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.
Deliver personalised CX at scale
The metaverse makes great customer experiences scalable. In addition to 3D avatars of support agents, you can have “digital humans” – i.e., AI-enabled 3D bots that look like human beings and provide customers with personalised support. Inside the metaverse, you can have customer support hubs where a handful of human agents and multiple bots work together to streamline CX.
Achieve limitless interoperability with no added costs
The metaverse is inherently interoperable. Different apps, workrooms, office spaces, and online services will co-exist in a single VR environment. Users can teleport in and out of the VR world they choose, and even invite their colleagues. Colleagues can either don a VR headset to join you, or they can project an image of the environment using mixed reality devices. The metaverse will not require additional efforts or investments to enable interoperability.
Visualise information in 3D when brainstorming
This is one of the key use cases of VR collaboration, and will continue to play a prominent role in the metaverse. When working on data, diagrams, or any design-related tasks, you can draw up 3D-simulated models without any constraints. Architects can better visualise complex designs without having to build mock-ups, decision-makers can interact with their data models – the possibilities are endless.
Start a metaverse-only company
UC in the metaverse will be ultimately able to power fully metaverse-native companies. For example, you could have a VR-only customer service organisation situated in the metaverse. The team would be able to operate without any physical address, using the tools of the metaverse to run its operations. Similarly, you could have design teams, executive committees, learning programs, etc. based out of the metaverse.
Potential Challenges
While the concept of the metaverse is extremely promising, there are a few potential challenges. It will require a new set of regulations and governing policies so that all transactions and interactions are safe. The metaverse will also require extensive training to onboard new users.
When Can You Start?
While there are some metaverse platforms already available for use (like Decentraland), Facebook’s version of the metaverse is still several years away. Mark Zuckerberg estimates that 1 billion people will be using the metaverse within the next decade, and a large portion of this would comprise work-related use cases. Of course, the metaverse could also further blur the lines between work and life, which has already been exacerbated due to WFH – its true implications, along with its benefits, can only be understood over time.
from UC Today https://ift.tt/3ozDH6V
0 Comments