Photo: Microsoft
Bill Gates predicts that within two or three years, virtual meetings will be taking place within the Metaverse.
It is clear that changes to how we play, socialise, and work are coming sooner than we think 🎮 💬 💼
With the next decade heavily focused on its development, how will the Metaverse change the future of work?
With the pandemic increasing the number of remote workers and Zoom meetings happening across the globe, maintaining employee engagement has never been so important. Through the capabilities of the Metaverse, 2D video meetings will become a thing of the past as virtual workspaces become the norm. The opportunity to work within a 3D virtual space will boost social connection and reduce video meeting fatigue.
In the Metaverse, employees will be able to meet virtually for both professional and social meetings whilst working within a virtual office space. Not only will this boost employee engagement, but it will also help remote employees achieve a better work-life balance.
Research has found that a third of UK remote workers struggle to make the separation between work and home life. Therefore, methods to make this distinction more clear cut will be the key to the success of future remote working. By working within a virtual space, remote employees will be able to feel like they are physically entering a workspace for the day and then leave and return to their real-world home when they have finished working.
To further boost employee engagement, virtual workplaces will also be able to be designed in a multitude of ways. Employers and employees will be able to collaborate and customise their offices to their liking, allowing them to create a space that truly inspires and motivates the team. The possibilities are endless.
Training made possible and accessible through the Metaverse is set to revolutionise employee training and skill development. Within the Metaverse, any object will be able to become interactive, such as manuals and machines, enabling the use of 3D displays with step-by-step guides. Virtual-reality capabilities have already prompted VR training across society. Microsoft HoloLens technology has enabled students to interact with 3D anatomy models, and VR headsets have been used to help with training technicians on vehicle maintenance.
Further to this, virtual reality in the Metaverse will enable role-plays to be simulated for learning purposes. For example, a scenario involving negotiations with a difficult client, or the delivery of a sales pitch would be able to be created to practise and nurture skills relevant to these tasks. The array of simulations that can be created will give employees a safe space to trial and test scenarios in the safety of the Metaverse.
The existence of the Metaverse will ultimately change both existing jobs whilst bringing about new ones. Firstly, it will offer more opportunities to work remotely within existing roles which will see remote work grow exponentially. For example, shop assistants will be able to work remotely to interact with virtual customers who are browsing and deciding what to buy.
Plus, just as the internet brought about new jobs such as digital marketing managers and web developers, the Metaverse will also bring in new roles. Examples include avatar designers and metaverse cyber security professionals. Further to this, users of the space will also get the opportunity to earn by contributing back to the Metaverse. An avatar-based social network called IMVU already has thousands of creators making and selling their own virtual products including furniture, music, and make-up.
The Metaverse will open an array of new professional opportunities as it stands as a platform ready for utilisation and exploration.
As well as avatars of our work colleagues, the Metaverse will make it possible to create our own digital colleagues. These would be AI-powered, realistic-looking human-like bots that could work alongside us as personal assistants.
Technology is enabling AI-powered humans to become more and more reflective of human beings with increased mental capacities and capabilities. They are beginning to understand context, convey and decode emotion, and engage in decision making. By creating AI-powered colleagues, human employees will be able to focus their attention on more engaging and elaborate tasks whilst their digital colleagues take over the more dull, mundane tasks. This could be an efficient way of working and boosting productivity on tasks that are the key focus of a business.
The Metaverse is certainly the next most significant ongoing technological advancement within today’s society. Changes to how and where we work are on the horizon. The Metaverse will work in harmony with the increased remote and hybrid work setups we are seeing become the norm.
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