We have all heard about virtual reality (VR) before, given it is one of the more visually noticeable tech innovations of recent years. Perhaps most are already familiar with the immersive experience VR has to offer since hardware like VR headsets used in the gaming and entertainment sectors are already widely available for the mass-market consumer. However VR is so much more.  There’s augmented reality (AR) – whereby virtual information and objects are overlaid on the real world.

Another one, still at a nascent stage, is mixed reality (MR). In MR, digital and real-world objects co-exist and can interact with one another in real-time — sometimes referred to as hybrid reality. It requires an MR headset and a lot more processing power than VR or AR. Does this remind you of anything? Heard about the Metaverse? 

So what would the future workplace look like?

There has been a surge of demand for virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality, propelling the global extended reality (XR) market. It’s growing at such a rapid pace, that the XR market is expected to increase by over 300 billion dollars by 2024. Here is how this would impact the workspace

1. Quality of work done

Recent studies conducted by PWC showed that VR trained employees were up to four times more focused than their e-learning peers and four times faster to train. When trainees are taught from VR, they learn more from the training and have superior outcomes. Creating a workplace that is equipped with this kind of facility will certainly increase productivity 

2. Work efficiency

Demand grows for extended reality (XR) in office processes, including hiring, onboarding, training, and day-to-day communications. Events like the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic have accelerated that evolution with an increased need to work remotely across the world.XR brings new potential to workforces with benefits across entire organizations, from improved employee communication to team collaboration, to engagement and training, to optimized design processes and accessibility.

Do you think XR would eventually replace humans in the near future?