Working Inside Facebook's ‘Metaverse’

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05 November 2021

When Mark Zuckerberg introduced Meta, Facebook’s new parent company, he also demonstrated what working in the “metaverse” could feel like over the next decade.

Mark defines the “metaverse” as “an embodied internet where you're in the experience, not just looking at it” and a place that will change the way we think about our computers and phones. By using augmented and virtual reality, the company hopes to build the next evolution in social technology.

“This isn’t about spending more time on screens. It’s about making the time that we already spend better,” he said at the annual Connect conference.

But what will working in Mark Zuckerberg’s “metaverse” actually look like?

 

Watch the Video

 

 

Avatars and Meetings in Virtual Rooms

 

Imagine meeting in the same virtual room, regardless of physical distance.

Using the power of VR, teams will be able to get together to brainstorm an idea, work on a document, or socialise. You’ll even be able to bring your desk, computer and keyboard with you, with one-click access to your entire computer.

Using avatars and spatial audio, the "metaverse" wants us to feel more connected and have more natural conversations. Using Oculus Avatars and spatial audio technology, we will have a huge variety of customisation options to make our avatars feel more like us.

The conversation will sound more lifelike too—with high quality, low latency spatial audio, you’ll hear the people around you based on where they’re seated, just like they’d sound in a real room, making conversations flow smoothly.

 

 

A Home Office to Suit Everyone

 

Facebook’s vision for your home office is unlike any other: a social space where you can bring in colleagues to socialise and collaborate, in a setting that suits you.

A core part of the “metaverse” is that it should reflect an individual’s personality, giving you the ability to build and customise your perfect virtual space, customizing your workroom with your company logo, posters, or designs.

You can also configure a virtual room’s layout to match your needs – whole rooms can scale up and down to fit the size of your group.

 

“This isn’t about spending more time on screens. It’s about making the time that we already spend better”

–Mark Zuckerberg

CEO, Meta

 

Using Your Hands (and Body)

 

The “metaverse” workspace is also designed for you to use your hands, via gesture-based control. This helps to create a more natural and expressive social experience and lets you switch more easily between physical tools like your keyboard and controllers.

Body tracking might also be a part of the workplace in the "metaverse". For the first time, people will be able to animate and express themselves using all or parts of their body, including body-part swapping and theatrical motion graphics and more.

 

Virtual Whiteboards 

 

The "metaverse" includes infinite whiteboard space, and allows you to use controllers to write with it like a pen, either on the physical desk in front of you or standing with others at the whiteboard.

You can also pin images from your computer on the whiteboard and then mark them up and review them with colleagues. Your whiteboards stick around in Workrooms for as long as you need them, so you can come back any time and continue working from the same room. And once you’re done, you can export any whiteboard out of VR to share as an image on your computer.

 

Improving Hybrid Working

 

Finishing with Mark Zuckerberg's words, the "metaverse" aims to provide a setting where hybrid working is easier and more effective:

“We know from the last couple of years that a lot of people can effectively work from anywhere. But hybrid is going to be a lot more complex, when some people are together and others are still remote. So giving everyone the tools to be present no matter where they are – whether as a hologram sitting next to you in a physical meeting, or in a discussion taking place in the metaverse – that’s going to be a gamechanger.

"I think this could be very positive for our society and economy. Giving people access to jobs in more places -- no matter where they live – will be a big deal for spreading opportunity to more people.”

Picture: a photograph of Meta's new signage

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 05 November 2021

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