In Europe, 17% of workers are now in smartworking. Danes in the lead with 37% of the total, Italy last with 7%. Japan and USA are around 40% and in general the trend is enormously growing, with or without a pandemic. Facebook thinks virtual reality (VR) may offer a solution, bringing employees the appeal of an office right in their home.
On September 16, Oculus, the Facebook-owned virtual reality company, announced the launch of infinite office, software that runs on his new Oculus Quest 2 headset. The app allows you to do smartworking in virtual reality. Users can get their work done by setting up a version of their computer in VR. A Logitech keyboard combined with Oculus allows you to type in real life and see the result on virtual screens. Other compatible devices will gradually be added later.
Virtual reality smartworking. Extend your home space.
“Right now, especially as more people work remotely, it can be difficult to concentrate or find privacy. Especially if you don't have a dedicated office." To say it is Maria Fernandez Guajardo, Facebook Reality Labs. “Infinite Office can begin to address these pain points.” This is not the first attempt to propose remote working in virtual form. In recent weeks Microsoft has also addressed the topic even “inconveniencing” mixed reality.
Potential users may worry about connection issues, but Facebook says the Oculus browser requires no more bandwidth than any other computer. Its 3D content demands more, “but it's still equivalent to a regular Oculus app,” Fernandez Guajardo says.
When is the vis a vis?
Although it has compatibility with many teleconferencing software (so you can talk to colleagues without removing the viewer), Infinite Office does not make the leap in quality. The virtual reality smartworking that Facebook makes available doesn't offer what other VR systems already predict. No face-to-face meetings! Why?
“We're working on it,” says Fernandez Guajardo. “But to take full advantage of our social presence, we need to be quick and effective. So what you see this week with Infinite Office is kind of a foundational layer, a first step to help unlock the productivity and usefulness of Quest.” Oh well.
