Mark Zuckerberg’s New VR Workplace May Prove To Be A Huge Game Changer

There is no denying that Facebook is a giant among giants. The huge social media company is as recognizable as other tech icons like Google, Apple, and Microsoft. Facebook first emerged during the first wave of social media platforms. However, unlike most others, the company managed to continue adapting to an entirely new environment.

As providers like Charter Spectrum Cable expanded their infrastructures, more markets gained access to the internet. Facebook began gathering millions of followers. Accessible smartphones and applications continued to add to the social media userbase. Facebook itself acquired most competing platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp. Today it has billions of active users. It is also one of the largest advertising platforms in the world. But the real vision is known as the “metaverse”. And with Horizon Workrooms, Facebook may be one significant step closer to that than ever. Want to find out more? Read on.

What are Horizon Workrooms?

Facebook is no stranger to innovating new ideas and making them work. The platform has always paid close attention to user experience and changing needs. The company’s latest tech development is well in tune with the pandemic the world currently faces. In a nutshell, Horizon Workrooms are virtual workplaces. But that statement does no justice to the massive potential these workrooms may hold. While the software is far from perfect, it is an impressive achievement considering the times. And did we mention it’s entirely virtual? As in Virtual Reality.

Why is Horizon Workrooms a Promising Development?

Horizon Workrooms offer us interesting solutions to these problems. And it does so in a VR environment. You may soon be able to put on a VR headset and enter a into virtual ”office” as an avatar. Your colleagues can do the same. This is unlike any other VR application in business use. And it is part of the larger metaverse vision. A VR workplace could be exactly what businesses need to get a bit closer to “normal” workplaces than currently possible. Who knows? Maybe it could become the dominant employment model several years down the line.

The Potential Advantages of Horizon Workrooms

Miss interacting with your colleagues at work? You’re not the only one. We are human, after all. And many of us feel the deprivation of social contact quite keenly. Social distancing and remote working have not turned out to be the extended vacation we all thought. Yes, it is a great change of pace to not fight through traffic to get to work on time. But at the same time, our social interactions have dipped.

This doesn’t just cover drinks with colleagues on a Friday night. Workers need to be able to interact and communicate to deliver effective output. They also need contact to collaborate and solve problems together. However, current remote working systems can at best offer video conferencing. But even that is patchy most of the time. For many of us, colleagues have become email addresses and display pictures.

The Metaverse Concept

The metaverse concept has been some time in the making for Facebook. The company’s strategic acquisitions have all come into play. Instagram’s AR camera features allow the opportunity to study human expressions and facial movements. Oculus Rift brings Facebook the technology it needs to create VR settings. These play into the new virtual workplace software. But the company also acquired its own cryptocurrency, along with testing out its marketplace features in select areas at first. What does all of this point to? Frankly, Facebook does not seem satisfied with being the biggest social media platform out there. It apparently wants to be the biggest platform ever. Or, to put it differently, the only platform you will ever need.

Think about it. A single platform or “metaverse” that covers all conceivable needs. From social interactions to e-commerce to cryptocurrency to remote VR working. Facebook may be setting the stage to evolve into something much larger than Apple, Google, or Microsoft put together. Will it succeed? The plan is definitely ambitious. But if any company has the tech expertise (and the cash to fund extensive research and development) to pull it off, Facebook is definitely it.