The Metaverse and Its Effects on Work in Future

By: infotechalive December 1, 2021

Metaverse comes with the shining promise of an inclusive and shared digital world which plans to amalgamate different realities i.e. augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) along with some more like IoT etc.

Shift from Sci-Fi to Reality?

The term “metaverse” was used in a science fiction novel in the ‘90s. It talked of a collective world with variations from virtual spaces with actual physical world. The collective spoke of a mixed reality which in today’s world is utilized in various computer games like Minecraft, World of Warcraft etc.

This feeling might raise the tension levels but to think of it. It is already happening all around us. We are totally reliant on digital screens and the corporate IT giants are continuously working to make “metaverse” a reality, at least in the coming 5 or 10 years.

Facebook to Meta

The umbrella company, formerly called Facebook Inc., recently changed its name and has siginificant investments in the fields combining AR and VR. The metaverse of Meta is called Horizon and it is currently an open beta. It would let people work in the same virtual room, irrespective of the physical distance. This would not be simply a video call but all the people involved would have virtual avatars, would be able to share digital boards and would also work with directional audio.

Recently, Meta and Microsoft have announced Teams Integration with Workplace which would enable employees to access content from a common place within a group. However, the issue of concern would be whether individuals would choose to mix their personal social media lives with their professional lives.

All Inclusive Workplace

There is already a certain level of blurriness which is being experienced in terms of physical and digital working spaces. The way in which organizations would interact with their stakeholders would be crucial to determine the advancements in the future workplace.

VR might not be the most convenient option to use right away but improvements are expected in the near future and many digital surprises are in the pipeline.