BRAVE NEW WORLD

Manila Di Giovanni is looking to reinvent the world with DWorld, starting with the first virtual twin of Monaco.

- Joel Chua

CALL HER AN idealist, but Manila Di Giovanni has grand ambitions to change the world: by redefining what it means to straddle the virtual and the real. At only 21 years old, she’s the youngest technology entrepreneur based in Monaco, and is already listed on Forbes Monaco’s 30 Under 30. Through her start-up DWorld – a multiplayer virtual reality platform – Di Giovanni has created the world’s first virtual economy, providing users access to the first virtual twin of Monaco, set within the metaverse. Beyond merely sightseeing or conducting virtual shopping sprees, the possibilities for envisioning a smarter, greener city of tomorrow are virtually endless. Want to explore, say, how a proposed building site can potentially affect the surrounding landscape? Simulate it in the metaverse to better ascertain whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages before carrying it out in the real world.