How Metaverse and VR can reform work culture?

Covid-19 has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization for more than a year. Lockdowns have affected hundreds of millions of people. Many people have made the abrupt transition to working from home, and millions have lost their jobs. The future appears to be uncertain. We have no idea when or if our societies will be able to return to normalcy – or what kind of scars the pandemic will leave. Since then, organizations have been trying to innovate and make the work environment flexible and immersive.

One of those recent innovations is Metaverse VR. Backed by none other than the pioneer of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Metaverse VR is rapidly evolving to pave the road for a new futuristic way to work.

Metaverse: What Is It?

The Metaverse, touted by the Facebook tycoon, is a complex concept in the digital landscape that promises extraordinary opportunities to billions of people. Modern pioneers are still sketching out a comprehensive definition of the Metaverse. Most people, however, refer to the “metaverse” as a new type of internet experience built around several different technologies.

According to Mark, one of the market leaders currently investing in the metaverse concept, the Metaverse is a type of “embodied internet.” It’s something you can immerse yourself in through Virtual Reality or bring to life through Artificial Reality.

Although the Metaverse is a rather new phenomenon and a lot is to be worked on yet, its global revenue is predicted to reach around $800 billion in 2024, according to Bloomberg reports. That’s why the big players are already investing billions in the project. Microsoft is working on creating an “enterprise metaverse” and integrating the physical and virtual worlds, as well as developing augmented reality hardware through the HoloLens. It is likely that for work, this will be integrated into existing work productivity applications such as Microsoft Teams.

Household social media names are even rebranding to be at the heart of the next computing platform – the Metaverse – establishing themselves as hardware market leaders.

Video game developers and platforms, such as Roblox and Fortnite creator Epic Games, are expanding beyond gaming into social experiences and investing heavily in the Metaverse. Epic also owns the Unreal gaming engine, which is used to create virtual environments in games and could be used to create metaverse experiences and environments.

Difference Between Meta and VR

One of the most difficult aspects of comprehending the concept of Metaverse is distinguishing it from virtual reality as we know it today. In a nutshell, while VR is a component of the Metaverse, the Metaverse as a whole is much larger. It combines elements of social media, virtual reality, augmented reality, online gaming, and cryptocurrencies. VR can provide true telepresence, which differs from the video conferencing we are used to.

The Metaverse is intended to transform the way we consume content, transforming it from a 2D environment to a fully immersive, dynamic 3D environment. The Metaverse, as a shared virtual space, is also expected to change the way people interact with one another by connecting the virtual and physical worlds.

For example, it can significantly improve communication with a virtual team, which is critical in a remote work environment. The Metaverse can also transform ordinary video calls into virtual meeting room experiences with a sense of real presence.

Advantages of Metaverse VR Virtual Workspace

• A Common Shared Workspace: Even if everyone is working in an office, they could be in different cities or on different continents. A virtual space creates a unified experience for everyone, regardless of whether they are working from home, a satellite office, or the main office. Businesses can invite customers and clients into these spaces instead of traveling there physically. One of the benefits of virtual offices, according to a recent Forrester report, is that they can serve as a venue for information exchange, which can replace in-person interactions. According to the report, virtual office spaces can create a sense of physical presence, which facilitates the exchange of information and help to build and reinforce a shared culture. At a time when corporate culture is unraveling because of the pandemic, a good-designed virtual space can “create a sense of belonging, establish norms of behavior, and reinforce trust among colleagues.”

• Willingness To Innovate: Employee experience is becoming a higher priority for businesses, and surveys show that people want flexibility in terms of when and where they work. Creating a virtual shared space is a method of bringing people together while also providing flexibility. Creating a virtual work environment is a measurable way to change the mundane work routine. Testing a virtual office demonstrates to employees that managers are willing to try something out of the ordinary.
• A Uniform Playing Field: Despite all of the promises of a new hybrid way of working, it is all too easy to revert to old habits. This frequently results in more opportunities for people who managers see face-to-face every day and fewer opportunities for people who are remote. Creating a space with equal access for everyone is one way to level the playing field. Leslie Tarnacki, senior vice president of global human resources at WorkForce Software, told TechRepublic that people who choose to work remotely should have access to the same resources as in-person workers, including promotions and time with managers. “Companies need to understand that they need to invest in the technology that is there for everyone across the board at this point,”, she said.

