THE METAVERSE: THE FUTURE OF WORK Immersive technology could add a new dimension to the hybrid model August 2022 71% 3 4 “Technology has long been the principal driver of change when it comes to the way that we work. In recent times, the advent of cloud computing, allied with online collaboration of business leaders believe tools and communication platforms, has enabled a the metaverse will open up new opportunities generational transformation, making it possible for people to $10bn work from wherever they feel they are at their most effective. “And now the creation of a 3D virtual world, in the form of the metaverse, has the potential to take this revolution further still, enhancing the hybrid working experience that was spent by Meta in 2021 millions around the world have already embraced.” developing new virtual technology Mark Dixon, Founder and CEO, Regus In 1975, Business Week magazine’s cover the growth of the hybrid work model, in always-on digital world of the metaverse largest of its kind) of company leaders and declared the advent of ‘The Office of the which people divide their time between may be at least several years from being built, office workers to gauge their views on the Future’. In the accompanying article, George working from home, a flexible workspace it already exists in pockets of virtual space, metaverse, and for both groups, ‘intrigued’, E Pake, then Head of Research at Xerox, and a central HQ. most notably in the gaming world but also ‘excited’ and ‘optimistic’ were the words prophesied a “revolution” in the coming in the form of virtual reality conferencing that best described how they felt about two decades, which would involve a TV “The shared workplace only ever existed platforms. Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has working in a virtual world. Very few said they display terminal sitting on his desk. “I’ll be because it contained the materials and become the most prominent proponent of were ‘anxious’ or ‘uncomfortable’ about able to call up documents from my files equipment workers needed but didn’t this technological revolution. In May, he told on the screen, or by pressing a button,” he have at home: typewriters, computers, shareholders that his company spent $10bn said. “I can get my mail or my messages. photocopiers and filing cabinets to last year developing what he calls “the Like the office computer of I don’t know how much hard copy I’ll want store countless kilometres of paper,” successor to the mobile internet” and he in this world. It will change our daily says Regus Founder and CEO Mark Dixon. anticipates spending “many billions for years the 1970s, the metaverse life, and this could be scary.” “But today, digital technology puts into every white-collar worker’s hands all the tools they to come”. Microsoft boss Satya Nadella is another convert, especially when it comes to looks set to change our daily So began the digitisation need to do their job. The office is no longer work in the metaverse: this year his company working lives of our working lives. a defined physical space, but rather it has plans to introduce 3D avatars to Teams via Later would come email become a digital construct.” its Mesh virtual experience platform. the prospect. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of and smartphones, business leaders said they believed their cloud computing and And now a further stage in this digital Like the office computer of the 1970s, the company would embrace working in the videoconferencing evolution has begun to take shape in the metaverse looks set to change our daily metaverse, and a similar number agreed that platforms. Today, digital form of the metaverse, a network of working lives. George E Pake might have the metaverse is the natural progression technology has given us three-dimensional virtual found this prospect scary, but today we for hybrid working. work flexibility, allowing worlds in which people in the tend to be more welcoming of technological us to work when and form of avatars will be able change, having seen how it can improve But what will work really feel like in the where we choose. It has to interact, play, shop, relax… our working lives for the better. Regus metaverse? And what opportunities will been the main enabler of and work. While the fully-fledged, recently commissioned a survey (the this new immersive technology bring? WORKING IN A 5 6 Transforming work VIRTUAL The metaverse has the potential to change our working lives in unexpected ways. WORLD 3D virtualisation Objects that exist in real life can become virtually twinned in 3D in the metaverse. That means we can faithfully reconstruct our offices in the virtual world. But we can also add in a pet dragon if we choose. There and not there Technology allows people on It’s Monday morning and time for the weekly when the metaverse is fully realised – while site to work on or look at a team meeting. Sammy King takes his virtual