Metaverse in the office, virtual but also in the presence: this is how we will work in the future
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What will the office of the future be like? The most credible answer to this question after two years of smartworking is that it won’t be an office. Not necessarily. As common sense suggests it will be “in presence” and remotely. However, the most dystopian novelties are manifesting themselves from the parts of the second option. Because in the last 24 months, the large digital platforms have had the time to imagine metaverses, enhance their videoconferencing services and ground new applications for working remotely. So let’s talk about an advanced tertiary office. To use a slogan we could say that the post-pandemic collaborative scenario has disturbing special effects.
Starline, the recipe from Google
As in the case of Google’s Starline project. Imagine a booth full of sensors and cameras: it turns on and the person you are looking for appears behind a glass. The effect seems to be that of when, in the movies, they go to visit a relative or a friend in prison. On the other side, a three-dimensional hologram of the person called appears as if he were behind glass. American tech reporters who have seen it up close say it is one of the most realistic things ever done, the ultimate evolution of video calling. Presented a year ago at Google I / O, it seems almost ready to become a product-service and has already entered the experimental phase in some large multinationals.
Horizon Workrooms, the Microsoft-Meta answer
More down-to-earth are the latest news from Microsoft that last week made agreements with Meta to bring its enterprise apps into the Facebook metaverse. According to Mark Zuckerberg, the office has thus become the most concrete thing we have to date in the metaverse voice. In Horizon Workrooms, which is its “toy” enterprise, Meta has added a Personal Office feature, which allows you to create your own customized metaverse office for work. As seen in the video, the workgroups will be able to work on multiple screens, integrate Zoom, 3D modeling applications and “magic rooms”, which allow teams to create places in virtual reality both remotely and in person. However, the impression is that of a space with avatars on the Minecraft model but more beautiful, where, however, you can add productivity software. It means opening a 3D project or an excel sheet while discussing, creating conversation spaces and work tables with a gesture and inside the virtual reality viewers.
Also comes Teams Mesh Avatars
On the Microsoft side, a bit also for corporate tradition, last week Teams Mesh Avatars were presented, tools that will allow each user to associate with a virtual twin and the new Places app to manage internal meetings and communication between work groups. remote and with suppliers and customers. The office of the future appears more concrete but no less disturbing. As explained by Jared Spataro, vice president of Microsoft 365, in an interview that appeared in the online specialized press, it also means “monitoring traffic patterns in meeting rooms to let employees know, for example, when it might be smarter to leave the office. office in advance and attend the last meeting ». Which is a bit like a notification automatically arrives: “Hey, aren’t you going to be in the office on Wednesday?” Know that 80% of your team will be and they will be in building 3. ». Which is also a way to make you feel guilty as well as inefficient. In any case, and this is the real paradox, we will be condemned to be close-close, virtually or in presence. And to think that the first offices, in the Middle Ages, were simply places of solitude in which to carry out solitary work: writing, copying, accounting and so on. Someone will sooner or later regret them.
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