This year, some 3,800 Japanese students did not partake in the traditional back-to-school ceremony in real life, instead experiencing the event for the first time in the metaverse.

In fact, it was not them, but their avatars who showed up to meet school principals, student representatives and future classmates, during a virtual ceremony streamed live on YouTube.

The infinite possibilities of the metaverse still have many surprises in store. After the first Metaverse Fashion Week, accessible worldwide, it’s now the back-to-school season that has crossed over into the virtual realm.

Millions of schoolchildren and students have returned to school in Japan, where the start of the school year is marked by an official ceremony, held in April - a sacred tradition that has this year been disrupted, once again, by the pandemic. But a group of vocational schools chose to tackle the problem head on, and replace the IRL event with one in the metaverse.

The NSG College League, which groups together 29 vocational schools in Niigata Prefecture, is behind this unusual initiative. On April 8, no less than 3,800 Japanese students - or rather, their avatars - were able to attend the event without risk, and to meet school principals, representatives and other students with whom they are about to spend an entire year. The whole event was accompanied by the traditional back-to-school speeches, and even by small humorous segments led by national celebrities.

The ceremony kicked off with Japanese comedian Mukai Satoshi, seen in Season One of Last One Standing on Netflix, whose avatar set the tone of the event and welcomed students. He then gave the stage to Toshihiko Watanabe, principal of Niigata Business College, for the traditional opening speech. The event also featured video messages from student representatives who gave advice to the newcomers. Plus, students were able to move around in this virtual world to meet and talk to their new classmates.

As an added bonus, parents were also able to watch the event via a live YouTube broadcast. The NSG College League reports that 1,200 people logged on to experience the ceremony. The initiative, although small in scale, could give ideas to many institutions around the world seeking to promote interaction among their students.

 - AFP Relaxnews