Virtual and augmented reality will affect the workplace sooner than expected.

Millennials perceive that the technology in their current workplace is less advanced than their personal devices.

Technology has allowed people to change their lifestyles, affecting their work and their preferences.

ICT has had a huge impact on the way many workers interact in their jobs. Remote working is increasingly seen as an asset, benefiting both quality of life and productivity, and technology is perceived as an essential enabler for this type of work.

The latest European Future Workforce survey from Dell and Intel has shown that 95% of remote workers in Germany and 87% of British workers say they are happy at work.

Among young people surveyed in Europe and South Africa, most expect not to work in a smart office in the next 5 years and perceive that the technology in their current workplace is less advanced than their personal devices.

67% of the millennials in South Africa believe that face-to-face meetings will become obsolete. In addition, innovative technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and virtual reality (VR) could also become vital in their workplaces in the near future, affecting the efficiency of collaboration and work.

Innovations in virtual reality and augmented reality (AR) could affect the workplace earlier than expected, as 61% of employees in Europe and South Africa would be willing to use VR/AR in their professional lives.

The most frequent use cases include training in new skills in realistic virtual environments (25%), solving problems or presenting new ideas through 3D visualization (18%) and developing presentations to clients using immersive technologies (15%), according to the study.

Teleworking, a need and at the same time a concern for Millennials

A Polycom survey reveals that two-thirds of Millennials feel judged by their peers for not working from the office.

Millennials do not feel fully accepted by their work environment. In fact, some feel uncomfortable.

According to a Polycom survey, two-thirds (66%) of Millennials say they feel judged and concerned about what their colleagues think of them. That is, about working outside the office, in case they don’t work hard enough if they don’t go to the traditional workplace.

This suggests that there are workplaces today that would not accept the flexibility required by younger employees.

67% of Millennials want to work from outside because of productivity issues. 72 % of them appreciate that this way they can control their own work. And 83% are already using video collaboration on a weekly basis.

Polycom’s Human Resources Director, Billie Hartless, recommends that companies “be transparent about rules and expectations” when dealing with the Millennials. “About three-fifths of Millennials, (57%) want Human Resources to provide them with clear guidelines on the company’s flexible work policy,” that is, “knowing exactly where and with whom they are working.

“Many of them (59 percent) also want a common policy for all workers,” Hartless adds, “not just for leaders and senior workers. That is, that everyone can get the same benefits everywhere.

A primary need for flexible working would be to facilitate the use of technology to connect with colleagues. Sixty-one percent want their company to give them the right technology.

“When companies support working outside the office,” says Billie Hartless, “it’s a win-win: better productivity for the company and a higher rate of happiness for Millennials employees.

How Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality will shape the future of work

After a long phase of “deceptive growth”, the hardware and software that drive virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications are accelerating at an extraordinary rate. Unprecedented new applications are appearing on the scene in almost every industry. Both VR and AR, combined with Artificial Intelligence, will have a number of implications that will affect every aspect of our lives, from education and real estate to healthcare and manufacturing.

The future of work

The place and the way we work are already changing thanks to exponential technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics. However, VR and AR are taking the future workplace to a whole new level.

By relocating an office with VR, it is possible to hire anyone with Internet access (next door or on the other side of the planet), redesign the office every month, set up an office with an ocean view or an improvised conference room for client meetings, and forget about the traffic hours to get to work.

What happens in business when you can scale up and connect your workforce and customer base, without the excess office space? Businesses can move faster and farther than their competition because the implications go beyond the indefinite scalability achieved through workplace digitalization, and extend into the lives of their employees and even the future of urban planning:

Housing prices: As headquarters and virtual office branches take over the 21st century workplace, those who work will not have to travel to work. As a result, VR has the potential to dramatically influence real estate prices; if employees do not need to drive to an office, their search for housing is no longer limited to a specific set of neighborhoods.

Transportation: In large cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco, the implications are enormous. Analysts have revealed that it is already cheaper to use carpooling services such as Uber and Lyft than to own a car in many such cities. In addition, once autonomous car-as-a-service platforms proliferate, associated transportation costs such as parking fees, fuel, and car repairs will no longer fall on the individual, but will disappear entirely.

In addition, it is important to keep in mind that our workplaces are virtually full of information. File cabinets are full of relevant data and documents, and company databases are growing at a dizzying rate. Cybersecurity and robust data licensing systems remain a major concern for both CEOs and national security officials. So what if we could link that information to specific locations, people, timelines, and even moving objects? As data is added and linked to a particular employee’s office, conference room, or security system, online and offline environments and information could be accessed through the RA.

With digital identities verified by blockchain, spatially recorded data, and virtual information, corporate operations and data are more secure than ever. Even precise, in-depth work environments populated with interactive annotations could become available that could guide a craftsman, surgeon, or engineer through meticulous work.

Originally published at https://www.simlabit.com on September 7, 2020.