The metaverse is a 3D virtual world that is accessed using virtual and augmented reality headsets, but it can also be accessed by ordinary computers and mobile devices that will still give you access to the metaverse, but in 2D form. The metaverse is the logical next step in the work experience.
Imagine Mark is in New York and Mary is in Texas are about to meet to discuss a sales presentation. The metaverse will enable them to sit in a meeting room in New York and discuss the presentation as if they were physically together. Although Mark and Mary will be sitting in their different homes thousands of miles apart, they will nevertheless be together in New York in avatar form. Obviously, their avatars will not actually be in the real New York, but in an online representation of New York. It will, however, look, feel, sound, and even smell as if they are in a meeting room in New York. However, one day soon, avatars will be holograms. Because a hologram can exist in the real world, one imagines that one day, it will be possible for Mark and Mary to literally beam into a real meeting room in the real New York in hologram form. One can imagine their holograms walking in and sitting at a real table, next to real people.
We have come up with three ways (there are many more I am sure) that the metaverse will change the way we work for the better.
1. Meetings and Conferencing
Avatars and holograms will dramatically cut business costs related to meetings and conferencing. Why would Elon Musk fly his private jet to Shanghai to review gigafactory production efficiency when he could simply beam himself in and take a walk around with his engineers?
It will be a while before this can happen. However, Microsoft has already produced Mesh, a platform that enables people to collaborate as if physically present in the same room. Mesh enables team members to gather as 3D avatars or holograms in a virtual world. Mesh will animate your avatar by following your face and movements with your webcam. A user can look at the person they’re talking to and point to features on a project they are working on together as if they were together in an office or a lab.
This will be useful in the next pandemic as nobody will need to wear masks, stand apart or worry about getting sick.
2. New Jobs
The metaverse will radically change existing jobs and create new ones. Jobs that previously required in-person interaction will suddenly have virtual options, meaning that freelancing and remote work opportunities will expand exponentially.
For example, a virtual customer in a virtual shopping mall will receive assistance in selecting a dress or a new laptop from a virtual customer service attendant working from home.
However, the same technology will vastly expand the powers of management to monitor employees. Management will have access to just about everything a worker does. Intrusion into worker privacy will need to be regulated. Otherwise, it will be a problem.
3. Manufacturing
The metaverse will enable real-time problem-solving and design across large organizations. Indeed, Boeing has already announced that it will build its next plane in the metaverse.
How will this work? Organizations will prototype systems in the metaverse. They will test and analyze functionality to make optimal designs without needing access to actual hardware.
Sensors and robots will be able to test software in the metaverse and simulate real-world physical integrations before finally implementing them in the real world.
Meanwhile, customers will be integrated into the product development process from the very beginning, enabling them to provide feedback on new products without any risk to health and safety.
4. The Employee Experience
A typical task an employee performs is ordering or requesting something to help them do their work. Imagine going into a metaverse environment that has all the catalog items an employee needs in a virtual library. The employee “walks” by the catalog item(s), “pick up” the item they want and place them into a holographic shopping cart.
Then, imagine going into a virtual newsroom to get the latest news on your company from the CEO like they are sitting right in front of you. You will also be able to “walk” into someone’s office and give them kudos “face to face” from different parts of the world. We are experimenting with these scenarios to prepare for the next wave of interactions in the Metaverse.
So, what needs to be in place to enable the metaverse in your organization? The main need to enable the metaverse environment is to have all the information that employees need in a central location. Intellective’s Employee Experience Pack allows you to centralize information across the organization and quickly build employee service portals in a matter of minutes.
