I spent a week working in virtual reality. However, it was terrible for the most part… – Cointelegraph Magazine

I just spent an entire week working in VR using the new Meta Quest 3. While the experience was still terrible, I came away with renewed optimism for VR in the workplace.

As I took Ron’s outstretched virtual hand for a handshake, my real hand, in the real world, clumsily hit the side of my desk.

Ron began to laugh, his avatar’s animated facial expressions mimicking his real face thanks to his device’s face and eye tracking technology.

Microsoft project manager Ron tells me it’s something I’ll get used to. He has been working on the metaverse for over a year.

Days later, I meet Heather, a mother who has been working in virtual reality for a couple of months. She likes to jump into the metaverse to work when her kids are at school and the house is quiet.

Then there was Miguel, a Netflix recruiter, an “OG” user of the virtual reality app Immersed, who has been using it for work for two years.

The big question is: Why would you want to do it?

Just two hours later, my eyes are burning

As impressive as this sounds, after working on the metaverse for a week, I’m not sure how anyone could do it any longer.

I spent most of the seven days checking in and out through the virtual coworking app Immersed, which can be found in the Meta Quest store but can also be downloaded from other platforms.

Most days, I was joined by up to a dozen other VR users, depending on the time of day and the public workspace I chose. (The “Coffee” setting seemed to be the most popular.)

Initially, I was going to spend the week using Meta’s homegrown Horizon Workrooms, but I quickly switched to Immersed after realizing that Horizon Workrooms didn’t support public workspaces and also lacked important quality of life features, like the ability to move. and adjust the size and distance of the screen.

Setup wasn’t too difficult in either case. When you put on the Meta Quest 3 headset for the first time, the device will scan your surroundings to understand where you are within your room (in my case, the office) and where certain obstacles are, such as bookshelves, desks, and chairs. This is so it can warn you if you’re getting too close to a wall or obstacle when you’re immersed in virtual reality.

In order to interact with your computer in virtual reality, it is necessary to install a companion application on your PC, which will then allow the application to retrieve the necessary information from your computer and transmit it to your headset via cable or WiFi in the same way that they work. most remote desktop applications.

In Immersed, your virtual screens can be rotated, resized, and moved wherever you want. You can even choose to work in mixed reality, allowing you to overlay virtual screens onto your real-life environment.

But it wasn’t much help. At the end of each day, I was left with a terrible headache and tried to remove the immense tension from my eyes. My neck always felt stiff, a side effect of the weight of the bulky headphones.

And for what? Most days, I struggled to achieve the same level of performance compared to a normal day in front of the PC.

My experience is far from unique. In 2022, researcher Dr. Jens Grubert from the Coburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany gathered 18 people will participate in a study on the effects of working in virtual reality for a week.

Two dropped out within the first few hours due to nausea, anxiety and migraines, while the others who managed to finish the week reported higher levels of frustration and anxiety.

They also reported a significant decrease in their own perceived productivity compared to real-world work. They all suffered from eye strain, although this seemed to decrease as time went on.

In April, research firm Forrester found that while there’s a lot of hype around the possibilities of working in virtual reality, not much is happening in reality… virtual or not.

Forrester research. found that only 2% of respondents said they preferred to use a mixed reality device for work. The hardware is still too complicated to use for a long period of time, according to JP Gownder, principal analyst on Forrester’s Future of Work team.

OK, some parts are awesome.

But despite all the discomfort, eye strain, and headaches, there were also a few times when I was really impressed with the experience.

Working in a virtual environment alongside other like-minded people made my isolated, remote work existence much less lonely.

In the week I spent in VR, I sat down and worked alongside a digital marketer from Canada, a software developer from the United States, and a salesperson from a company that offers e-commerce solutions. We chatted about sports, what each of us did at work. It felt like real networking.

“The biggest benefit is the ability to interact with people from all over the world effortlessly. I work from home with no one around,” explains Pat, a digital marketing specialist.

“With VR, you can choose whether you want to chat with other people, mark yourself as ‘Do Not Disturb’, or choose a private room.”

Microsoft’s Ron also tells me that he often prefers to work in virtual reality and takes his headset everywhere, including his home office, a client’s office, or sometimes he needs to show up at the tech company’s headquarters in Seattle, Washington.

And he notes that VR isn’t limited by weight limits or carry-on size, and the headset essentially lets you take five monitors with you wherever you go.

Holding meetings can also be a game-changer in virtual reality.

There is something very strangely natural about being able to shake the hand of someone who is more than 10,000 miles away, even if they are physically unfit. It’s something a Zoom meeting could never replicate.

Other times, I would simply admire how focused my coworkers were in VR, prompting me to do the same.

I also had the freedom to change my “office” environment: from a space station orbiting the Earth to a cozy chalet on a snow-covered mountain, with a fireplace crackling quietly in the corner.

Maybe Zuckerberg was right?

Metaverse skeptics raised eyebrows when Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg touted his lofty vision for the metaverse at the Connect 2021 event.

“We will be able to feel present as if we are there with the people, no matter how far away we are,” Zuckerberg said.
Many then laughed when the tech mogul poured tens of billions into research and development for his loss-making Reality Labs division, apparently only to produce legless, eye-rolling monstrosities through Meta’s Horizon Worlds. .

But that laughter is calming down. In September, Zuckerberg showed that technology is much more advanced than we thought.

During a one-on-one conversation with computer scientist and podcaster Lex Fridman, Zuckerberg showed off the latest version of Codec Avatars, one of Meta’s oldest research projects aimed at generating photorealistic avatars from the metaverse.

The technician was received with amazement by the spectators, including Fridman himself.

“I’m already forgetting that you’re not real.”
However, the technology requires specialized equipment and is at least three years away from being available to everyday consumers. Zuckerberg said he hopes the scanning process can eventually be done with smartphones.

The latest version of Meta virtual reality uses a self-contained, independent headset that displays a stereoscopic image through LCD screens through “pancake” lenses, offering a wider field of view than its predecessors while being lighter. and slim. Motion and hand tracking is achieved through a combination of accelerometers, gyroscopes and four outward-facing cameras, while another two cameras are used to display a color “step”, useful when engaging in mixed reality experiences. .

Meanwhile, there’s considerable hype around Apple’s Vision Pro, which is scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2024. While it comes with eye tracking, 4K resolution, and Apple EyeSight, which may also impact the future of work, it also comes with a eye-watering price of $3,499.

Apple says the “spatial computing” device will allow users to “set up the perfect workspace.”

So is VR work ready for prime time?

As I reflect on my week in VR, I’m enjoying a coffee at a very real, definitely not virtual, coffee shop in Sydney’s western suburbs.

From time to time, I miss my friends from VR work and the serenity of my cozy virtual chalet.

But until technology gets smaller, lighter, and less clunky, I’ll probably stick with Slack groups and my trusty PC on its wooden desk.

Subscribe

The most interesting readings on blockchain. Delivered once a week.

Felix Ng

Felix Ng began writing about the blockchain industry through the lens of a gaming industry journalist and editor in 2015. Since then, he has gone on to cover the blockchain space full-time. What interests him most is innovative blockchain technology aimed at solving real-world challenges.