[Courtesy of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs]
Minecraft, which has some 126 million monthly users as of 2020, is an open-world exploring game for PC and consoles. More than 200 million copies were sold worldwide. In May 2020, South Korean President Moon Jae-in invited elementary school students to the virtual version of the presidential office to celebrate Children's Day through Minecraft. Students were able to look around the main building with the president in the virtual world.
The metaverse is a simulated virtual world platform where users can engage in various activities using avatars without any physical restrictions. It can be accessed through a smartphone, PC, or a virtual reality headset. The metaverse platform is broadly used in South Korea's education sectors so students can gain first-hand experiences such as exploring a virtual science exhibition hall through Google's Chrome browser.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said in a statement on November 15 that a metaverse-based game titled "Wook-Craft" was released to offer a virtual tour of South Korea's agricultural facilities including the office of the agriculture ministry, smart farms and agriculture museums. A smart farm refers to an automated indoor farm that can automatically analyze the temperature, humidity and amount of sunlight through the Internet of Things (IoT) technology. Because it is possible to remotely manage farms through mobile devices, farmers don't need to worry about weather conditions.
"We will accelerate the use of the metaverse platform to promote the value of agriculture to millennials and Generation Z," the agriculture ministry's spokesman Kim Ki-hoon was quoted as saying. To gain more users, the agriculture ministry will also hold special giveaway events and allow users to create their own agricultural space in the virtual world.