Photo: @penvipada151 via Twenty20
Caught Zoom fatigue yet? New research predicts advanced technologies and 5G will add options for a full range of sensorial experiences to help companies reimagine the virtual working experience.
The study, “The Dematerialized Office” from Ericsson, based on a July survey of nearly 8,000 white collar workers globally, sees the pandemic as a tipping point for digitized work communications. Six in 10 respondents foresee a permanent increase in online meetings with customers, suppliers and colleagues, necessitating a need for greater tools to support remote interaction. Other drivers include possible sustainability benefits and interest in communicating at a higher level.
Not unsurprisingly, one prediction was that augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology would “enable the experience of collaborating in the same room with colleagues” without physically leaving home.
Home work environments are also predicted to embrace the “full internet of senses” — extending beyond video and sound to digitally communicating touch, taste, smell and the feeling of heat or cold.
Among the findings:
- Close to six and 10 respondents see full-sense virtual warehouses, both for buying from suppliers and for selling to customers, by 2030;
- Fifty-nine percent see spatial video and 50 percent digital temperature being used to engage customers by 2030;
- Forty-nine percent would “like to go with their colleagues on a digital team-building trip to the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, walk its streets, taste ancient street food and experience a traditional bath”;
- Among respondents who currently use AR and VR, 61 percent were interested in feeling surface textures and smelling items digitally and 56 percent in tasting digitally.