also demonstrating a current alternative physical object in the real world reality headset out of the drawer in the desk to the Zoom meetings that have become while others share the same of his home office and straps it onto his a regular feature of life for remote and experience in the virtual world. head. With just a few clicks he finds himself hybrid workers. transported in avatar form to a virtual meeting room, where he’s sitting at a long King describes these meetings as “a bizarre table. He can see that a few of his colleagues but amazing experience”. Unlike a traditional Creating new products – or at least their avatars – have already videoconference, in which only one person Boeing has announced it will build its next plane in the metaverse thanks arrived. He chats to one of them, who’s can speak at a time, the Horizon Workrooms to a combination of immersive 3D sitting next to him and whom he hasn’t seen spatial audio tech allows participants to engineering designs, robots that speak for a while. Across the table a few other talk amongst themselves as if they are in to each other, and mechanics around colleagues are also having a conversation a real office. The VR platform also gives the world linked by VR headsets. as they wait for the meeting to start. The participants the sense of essentially being avatars of others in the team are appearing, inside their computer screens, rather than as if by magic, in the remaining empty seats. just looking at them. “You get this really Colleagues who don’t have access to the VR amazing sense of presence, which is very A universal tech have dialled in on video and can be seen difficult to articulate,” says King. “Over the translator on a screen at the side of the meeting room last two years we’ve got used to talking to In the metaverse, our avatars’ – just like colleagues dialling in on a video people on screens but now suddenly you words could be translated into different languages call in a real-life meeting. At the head of the can feel like you’re in close proximity to simultaneously, thereby table, there’s a large whiteboard and, as the people even though you’re all working in making it easier to collaborate meeting progresses, team members are able different places. It’s a real game changer.” with international teams. to share files or slides or their own laptop screen for everyone to see… Meta is far from alone in offering a gateway to a virtual working world. Others include New jobs Prepare for the CVO – a Chief Virtual This may sound a little like science fiction, but Glue, Connec2, Immersed and PixelMax. Officer, who will act as a guide to the it’s very much (virtual) reality. Sammy King “We’re approaching a threshold where the virtual world for fellow executives. Huge works at Meta and his weekly meeting technology begins to truly replicate the numbers of people will be needed who takes place using the company’s Horizon experience of being together in the office,” have the appropriate skills to plan, build and market the metaverse. Workrooms virtual conferencing technology. says Pushpak Kypuram, Founder-Director of It gives a sense of what office life could be like India-based immersive platform NextMeet. A PLACE TO 7 MEET AND A place to learn COLLABORATE A good proportion of both workers and business leaders believe that onboarding and training will benefit from the metaverse. When new recruits join a company, face- to-face time is essential as they begin the onboarding process, getting up to speed unable to be in the same room together. with the culture, brand and values of UK-based PixelMax designs immersive virtual the business. Online video options have workplaces specifically aimed at enhancing attempted to fill this space in the hybrid team cohesion and workplace collaboration. working world, but they lack a sense of true This includes the ability to randomly ‘bump interaction. The same can be said of online into’ colleagues’ avatars as well as being able company training in general. to walk around the office floor, see where colleagues are and drop by for a chat. As a result, companies such as Accenture, Walmart and Bank of America are increasingly And, as with flexible workspaces in the using VR for both onboarding and training. physical world, the metaverse also offers Even before the pandemic, Accenture was the opportunity for remote and hybrid exploring the use of extended reality in workers to hang out and relax, not just with different contexts and had begun employing company colleagues but also with workers VR in setting tasks for its graduate from other companies. At the end of 2021, assessment days. Last year, the company US startup Offbeat Media Group opened purchased 60,000 Oculus VR headsets a ‘Virtual Clubhouse’ for its fully remote The social aspect of the metaverse could to use for onboarding, and joiners now Asked which aspects of office life would team with the aim of offering them the offer relief from