Students attend welcoming ceremony as avatars

Soonchunhyang University held a virtual welcoming ceremony for 2021 freshmen on Tuesday. [SK TELECOM]

Soonchunhyang University students Tuesday attended a virtual welcoming ceremony as avatars, virtual selves that they were able to customize through an app.

The 2,500 new students were able to enter 150 rooms depending on their departments of study, with 25 people per room.

The avatars in the rooms could view a stadium where university president Kim Seung-woo gave a welcoming speech. Popular Youtuber Lee Seung-kook hosted the ceremony.

After the ceremony, students were able to meet with the avatars of their professors and colleagues to freely talk with them.

The ceremony was the country’s first “Metaverse” ceremony-- a virtual-reality space in which people can interact with a computer-generated environment and other people, according to SK Telecom.

The ceremony was held online using the mobile carrier's Jump VR app.

SK Telecom said it prepared Soonchunhyang University's school jacket as an option when students were customizing their avatars.

SK Telecom also said it anticipates a boost in the number of mixed reality (MR) service users and its further growth by offering Metaverse experiences to university students.

“The university planned a Metaverse welcoming ceremony in order to allow freshmen students to not miss their precious memories,” said Kim Seung-woo, president of Soonchunhyang University.

Asan-based Soonchunhyang University also offered all freshmen a “welcome box” in advance which included VR headset and president’s letter guiding them to the virtual ceremony.

“We are glad that we could open the country’s first Metaverse welcoming ceremony using the Jump VR app in cooperation with Soonchunhyang University,” said Yang Maeng-seok, head of SK Telecom’s mixed reality (MR) business. “SK Telecom will continuously support people to experience the company's MR technology so that it can allow them to have communication with others in virtual reality."

BY CHEA SARAH [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]