we are not stuck in a cubicle and connected to an unreal world like the protagonists of the movie. Although it is no less true that the philosophical questions posed by the film are still very relevant.

In my opinion, content and container will be important in the metaverse and, therefore, I ask myself: Should cities prepare for this new dimension? Will cities be the container where things happen? Of course they will! We will see cities in the metaverse in a very short period of time. We will visit them and be privileged spectators or even protagonists of stories, facts or events in a virtual past, present or future.

Not only will we be able to visit cities through the metaverse, but we will also use the metaverse for trial and error. In fact, one of the topics that I find most interesting is the simulation that this virtual environment allows us before applying a specific public policy.

Precisely, at the Smart City congress that has just been held in Barcelona, scenarios have been proposed to obtain data on what happens in cities through new dimensions. A city elevated to the metaverse will be able to practice different scenarios, response options to emergencies, mobility simulations, evaluate the consequences of climate change, etc. In short, develop a scientific trial-and-error process to obtain conclusions that should, in turn, be considered by city managers.

Data analysis and artificial intelligence applied to the city will allow us to move from the smart city to the Meta city and, even so, as it is simply and plainly said, reality always surpasses fiction and I fear that there will be unforeseen events that not even the metaverse will be able to contemplate.

Will Barcelona in the metaverse be seductive enough to produce the necessary engagement? Will we find in the Barcelona metaverse the seduction, the texture, the mood of the city? Will we reproduce that feeling of pleasure and joy, or of peace, or of nervousness of knowing that we are living a unique and unrepeatable moment?

I don't know, but I prefer to be on Neo's ship feeling real emotions than staying in the shell because, as always, the right amount of fiction and its intelligent use will give us balance.