the feelings of isolation spend their first day at the company in its be likely to improve in the metaverse, opportunity of connecting virtually via a sometimes experienced by those working One Accenture Park campus, part of its office workers polled by Regus ranked variety of experiences including concerts and from home: more than half of the leaders ‘Nth floor’ corporate metaverse, which the communication between team members social happenings. According to Co-founder questioned in the Regus survey agreed that company has developed with Microsoft. (44%) and teamwork (41%) highest. Leaders and CEO Shep Ogden, the Clubhouse has the increased opportunities for interaction This fiscal year, 150,000 new hires will be considered teamwork (43%) would benefit become an ideal place for employees to that it offers will improve hybrid and remote working in the metaverse on their first day. most, followed by creativity (41%). It’s clear celebrate birthdays or just hang out. workers’ mental health. Accenture’s virtual space is also used for that the metaverse is seen as an aid to soft skills training. workplace collaboration for geographically 65% 44% 35% 60k diverse hybrid workers, who sometimes “Learnings in VR offer the same benefits struggle to square the circle of meeting with as traditional digital learning, such as colleagues simultaneously in person and on scalability, no travel costs, and availability a screen. (In a poll of 2,000 office workers anytime, anywhere,” says training consultant by US tech company Owl Labs, more than Hannah Rauth. “But additionally, VR creates half said they would like more immersive, immersive learning experiences where of business leaders believe of office workers think of both workers and headsets are used by virtual technologies to bridge that gap.) In the metaverse will be more communication will business leaders believe Accenture for recruiting, learners are as close to the ‘real world’ other words, it constitutes a kind of Zoom transformational than any be improved by the that onboarding and as well as onboarding and as they can get. Real-life scenarios, such on steroids, offering a more realistic and other videoconferencing metaverse, followed by training will benefit from training new joiners as performance discussions or salary immersive version of online teamwork technology teamwork and creativity the metaverse negotiations, are simulated, and learners for when hybrid and remote workers are can practise and apply their skills.” 9 10 Diplomacy Training A place to shop A place to just hang out Barbados is the first country that An increasing number of Department store Selfridges Meta’s Horizon Worlds app is planning to open an embassy brands are creating virtual teamed up with clothing allows users to meet up virtually, in the metaverse, having bought platforms for training and brand Charli Cohen to launch socialise, explore different worlds land on the Decentraland platform. onboarding. Accenture Electric City, a virtual city where – and even have work meetings. “The embassy is a small thing,” leads the way, onboarding shoppers could browse for says spokesperson Gabriel 150,000 hires over the exclusive virtual and physical Abed. “The big thing is what past year in its ‘Nth Floor’ products. Virtual outfits were governments can do together corporate metaverse. purchased using NFTs. when land is no longer physical and limitations are no longer part of the equation.” Playing games A showcase Games companies such as Epic for brands Games and Roblox (above) have Fashion and sportswear brands long pioneered the building of have been quick to build a expansive virtual worlds. Now new, metaverse presence. Last blockchain-based games such as November, Nike used the Roblox Axie Infinity combine virtual play platform to launch Nikeland with the chance to win NFTs, (above), an interactive world where which can then be exchanged visitors can play games and dress for cryptocurrency. their avatars in Nike clothing. WHAT’S HAPPENING Tourism During the pandemic, when tourism had practically ground to a halt, the island of Sentosa Previewing products in Singapore was recreated Ferrari joined up with Fortnite to in virtual form for a month in IN THE preview its 296 GTB car. Players the Animal Crossing virtual on the platform could take it out world, allowing players to go for a drive before it had made its on a ‘getaway’. physical debut. METAVERSE Companies and organisations are already finding Virtual concerts Gaming platform Fortnite has gained a reputation for hosting live virtual concerts by the likes of Ariana Grande, Travis Scott ways to make the most of the virtual world and Marshmello. FLEXSPACE: 11 12 “ Flex and coworking spaces have always been places where forward- GATEWAY TO thinking businesses have been able to embrace the latest technology” THE METAVERSE (Whether this is the beginning of a significant opportunity to move seamlessly between new area of