Different types of variables

As an admin I would like to be able to create different types variables that can store values other than string such as list.

Currently, the variable stores strings even if the smartvalue source is an array list (reference)

Consequently, smartvalue.split(",") when stored in a variable will contain a string instead of a list, which limits the usage of other functions (such as variable.distinct).

The variable cannot be converted as ObjectArray(Value) to be included in multi select list custom fields as well.