The Metaverse is not yet prepared to be the future of work

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered the way many Canadians work. Statistics Canada reports that remote work increased to 40 percent in April 2020 but has since declined to 18.7 percent as of May 2024.

While remote work can save employees time and money on commuting expenses and provide a better work/life balance, studies have shown that collaborative work may suffer in remote environments.

Advocates for the metaverse propose it as the future of remote work, as virtual worlds and virtual reality (VR) allow for collaboration in virtual spaces. However, some organizations argue that remote work lacks spontaneous interactions that can inspire innovation.

The combination of Zoom fatigue and efforts to replicate informal office interactions through virtual events like Zoom parties has led to increased interest in the metaverse as the future of remote work.

Read more:
What is the metaverse, and what can we do there?

Coined by novelist Neal Stephenson over three decades ago in his 1992 science-fiction novel Snow Crash, the metaverse now refers to “the merging of physical and virtual space accessed via computers and enabled by immersive technologies like VR, AR, and MR.”

User interaction challenges

Virtual environments have been explored by companies for remote work support before. In the early 2000s, companies such as IBM and Microsoft had virtual islands in the social world of Second Life for corporate training and recruitment events. While Second Life was for desktop computers, the metaverse is primarily for VR headsets.

Despite claims that VR environments can recreate in-person collaborative experiences or “water cooler moments,” user interaction with VR systems can present usability challenges.