As today’s leading platforms rush to imagine more creative, communal and communicative alternatives to webcam-based meetings, we ask leading technologists what that future might look and, more importantly, feel like.
Hybrid working has put virtual meetings front and centre. To avoid bias it’s crucial the experience of remote employees is equal to those in the office. Facebook thinks the metaverse is the solution. It recently showcased Horizon Workrooms, an app that uses VR to bring colleagues together in a more immersive way than the grid of faces that Zoom has made the norm. Experienced through Facebook’s headset Oculus Quest, Workrooms uses features like spatial audio-and-hand tracking to give people a better sense of being in a real room together.
Apps like Immersed and Spatial already allow participants to chat, either as avatars or from screens, dropped into settings that range from Alpine cabins to outer space. Hologram collaboration has potential too, with companies like Imverse leading the way. At the more basic end is Microsoft Team’s ‘Together Mode’, which effectively cuts and pastes participants into lecture theatre or boardroom settings. The simple change has brain-altering effects that help speakers focus on an audience rather than their own image.
The design of these virtual worlds still leaves a lot to be desired, but they can overcome the limitations of regular videoconferencing by helping us read body language and physical reactions. As the tech world races ahead to shape our working world, we asked three design experts for some more well-rounded views on how we should collaborate in future.
Cover and above: Horizon Workrooms is an app that uses VR to bring colleagues together in a more immersive way.
Harriet Gridley, UK director of No Isolation, thinks telepresence devices can help improve accessibility
I believe the future of conference calls will be one that marries the online and physical world so seamlessly that we no longer use binary definitions. It won’t be a Teams meeting, or a face-to-face meeting, but rather ‘a meeting’, and some people will attend virtually, with others present physically.
We can use research and design to bring the physical and virtual worlds together, creating a third space that is accessible and engaging for everyone regardless of their situation. No Isolation’s AV1 telepresence robot, for example, helps ensure every child can have a fulfilling school life regardless of whether they are physically present or not. We also designed the Komp one-button computer as a communication system that helps different generations converse with each other despite the wide range in technical ability and confidence.
The future of meetings may involve a range of tailor-made devices that support telepresence and a varying range of needs and abilities, as well as carefully designed physical space. The experience, if designed correctly, will be equally fruitful, if not more so, than if everyone had been in the room together, because you will be able to capture a more diverse range of thoughts and opinions.
The AV1 telepresence robot is designed to give children a fulfilling school life regardless of whether they are physically present or not.
The Komp one-button computer is a communication system that helps different generations converse with each other despite the wide range in technical ability and confidence.
James Melia, founder of industrial design agency Blond, thinks collaborative tech needs to go beyond talking
The world beyond Zoom feels like one with many opportunities to innovate. I see a range of possibilities; the first is VR-driven and predominately for short collaborative sessions (as a VR headset is not something many people would like to spend many hours in). I hope to see collaborative workshops where home workers can contribute to a sketch, 3D model, diagram or formula as if they were in the room with the rest of the team, with tools like Gravity Sketch.
The second comes from my own experiences of when 3D objects need to be reviewed. I imagine having an immersive conference call using a 360-degree camera and conferencing hub, like the Meeting Owl. One person would hold up the product sample or object, which is then 3D-scanned by the hub. That scan could be viewed in real-time in an augmented state through a screen-based device by other participants, wherever they may be. That would undoubtedly beat holding up a 3D print in front of the laptop camera as others squint to understand what they are looking at.
Both possibilities present a unique hardware design challenge, particularly as satellite peripherals are needed to complete the system and ensure its inclusiveness.
Meeting Owl is a 360-degree camera and conferencing hub.
Tina Touli, creative director and graphic communication designer, thinks future meetings need to address all our senses
The screen can sometimes seem too ‘small’ – too restrictive. We feel like we’re stuck in a box when, subconsciously, we’re all trying to get out of there, and back to a more physical world. Maybe AR and VR are the technologies that can help us push the boundaries of a classic video-conference call. But the image is not the only thing that feels restrictive at the moment. Sound also has its limitations. In most instances, only one person can talk at a time, and everyone has to listen, while a real conversation usually runs in multiple directions and you can be part of a number of chats at the same time, adding your input to the most relevant ones.
Sight and hearing are just two of our senses. What about the rest? How about touch for example? The key [to improving collaboration] is to stimulate as many senses as possible. Would a three-dimensional virtual space be enough, or should there be a physical environment that can be felt as well? [I can imagine] a flexible, adjustable room that is constantly reshaping and rearranging itself. Just like the pixels of our screen adjust from frame to frame while playing a movie, but in three dimensions instead of two. We would be there, in the centre of everything, ‘within’ a call that is stimulating most of our senses to the maximum possible.
