Diving into an Infinite Workplace

10

October

2022

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How VR will shift our work routine

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a widespread shift in work routines from physical spaces to digital remote spaces. While this undoubtedly mitigated the spread of the virus, it also unexpectedly increased employee productivity, according to research (Natalia Emanuel & Emma Harrington, 2020). This effect came mostly from employees turning physical commuting time into fruitful working time at home. Now that the pandemic-mitigation measures have been (nearly) ultimately lifted, organizations are carefully evaluating their next steps ˗ stay fully online, implement a hybrid working model or completely return to the physical workplace. While the positive effects on productivity might suggest that staying online is the way to go, organizations fear that the current digital tools that facilitate such an approach do not provide the employee with an authentic connection to their workmates. However, the rapid development of Virtual Reality (VR) might be a solution to this dilemma.

The past few years have been the bottom line for an explosion in mainstream adoption of VR technology, which has been boosted by the recent hype that the Metaverse has caused. Accordingly, organizations look upon the developments of VR favourably. In essence, the implementation of VR technology as an enabler of remote communication would allow the creation of digital immersive workspaces, replicating the physical office in the virtual world. This could make employees feel as if they were in the same location as their teammates and grasp the workplace experience, while still enjoying all the features of digital collaboration (Murray, 2022). Such a space would work as a creation and collaboration platform where the possibilities are infinite from deeply interactive group meetings to real-time product prototyping and co-edition. Additionally, the immersive nature of VR would make workers perceptually ‘leave’ their homes and ‘enter’ the workplace without factually leaving their houses.
As this possibility gains momentum, several tech organizations have taken the first steps by developing promising virtual workspace VR platforms. Meta seems to be the one leading the race with the development of Infinite Office, a digital collaboration platform meant to replicate the physical office in the Metaverse. This space allows the employee to define the boundaries of their virtual office through a complete customization and availability of a wide range of tools that can improve their output and productivity (Chakraborty, 2022).

The implementation of such technology within the workplace is still relatively far considering several potential drawbacks that developers and organizations must carefully evaluate. Substantially, business data privacy continues to be a great concern for organizations, which must ensure the digitalization of their operations does not compromise their confidentiality. Additionally, employee mental health is a delicate issue to be assessed in this regard. A fundamental replacement of physical connections between the workforce might undermine the value obtained from real-world interactions between employees (Giusino & Toscano, 2021). But if this new virtual world is to arrive, organizations will have to cautiously adapt to this revolution and try to create a win-win situation between them and their employees.

References

Chakraborty, K. (2022, August 23). The Future of Remote Work: 7 Technologies to Watch. Techopedia.com. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://www.techopedia.com/the-future-of-remote-work-7-technologies-to-watch/2/34559

Giusino, D., Bowman, N., & Toscano, F. (2021, July 28). Work From Home (WFH) During COVID-19: Is Virtual Reality (VR) a New Solution to New Problems? Journal of Occupational &Amp; Environmental Medicine, 63(10), e755–e756. https://doi.org/10.1097/jom.0000000000002339

Murray, A. (2022, April 4). Inside an “infinite” workspace: What it’s like to do your job completely in VR. ZDNET. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://www.zdnet.com/article/inside-an-infinite-workspace-what-its-like-to-do-your-job-completely-in-vr/

Natalia Emanuel & Emma Harrington. (2020b, November 16). “Working” Remotely? Selection, Treatment, And the Market Provision of Remote Work. Harvard University. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/eharrington/files/harrington_jmp_working_remotely.pdf

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Web 3.0 Looks Good On You

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October

2022

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Can the Metaverse change fashion as we know it?

The emergence of immersive interaction spaces is transforming digital environments into outstandingly collaborative and sensorial virtual worlds. Such potential levels of engagement presented by the future Metaverse are opening the door to a new era of fashion. Brands and designers are accordingly making out the opportunity to take their engagement with consumers to the next level and to unlock completely new revenue streams.
This new digital world brings the concept of virtual fashion to life in multiple shapes and disciplines where the industry can reach new cohorts.
In this regard, gaming is currently a major target for fashion brands, as it gradually turns into a near substitute of the real world where clothes are becoming a sign of in-game status (McKinsey & Company, 2022). Several brands are already partnering with immersive games such as Fortnite or Roblox by offering exclusive digital garments or ‘skins’ in the shape of in-game merchandise. In June 2021, a player acquired a Gucci bag on the game Roblox for more than $4,000, an amount that overly exceeded the price of the equivalent real-world physical bag (Gonzalez, 2020). And this is just an example of the new fashion wave in videogames, which is creating a new revenue stream for brands.
A considerable part of the enthusiasm about the Metaverse points in the direction of NFTs, as they can bring value in several ways that the fashion industry can utilize to their benefit. For instance, and more importantly, by utilizing blockchain, NFTs have undeniable proof attached to them of both the creator and the owner of the item (Joy, et al., 2022). This can solve the everlasting problem of authentication in the fashion industry, but now in the digital paradigm. Blockchain provides uniqueness and traceability, so brands’ identity is protected, together with their revenue streams (Gonzalez, 2020).
The rise of digital fashion in immersive platforms is also setting the scene for an emerging business model in the industry that plays a crucial role in the inevitable disruption process. Direct to Avatar (D2A) consists of the sale of items to game avatars or characters through the digital environment, and thus omitting all types of supply chain management steps needed to deliver physical products to a consumer (McKinsey & Company, 2022). Multinational brand American Eagle was one of the first to step into this disruptive initiative in July 2021, when it released a fully digital collection for Bitmoji, an avatar creation platform (Adams, 2021).
These and more advantages offered by the coming Metaverse is turning the fashion industry towards fully digital offerings and creating infinite opportunities for new revenue streams. This is especially shocking in an industry which has traditionally been sustained on physical interactions with consumers.

References

Adams, P., 2021. American Eagle debuts digital clothing on Bitmoji in creator-focused push. Marketing Dive, 5 August, pp. Retrieved from: www.marketingdive.com/news/american-eagle-debuts-digital-clothing-on-bitmoji-in-creator-focused-push/604402/.

Gonzalez, P., 2020. Digital Fashion In The Metaverse, Milano: Politecnico di Milano, School of Design. Retrieved from: https://www.politesi.polimi.it/handle/10589/188809

Joy, A., Zhu, Y., Peña, C. & Brouard, M., 2022. Digital Future of Luxury Brands: Metaverse, Digital Fashion and Non-Fungible Tokens. Strategic Change, 31(3), pp. 337-343. Retrieved from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jsc.2502

McKinsey & Company, 2022. The State Of Fashion 2022, Retrieved from: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/retail/our%20insights/state%20of%20fashion/2022/the-state-of-fashion-2022.pdf?shouldIndex=false: McKinsey & Company

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