Creating a shared space can also help with diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. Virtual spaces can help parents (particularly mothers) and Black employees gain equal access to colleagues and managers.

• Infinite and Flexible Workspace: Almost every organization will require additional office space at some point, which may not be provided due to physical or financial constraints. The Metaverse promises infinite space, empowering developers to add extensions to existing space and make them fully interoperable and collaborative. With the push of a button, healthcare professionals, for example, could quickly switch between an office and a surgical suite.
• Innovative Simulation for 3D Problem Solving: Many business problems and projects are best addressed through visual representations, but this has not always been feasible due to technological limitations. Using AI and digital twin technology, a new 3D world will allow virtually anything to be modelled, examined, and tested. These advancements will result in faster and less expensive problem solving in fields such as construction, design, engineering, and health care, to name a few.

Workforce Development in Metaverse VR

Employee training is an extremely costly, time-consuming, and even risky endeavor. If you work in the construction, healthcare, oil, and gas, or energy industries, your training environment will almost certainly include expensive and hazardous equipment, and one mistake might cause substantial damage. Not to mention, after Covid, most workers are scattered across different regions, and proper coordination needs to be developed for teams to work efficiently.

Fortunately, companies can now choose much better approaches to employee training. All of the above can now be done in a simulated 3D virtual reality metaverse through. VR simulations can provide hands-on training to hundreds of employees at the same time, even if they are thousands of miles away, and any mistakes they make will not harm them.

Manufacturing in Metaverse VR

According to PWC, more than one-third of US manufacturers are already using VR and AR technology or plan to do so within the next three years. VR will definitely play a crucial role in many stages of manufacturing, such as inventory management, design, and prototyping, accident management, etc.

C4X, a Manchester-based pharmaceutical company, is effectively using a virtual environment to develop new types of medicines. Their team created 4Sight, a virtual reality visualizer that provides a unique perspective on the efficacy of known compounds and simplifies the drug development process.

Metaverse VR in Sports Industry

With the rapid up-gradation of technology, more and more teams are using analytical and simulations to find the right player for their team recruitment. Metaverse can effectively change the managing aspect of the game with the team able to run an infinite number of simulations in the Metaverse to come up with new tactics. For example, Denver Broncos and CEO of SportsVTS, Ted Sundquist, experimented with the idea to train quarterbacks the same way pilots are trained – using VR equipment. 21 players can be placed on the field during VR training to learn passing techniques and develop scheme recognition, pocket presence, decision-making awareness, and other important skills. In addition, the system provides actionable data for use in recruiting, performance evaluation, and return-to-play protocols.

Metaverse VR in Banking and Finance

People were more likely than ever before to interact and pay online as a result of the pandemic. As a result, fintech adoption has exploded all across the world.

Actual cash will not be accepted in the virtual world. There will need to be software and virtual systems to carry out our transactions. Blockchain technology has shown to be secure enough to power peer-to-peer (P2P) payments and scale across all digital payment media. It not only allows for immediate payment and information confirmation, but it also offers a high level of security and can be readily embraced by the public with immediate settlement.

In reality, an essential indicator of making the Metaverse as indispensable as real-life will be financial data management and techniques of managing financial transactions supplied by fintech solutions similar to real life. A virtual world where you can buy and sell houses, products, clothing, land, and avatars just like in the real world, implies a massive economic ecosystem. Brokerages and banks in Korea have already begun to construct active virtual environments for their clients, according to the Korea Times in August 2021.

When Will Metaverse VR be Ready?

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of the newly renamed Meta (formerly Facebook), estimates that the key features of the Metaverse will take five to ten years to become mainstream. However, elements of the Metaverse do exist right now and are slowly being rolled out for public access. Ultra-fast broadband speeds, virtual reality headsets, and persistent always-on online worlds are already available, though not to everyone. But with so many business tycoons investing in the idea, it will be only a few years till we can find out the real potential of The Metaverse. Despite the fact that many questions remain, we can consider the Metaverse to be something large-scale and multifunctional, something that is not limited to the VR/AR experience but is fully revealed when these technologies are used. The Metaverse has been compared to the next generation of the Internet in terms of providing a better user experience, and VR is just one way to get there.

Blackcoffer Insights 39: Abhijit Kundu and Sanjana Yadav, Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, Pune