As we emerge from the pandemic, we are seeing many differences in the way businesses and workplaces operate.
In our September blog, I explored how workplace culture has changed with respect to remote working and the need for organisations to adapt to hybrid modes of working to keep up in a post-pandemic environment.
Communication and connection continue to be the focus as teams struggle to work together remotely – no longer can you obtain a quick answer to your questions with the swivel of chair or knock on a door.
But did you ever envision a virtual reality workspace – one where you aren’t sitting at home with your small laptop facing a wall but an immersed wide-open space with multiple desktop views overlooking a meeting room, the ocean or a mountain peak?
It might take years for workers and companies alike to switch to VR, but it has already started creeping into the way companies are working today. It is beginning to be used for training and customer service in addition to a tool for collaborative workplaces. A 2019 PwC report predicted that nearly 23.5 million jobs worldwide would be using VR by 2030 in these fields.
Oculus’ vSpatial, the leading virtual workspace product, lets you surround yourself with unlimited monitors and organise them into workspace carousels to organise your work. This product takes remote desktop access to a new level.
As businesses are increasingly pressurised to set their workers up for the ability to work remotely at the click of the finger; or snap of a lockdown, the collaborative VR workspaces offer severely outperforms virtual meetings via Zoom, Skype or Microsoft Teams.
Workrooms, a project between Facebook and Oculus has been in the works well before offices were shut down due to the pandemic. It offers immersion and collaboration in a way that 2D video calling doesn’t.
Virtualizing your desk while still typing on a real keyboard, jotting down notes or doodles on a personal virtual notepad, writing on a virtual whiteboard or casting your computer screen to a giant virtual whiteboard projection for presentations are all features we often find ourselves imagining we had, and are all functions Workrooms offer. Whilst this project is in its early developmental stages, it is the first attempt to take on a collaborative way to work together in a remote setting.
Image credit: https://www.oculus.com/blog/wide-open-workspace-vspatial-available-now-on-oculus-quest/
With the way the future is heading to a hybrid flexible in-person and remote working culture, it might be time to think about how your organisation might fit with this type of virtual working.