By Maxwell Newman From Newsmax

A new technological transformation is going to dramatically change workplaces, and a key part of that will involve a virtual reality (VR) headset.

Experts envision a future workplace where meetings will take place all on a VR headset, in an emerging concept known as the metaverse. The metaverse is defined as “a virtual reality world where users can interact, game, buy virtual items and experience things as they would in the real world,” and almost all of these interactions take place with a virtual avatar, per The Wrap.com.

Some of these experiences can include buying virtual real estate, attending a virtual concert or even attending a virtual wedding, and soon, the future of work is anticipated to take place inside your VR headset, too.

Tech luminaries and futurists expect that attending virtual events will only increase inside the metaverse, and with the pandemic introducing many Americans to remote and hybrid work, the role of advanced virtual meetings is only expected to continue into the future.

“Some workplace experts expect the new virtual realm to fundamentally change the way many people do their jobs—and also to create new jobs, some unknown today,” The Wall Street Journal reports.

An ‘Evolutionary’ Change

With the evolving nature of work, virtual work meetings and virtual work conversations in the metaverse stand to benefit, but the adoption process by the masses is not expected to take place immediately. John Egan, chief executive of the forecasting firm L’Atelier BNP Paribas, tells WSJ: “The metaverse will be evolutionary, not revolutionary….The hardware will become lighter, cheaper and more advanced” as time goes on, leading to more people having an easier adjustment process, like the way cellphones have enabled more efficient usage over the years.

Julio Gonzalez, Founder and CEO of Engineered Tax Services tells Newsmax Finance he is very bullish on the metaverse being adopted in future workplaces, seeing it “becoming this generation’s version of the web, a 3D version that allows for more interaction in the post-pandemic world. Eventually all will adopt, it is an incredible tool for virtual meetings, [enabling] much more intimate experience than Zoom.”

When asked if meetings in the metaverse are more productive than traditional, in-person meetings, Gonzalez says the future is already here, saying, “For early adopters, it has become the standard.”

A World Turned 3-D Virtual

For other tech trailblazers, the future will be here very soon, with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates predicting that “Within the next two to three years, I predict most virtual meetings will move from a 2D camera image grids…to the metaverse, a 3D space with digital avatars,” Gates writes in a blog post. “The idea is that you will eventually use your avatar to meet with people in a virtual space that replicates the feeling of being in an actual room with them….We’re approaching a threshold where the technology begins to truly replicate the experience of being together in the office,” per CNBC.

While some may see Gates’ prediction as happening too soon, Gonzalez views Gates’ prediction as accurate, saying, “I believe he is correct, and, of course, many public corporations agree, as they have already adopted these strategies.”

The future of work in the metaverse has many wondering: What will this exactly look like? “Meetings will go far beyond Zoom sessions, for instance enabling workers to collaborate on designing toys, furniture or buildings using 3D tools. During downtime, they could go bowling at a virtual alley to socialize. While an old-school call might do, gathering around a virtual watercooler could make for a more engaging experience,” according to WSJ.

The acceleration of the metaverse will change existing jobs, too. John Egan predicts real estate agents being affected by the metaverse. “For example, real-estate agents will show customers virtual replicas of properties for sale and tour guides will give virtual previews of real-world vacations. Eventually, purely virtual homes and vacation destinations could become part of the offerings,” Egan says.

Togla Kurtoglu, chief technology officer at HP Inc., says the metaverse entering all our daily lives will create new jobs, alongside transforming existing ones: “It’s likely that new job categories will be created that we don’t have visibility into just yet.”

One particular way the metaverse could transform existing jobs is via job interviews taking place in the metaverse, with Microsoft Corporate VP of Modern Wor Jared Spataro, telling WSJ, “How you represent yourself in the virtual world will be just as important as how you represent yourself in the real world.”

Donna Davis, a professor who studies 3D virtual environments and immersive media, tells Newsmax Finance the role of the metaverse in our workplaces is just beginning. “We haven’t even seen the tip of the iceberg. The past two years and the state of remote work, and the future of remote work, have made work so much better than a Zoom screen. There are opportunities to engage and interact in very creative, immersive and exciting ways in the metaverse that are a vast improvement over Zoom, and you can do it from anywhere where you have a decent internet connection. It brings people together globally, but in a more engaging way.”

Brand-New Ways to Interact

“The possibilities of what we can do in the metaverse are only limited by our own imagination,” Davis continues. “There are opportunities to engage and interact in very creative and immersive ways in the metaverse that are a vast improvement over Zoom, and you can do it from anywhere where you have a decent internet connection. It brings people together globally, but in a more engaging way.”

However, Davis disagrees with the notion that companies will adapt to metaverse meetings within three years. “We are not in an ‘adapt or perish’ situation at all. As we think about the adoption of [VR], there are still significant barriers to adoption that are fiscal and emotional, with people having rational and irrational fears. For some companies, the metaverse is not appropriate yet, and the VR technology is still evolving so rapidly.”

Some forward-looking companies are “already hosting metaverse work meetings in real time, right now,” Davis says. “With the challenge of going back, in-person, to the office, you can see the potential for adoption in the metaverse as a wonderful alternative. I think there are psychological hurdles, as well as tech hurdles to overcome.”

Finally—and perhaps the biggest driver of the metaverse—is tomorrow’s employees, Davis says.

“The current and future workforce will be Millennials and Gen Z, and they are the digital natives,” he says. “Especially Gen Z—they know what the metaverse is about. I could see [the metaverse] as being the go-to method for work for Gen Z and Millennials, but a lot of thought has to go into the ethical use and adoption of these technologies.”
 

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