Collaboration Potential in Virtual Reality (VR) Office Space

Transforming the Workplace of Tomorrow

verfasst von: Marko Orel

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buchreihe : SpringerBriefs in Business

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

The recent shift in labour markets has heightened the demand for alternative work arrangements. Virtual reality (VR) technology plays a significant role in this transition, with remote work as efficient as work performed from an organization's own office space. This book explores the impact of immersive VR technology on the new virtual workspace. Specifically, it examines how VR can enable employees to overcome the distractions associated with working from home, increase their visibility on team projects, build stronger relationships with co-workers, reduce feelings of isolation due to social distancing, and facilitate their engagement in collaborative work processes. It also explores the limitations of two-dimensional, computer-mediated communication tools for flexible working arrangements. It, thus, offers theoretical foundations for future research on office digitalization and subsequent applications of VR technology on office work. It also features the analysis of two dozen problem-centered expert interviews with creators and executives of leading productivity VR tools that enable the remote collaboration between knowledge workers.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Introduction

Abstract

The end of 2019 was marked by the outbreak of a strain of coronavirus known as COVID-19. The virus may cause individuals to develop symptoms such as fever, fatigue and severe cough, and it has spread globally at an incredible pace. By the end of January 2020, the World Health Organization had declared the outbreak a public emergency of international concern, and restrictive measures were taken, country by country. With the virus presumably originating in the city of Wuhan – the capital of Hubei province – China was the first country to impose somewhat draconian quarantine measures. Media outlets were eager to show images of Wuhan’s closed public facilities, empty offices and deserted streets. As the virus spread, urban areas in the surrounding regions also went quiet. As the partial lockdown fanned out across the country, Chinese president Xi Jinping warned that the country needed to stabilize its booming economy.

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Chapter 2. Transformative Nature of the Knowledge Workplace

Abstract

Telework can be defined as using a computer or a similar technological device to work away from the central office. The remote location is commonly set at the worker’s home (Lafferty & Whitehorse, 2000). In this regard, the main difference in the conceptualization of telework and remote work is that telework is primarily conducted from a home office. In contrast, remote work can be carried out from a satellite office, local shared space facilities such as a coworking environment or home. However, both concepts have been widely used to describe the same situation where individuals conduct team-based and work-related activities from various locations to shorten the commute time, cut down the related costs, and seek positive work-life-associated improvements. While the term telework has been extensively used in scholarly debates throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the term remote work has somewhat prevailed in the 2000s and early 2010s, mainly due to organizations and knowledge workers experimenting and trying various facilities to conduct their work and scout for compatible leisure activities. In turn, the term “work from home” (WFH) arose during the recent pandemic-driven disruption, with similar term-related spins such as “COVID-working” (Tagliaro & Migliore, 2021) also emerging in scholarly debates. Therefore, the following discussion aims to understand the contemporary history of dislocated work and the related production and social experience processes.

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Chapter 3. Towards a Digitized Workplace

Abstract

The quote, illustrating how remote communications had been envisioned before World War II, is part of the verbiage on the back of collectable cards and stickers published by the German company Echte Wagner back in 1930. The quoted verse is part of a card that vividly portrays two women sitting outdoors while chatting to presumably their family members using portable monitors (Mann, 2021). Shortly after the first publicly demonstrated one-way videophone call in 1927 by then US Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover (Schnaars & Wymbs, 2004), the Echte Wagner’s futuristic projection of videotelephony illustrated how individuals would be able to converse and exchange information with the use of a live video. Inspired primarily by these ideas, a closed-circuit videophone experiment took place in 1936, 6 years after the release of Echte Wagner’s cards, by a German visual telephone system called Gegensehn-Fernsprechanlagen. That video call connected the Minister of Post, Paul von Eltz-Rübenach, who was stationed in Berlin, and Leipzig’s mayor, Carl Friedrich Goerdeler. By mid-1938, said videophone system had expanded from Berlin and Leipzig to the cities of Nuremberg and Munich and was made available to the German public through specially designed videophone booths that enabled rudimental videocalls between the four cities (Burns, 1995). Lewis and Cosier (1997) see this historical development as a major milestone for kindling society’s interest in developing telepresence systems – and subsequently, virtual-world multimedia environments – that enable individuals to interact remotely.

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Chapter 4. The Virtual Reality Workplace

Abstract

This study is centred around social research that aims to reconstruct relevant knowledge on the contemporary VR work environment. More particularly, we seek to answer three research questions. First, we seek an understanding of elements and factors within the VR work environment that influence an individual’s productivity. Second, we explore how a VR work environment can impact individuals’ well-being. Finally, we investigate what can strengthen the formal and informal interactions between individuals and subsequently knit collaborative ties.

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Chapter 5. Concluding Thoughts, Limitations, and Implications for Future Research

Abstract

Citing the words of Verda Alexander, a founder of San Francisco-based architecture biro Studio O+A, Smith (2020) reports that a silver lining in the cloud of human catastrophes such as a pandemic or climate crisis will be how the nature of work will change and the workplace will adapt. While traditional office environments will still be widely used, the recent COVID-19 crisis will heighten the need for alternative work arrangements. Technology will play a central part in this transition, with remote work becoming equal to work from the organization’s workspace in terms of efficiency. Furthermore, some larger companies, such as Microsoft, had already made the remote work option permanent by the third quarter of 2020 (Warren, 2020), with other companies being expected to follow suit.

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Titel: Collaboration Potential in Virtual Reality (VR) Office Space
verfasst von: Marko Orel
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-031-08180-4
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-08179-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08180-4

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Über dieses Buch

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2. Transformative Nature of the Knowledge Workplace

Chapter 3. Towards a Digitized Workplace

Chapter 4. The Virtual Reality Workplace

Chapter 5. Concluding Thoughts, Limitations, and Implications for Future Research

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