Written by Harry Menear
For some, the Metaverse represents the last frontier in online dating, while for others, it represents an infinite universe of gaming and entertainment options. Metaverse technology may hold the key to new, sustainable forms of remote and hybrid work, which have been increasingly common since the pandemic and are further supported by the fact that workers understandably don’t see the need to be physically present in an office all day.
As the epidemic has shown, workers are becoming accustomed to working remotely and not being in the same physical location. According to Jawarad Ashraf, CEO of Terra Virtua, an augmented reality startup offering collecting NFTs, “the real world” can be viewed in the metaverse, elevating the experience to a new level. According to Ashraf, the metaverse is a new kind of virtual workplace, playground, or X-space “where we can still have the feeling of togetherness even though we are not physically together” made possible by AR and VR technology.
Is there a way for innovative virtual experiences in a “Metaverse of Work” to unite people, breaking down barriers between face-to-face meetings and the isolation of email and teleconferencing?
It would appear that Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of the renamed Meta, shares this view. Last year, he boldly predicted that “by 2030, the new generations of Oculus will allow users to teleport from one place to another without moving from their couch— not only for gaming and entertainment but also for work.” It was an interview that he gave. What would a world look like if we could “teleport” to our virtual workplace?
What is the Metaverse? 
In a broad sense, the term “metaverse” refers to an interconnected network of ever-changing virtual “spaces” enabled by AR and VR technologies. However, as many individuals stand to gain financially from its widespread adoption, the precise nature of this network is open to debate.
An ice cream social thrown into World of Warcraft. It’s the cutting edge of marketing and commerce, a daring new combination of gaming and social experiences (the one Meta is spearheading with its December-launched Horizon Worlds VR social media experience), and, in theory, a virtual workplace where you can have a day that’s just as immersive as getting up close and personal with your boss, smelling his body odour and hearing him yell “synergy” in person.
Virtually In-Person
Blending in-person, remote office, and virtual work experiences is becoming more common. Facebook announced a massive partnership with Zoom before its Meta redesign in September. Horizon Workrooms (Linkedin to Horizon Worlds’ Instagram) will allow coworkers to connect as avatars in a virtual place using Zoom Whiteboard and Zoom Meetings.
Zoom UK&I CEO Phil Perry adds, “Users can collaborate virtually and in reality, asynchronously and in real-time, enabling teams to have powerful, engaging and efficient meeting experiences, regardless of physical distance.
Zoom’s future depends on reproducing (or improving?) the “in-office” experience with AR and VR in a post-pandemic world when hybrid or remote work is the norm. Perry believes a “metaverse of work” can blur those divides. Workers “in” the metaverse can ‘draw’ on their desks or ‘write’ on a wall, which will be transmitted to their Zoom Whiteboard. He says this technology fits the metaverse and is superior to in-person gatherings. The hybrid office of the future will need collaborative tools. VR, AI, 5G and the metaverse will improve this, combining the best of in-person and virtual communications for optimum productivity and flexibility.
Zoom isn’t the only company after this big, intangible pie. Niall Norton, GM at Amdocs and CEO at Openet, acknowledges the potential for virtual reality in all aspects of life, prompting technology companies and telcos to adapt their offerings. Norton notes that Walmart released a VR shopping demo in January and that Microsoft announced Teams will get VR avatars last year after Meta’s debut.
“Adding existing AI and natural language capabilities will have huge implications,” he says. “Microsoft’s announcement shows VR’s potential in the workplace. As workers become more comfortable using video conferencing apps to attend meetings and events, VR is the next stage in office technology.
The Metaverse: Tying it all together 
The metaverse is based on ideas and technologies that have existed for a while. Like an early virtual reality game where demons escaped from your TV screen, augmented and virtual reality have been making waves in the public. For over three years, we have had access to the connection that 5G and similar technologies provide. This allows latency and throughput to power these instant, entirely distant experiences. Ever since AOL’s Neverwinter Nights went live in the early 90s, there have been persistent online environments. There isn’t much innovation in the parts. But ideally, the whole will be better than the sum of its parts, thanks to how they’re all coming together.
Weaver Labs co-founder Maria Lema of the United Kingdom states, “The Metaverse ties in all the VR/AR, robotics and remote experiences we have been talking about for the last five or six years.”. “Now that we have all the necessary tools, the Internet of Skills and Mixed Reality can truly shine in creating immersive and lifelike remote experiences.”
Beyond the White Collar Metaverse
When I wrote this post, my preconceptions were based on white-collar, tech-focused office work with emerging AR/VR and metaverse experiences. Early adoption is evident since moving the G-Suite-based workplace into the virtual world makes sense. According to Matt Rose, an experienced designer and futurist at Cambridge Consultants, we will have missed the opportunity if the metaverse becomes a meeting space.
He said, “Working in the tech industry, it’s easy to forget that ‘work’ goes beyond sitting at a desk in a comfortable office—or at home as it is now. This technology would be most impactful in the global and mobile.”
By leveraging 5G (and 6G when that rolls around) and edge computing advances, Rose believes metaverse tech will create value outside tech, financial, and service industries—“the dirty and dangerous jobs — the ones we rely on to keep things working.”
Norton recommends more immersive VR. Consider scenarios where plumbers can ‘see’ pipes or autonomous equipment undertaking dangerous work in hard-to-reach places like city centre buildings. Cost savings and productivity increases will be huge.”
No matter what shape or technology is done to connect individuals in distant locations (Rose describes “fringe” hardware that goes beyond traditional haptics and display technology, such as “e-textiles that can alter your mental state, tactile holograms that don’t require you to wear haptic gloves, a stretchable sweat-powered battery”), remote and hybrid work will continue to play a significant role in the future of the metaverse.
“The metaverse is an exciting new concept that we could see having many use cases in the hybrid workplace of the near future,” says Perry. VR provides organizations and employees another way to communicate and engage, regardless of location.