business for realtors or simply physical, online and virtual ways of working, and the beginnings of a bubble that will burst can provide all the facilities to make that possible. remains to be seen – it’s worth noting that Regus already has more than 3,500 locations land in the metaverse is potentially infinite, around the world and our ambition is to be in ten unlike land in the real world.) times as many. Our centres could be the vital gateway needed to access the metaverse.” Conclusion Companies are putting their new pieces of More than two-thirds of the company leaders surveyed land to different uses, creating unique digital In other words, we’re unlikely to be spending all by Regus said they believe that the metaverse is the experiences (see infographic). And this is just of our time in a virtual world – something that future of work, while a similar proportion anticipate that the beginning: when the metaverse is fully was a worry for our survey subjects, and more their company will embrace working in the metaverse realised, there will seemingly be no limit to so for workers than for their bosses. This is in the future. This sense of optimism fuels the exciting what can be offered in the virtual world. perhaps the result of science-fiction depictions prospect of a new world of work that will expand still further the opportunities offered by the hybrid work of the metaverse in which people spend most of model. The ability to work how and where we feel is best In December last year, the Hong Kong office But where will workers access this world? A their time cut off from reality while inhabiting a for us and makes us most productive will now extend into of PwC purchased a plot of virtual land in flexible workspace offers the ideal location virtual world. the virtual world, multiplying our options and letting us The Sandbox, a 3D virtual world created for for those who want to combine the benefits live the lives that we choose. gamers by software company Animoca of the metaverse with the advantages of a Henry Stuart, Co-founder and CEO of Visualise, Brands. PwC says it will use the space to set real-life office space. More than half of a leading VR production company, whose daily While it’s clear that a fully-fledged metaverse is still some years away from being built, the technologies that up “a Web 3.0 advisory hub to facilitate a new workers (54%) and company leaders (56%) in work life revolves around VR, says he couldn’t lie behind it are already allowing us to work in new ways. generation of professional services, including Regus’s survey said they believe that shared currently envisage spending whole days in a “It’s the beginning of a new working era and the next accounting and taxation”. It’s not alone in office spaces will be key to giving businesses virtual office. For one thing, he says, VR devices logical step in the growth of the hybrid work model,” establishing a presence in the metaverse: access to the metaverse in the years to come. are heavy and can feel uncomfortable when says Dixon. “And it’s yet another nail in the coffin of the the likes of Atari, Samsung, Adidas and Miller worn for long periods of time. “The headsets outdated nine-to-five concept of work, with its emphasis Lite, not to mention Snoop Dogg, are all part “It makes sense,” says Mark Dixon. “Flex have still got a long way to go before they win on pointless presenteeism. As we’ve seen over the last of this new virtual land grab. and coworking spaces have always been everyone over,” he adds. “And even if they get few years, visionary companies that understand how technology can transform work are likely to grasp this places where forward-thinking people and better, I don’t know anyone who would want to opportunity with both hands and use it to create even And, as sales boom, investors are increasingly businesses have been able to embrace the wear one all day long. I wouldn’t feel comfortable more efficient ways of working in the future.” sensing there’s money to be made. In latest technology. A flexspace can offer the not knowing what’s going on around me for such November, Everyrealm, a metaverse real a long period of time.” $500m estate company, paid $4.3m for land in The Sandbox, trumping the $2.5m investment For metaverse workers on the move, another Regus helps more than eight million firm Tokens.com shelled out for a plot on potential issue is the level of bandwidth needed people work the hybrid way in another virtual platform, Decentraland for sophisticated VR and AR applications. thousands of locations worldwide. (pictured). Total sales of metaverse real This is likely to be resolved when 5G mobile estate broke $500m last year, and are was reached in total sales of metaverse real estate last year connectivity is fully rolled out, bringing superfast Find out more at regus.com projected to double to $1bn this year. download speeds and low latency.
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