2020 signalled a leapfrog in terms of digital transformation, and the next frontier in collaboration is finally here. Within the space of a few months, companies went from legacy systems to the cloud and hybrid-ready UC infrastructure, and now we are looking at a fully virtual paradigm called the metaverse.
The concept of a metaverse has been around for nearly three decades, but it is only with recent advancements in VR and its consequent mass adoption that gave rise to a viable iteration. The metaverse is a unified virtual world where you can connect with colleagues, communicate without geographical boundaries, and optimise customer experiences at scale. Let us explore its functionalities in detail.
Defining the Metaverse
The metaverse is defined as a 3D virtual world that connects disparate VR experiences in a single interoperable environment so that users can engage in rich interactions with each other and the virtual world. The metaverse is:
- Persistent - Collaboration spaces will exist even when the user isn’t around
- Synchronous - Communication in the metaverse takes place in real-time
- Infinite - It can support unlimited concurrent users throughout multiple VR spaces
- Interoperable - You can move in and out of spaces without having to take off your headset
- Personal - users experience the metaverse from a first-person perspective
When you enter the metaverse, you will be able to enjoy a collaboration experience that’s very different from WFH tools today.
For instance, a meeting room can have multiple meeting participants in 3D avatars and several others joining in through video. The video stream will pop up as large, floating projections that can be moved around. When you type inside the metaverse, your keyboard in the real world will respond in tandem. These are some of the initial capabilities already introduced by Facebook’s new offering for the metaverse, Horizon Workrooms.
Metaverse vs. Existing VR UC&C Apps – What’s the Difference?
Metaverse is a significant improvement upon the VR collaboration apps that exist today. Apps like Spatial, or MeetinVR, address one specific use case. Spatial is good for 3D modelling and webcam support, whale MeetinVR gives you customisable services for sketching, writing, and brainstorming. The metaverse is an entire virtual world that has possibilities for work, play, content consumption, business, and a wide range of activities. In other words, if an application is a store, the metaverse is a large shopping complex.
It should be noted that the metaverse as envisioned by theorists and disruptive companies doesn’t exist yet. What we have is a collection of metaverse-like platforms that are independent of themselves. Eventually, we will have a singular metaverse that acts as an embodied, VR alternative to the internet, bringing together all of these services.
Benefits of Collaborating in the Metaverse
There are several ways you can gain from moving enterprise UC to the metaverse:
Gain from infinite space
The metaverse acts like your cloud storage system in VR. You can port and edit files, you can draw diagrams, you can create 3D models, and so much more without being restricted to a physical whiteboard or storage capacities. And, unlike regular digital whiteboards, you can view all your work at once from a first-person perspective by altering the layout of your workroom.
Get to know colleagues you have never met IRL
The metaverse enables meaningful social connections even when two people have not met in real life (IRL). Zoom Happy Hours take on a whole new dimension when you can actually hang out with a virtual avatar of your colleague in a VR pub environment. These avatars are built using complex AI so that they reflect every individual’s distinctive features.
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