VR Meetings: Social Interaction at Another Level
Why VR Meetings?
Over the last year in the pandemic, people have been finding themselves lonelier and in need for social interaction. Video calling and the rise of group calling software’s like Zoom have attempted to help bring aid to these issues, but that has only done so much to help. Many users were struggling, adapting to online platforms like Zoom or working from home. They felt the disconnection or inability to engage with others. People felt like a home setting is just not the same as being in a classroom or at your office. According to research from The Martec Group, they surveyed 1,214 individuals across various industries, demographics, and seniority levels to identify how working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting employees. With their findings they found that, “…working from home has a strong negative impact on employees’ mental health. Before COVID-19, 62 percent of employees reported positive mental health. As the pandemic continues, that number has dipped to just 28 percent…job satisfaction and job motivation have also fallen — job satisfaction from 57 percent to 32 percent and job motivation from 56 percent to 36 percent.” Unfortunately, with the current technologies we have for meeting virtually, you are bound to a face-cam in which you can turn on and off, and a built-in microphone that you can mute and unmute yourself with. The same goes with facetime and other video-chat services. This is where the service of VR meetings can come into place and help out the most. VR Meetings would be a downloadable software application that is better suited for solving the issue of loneliness and other mental health issues because it allows for a more realistic interaction between participants. With this VR tech, you will be able to virtually interact with others as if your were in the same area of space. It can be used to hold business or classroom meetings, as well as a provide a means to hang out with your friends. VR meetings will add a realistic element to any type of online socialization.
What makes VR meetings special is it will be an application where everyone can put themselves in an actual room and actually take part in activities or engage with one another. This can allow you to “be in the same room” as your classmates, co-workers, friends, family, acquaintances, etc when video-chatting with them.
You will be wearing the virtual reality goggles and motion censored gloves, which will allow you to “physically” walk around the room you are in, whether it is classroom, a conference room, home setting, beach setting or any other location. Not only that, but one can go up to another person and shake their hands or give them a hug. In addition to interacting with other people in a more legitimate way, you can interact with items. For example, your teacher might call on you to write the answer to a problem up on the whiteboard. VR meetings will help people who still feel a disconnection when doing regular virtual meetings or for people who just do not find the experience enjoyable.
User Experience
Virtual reality is a technology that already exists, mainly with gaming activities. There are many tech companies out there that are already looking to enhance virtual reality environments. Oculus, Unity, Nuvia are a couple companies just to name a few. VR Meetings will just be another software that requires users to download it and create an account. Users shall then make their own profile and then once they do that, they can also add other friends or family. Each virtual meeting will have a unique 9-digit code ranging from 0–9 and Aa-Zz. Everyone with the unique code can join the same virtual
meeting. The equipment that will be used will also be simple. One would just need to put on the virtual reality goggles and motion-censored gloves. This will track a person’s hand-movements, while the virtual reality goggles will track one’s body movement and will allow others to view their virtual reality environment. Users should also have at least a 10x10 feet area of space to move freely. Once these small conditions are checked off, the virtual reality meeting application should be ready for use.
When a user is in their own virtual reality meeting, the setting can be whatever the user would like. Some settings can include an office, a classroom, a beach, famous locations around the world, and much more. One can even immerse themselves in a real game setting. The opportunities would be endless with VR. Furthermore, in the virtual reality meetings one would be able to see the full body movements of other participants. Participants can join as characters that portray their real-life appearance or can join as their own custom-made avatar. After that, users will be able to move, run, sit, cross their legs, raise their hand, and perform all types of regular body movements. This will all be portrayed in the virtual reality environment and ultimately provide users an experience as close to reality as possible.
Drawbacks
With this being said, there are still a couple drawbacks that can come with always attending virtual reality meetings. One of the biggest drawbacks can be strain on the eyes from wearing the VR goggles all the time. Normal schedules sometimes consist of three, four, and maybe even five meetings a day. If one were to attend all these meetings while always having to put on virtual reality goggles, it can ultimately cause strain to the eyes from staring at a screen for a long time. Not only that, but depending on the meeting it can last from a short 15 minute meeting to hour long meetings. So, this is definitely something that would need to be taken into consideration to provide a more seeming-less experience. Another drawback that can come with this virtual reality software is the equipment that would need to be put on every time one would like to join a meeting. With regular applications like Zoom or Microsoft Teams, one can just open up their laptop or phone and join a meeting with just a couple clicks of a button. VR meetings would require users to have to put on certain equipment before each meeting. Not only that, but one would have to carry this equipment if they would like to use it somewhere else. This is all much more of a hassle than just having to carry around your laptop or phone. Lastly, with VR meetings one would also have to try and find a peaceful and open-space environment to join a meeting. Since VR meetings require walking around and virtual engagement, one should not try to join a meeting and drive their car at the same time. It is safe to say that would be dangerous.
Final Thoughts
Overall, even with these couple of drawbacks, VR meetings still can provide a good alternative to applications like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or even Facetime. Of course, VR meetings can have its downsides with the equipment that must be worn and not being able to use it wherever you want. However, if you think about it, this is actually much more flexible than actually having to go to the meeting in person. If it is a face-to-face meeting, then there is only one location where the meeting will actually be held. With VR meetings, you can be on the other side of the world, and as long as you have the equipment, software, and an environment you are comfortable in then you can virtually join the meeting and feel the notion as if you were actually there. The opportunity to virtually engage with others and actually interact with them will be game-changing. It also does not have to be limited to being in a classroom or a work meeting. One can set up a meeting with their friends, family, or co-workers and go bowling, play tennis, or play virtually any other game. During a time like the pandemic of Covid-19, a lot of these activities were shut down. It was extremely hard for friends and family to see each other without the fear of catching the virus. A virtual reality meeting software like this can eliminate this problem and allow people to comfortably socially engage with others without physically having to be with the person. It is hard to envision a world in the near future without a technology like this. With ubiquitous computing and IoT on the rise, a virtual reality meeting software like this seems to fit right in.
