Personal Productivity Using Virtual Reality

Introduction

If you’ve been involved in the immersive community either as a consumer or professional (and frankly even if you are not), it’s likely that you’re hearing the term “Metaverse” tossed around quite a bit over the last several months. As the largest social network in the world pivots to make the metaverse the central focus of its business moving forward, much of the attention of those in the XR community and business world shifts to the opportunity this may present. But the very real question that looms large over the concept of the Metaverse is articulated in the title of Robert Stevens article “What Can You Do in the Metaverse in 2022? (Stevens, 2022)”.

While everyone runs around trying to determine what the metaverse means and how you can use it, some unique opportunities in the area of personal productivity are being explored by very early adopters of those working in Virtual Reality. The medium of VR offers some unique benefits, as well as challenges, to those who may be classified as digital or knowledge workers. That is those that do most of their work sitting in front of a computer screen day in and day out.

You will find an excellent overview of the process undertaken by Paul Tomlinson in his blog on Medium “Working From Orbit. VR Productivity in (or Above) a WFA World” (Tomlinson, 2021) which describes his migration to working full time in Virtual Reality. Writer Nicole Valentine shares her experience with the creative process of writing in VR in another Medium blog post “Writing on the Holodeck” (Valentine, 2022). And Cameron Brown shared a video of his process of working in VR on his YouTube channel 10:23 Culture “Working in VR Using Immersed” (Brown, 2022). As a bit of self-promotion, my own YouTube channel, XR4Work (Casteel, n.d.), is dedicated to exploring the transition to working in immersive environments and I’ve created videos using all the products we will be looking at in this article. These are indications that, while early, there is a trend toward exploring how VR can make working with digital tools better by working in a digital world.

This article intends to explore this concept. This is not a “Product X vs. Product Y” face-off. I’ve always been skeptical of articles that promise to tell you which product or application is better than another or offer you the top five of a particular category. These kinds of decisions are nuanced, as each individual weighs priority and value perhaps a little differently based on use case and preference.

My intent is to provide an unbiased look at this topic. I am not employed by nor receive any funds from any of the companies mentioned. I do have an investment in one of the products mentioned through a WeFunder campaign. I have, at one time or another, communicated directly and met with representatives across all these platforms, been in beta testing groups and feedback programs for three of the four that are discussed, and am active on their Discords. I have personally worked in all these platforms and typically find it convenience or mood that drives me to one rather than being able to accomplish a task better in a particular app. The bulk of this article was written across all the platforms mentioned at one time or another (in fact, this paragraph is being typed out on my phone ATM). So, it is likely that my bias as an advocate for working in VR will be obvious, but hopefully not for any specific platform or product.

It is my hope just to draw attention to the platforms with this capability and to try to interest users in exploring what’s possible with these new tools. Additionally, I simply hope to help frame the topic and provide some data on the leading personal productivity platforms in VR for those interested in the subject.

Additionally, there are factors that are outside the scope of what I try to cover here in this paper. Important factors, which are very individualized such as comfort, ergonomics, and visual clarity are not touched on in this document. I certainly want to acknowledge these factors here and encourage the readers and explorers of productivity in VR, while they research and experiment, to take these factors into consideration.

What is Productivity?

How would we measure being more productive working in today’s current VR productivity platforms? Let’s pause for a minute and review the facets of productivity as it applies to the digital worker.

Typically, you will find the generic formula for Productivity is, Productivity = Output/Input. At this very simple level, I can calculate if I can produce more per hour working in VR than at my physical desk. For the purposes of this article let’s focus on three key elements of production. The three elements would be volume, efficiency, and quality. Using the simple example of typing for instance, volume would represent the number of keystrokes per minute. Efficiency is the number of correct keystrokes per minute. Quality would represent the outcome that information is communicated effectively.

Another example in the digital realm could be programming. Volume could represent the number of lines of code, efficiency the number of lines code without error, and quality the overall output of those lines of code in achieving the programming requirement. There are of course large bodies of work that explore productivity as an area of study. In fact, our notion of what constitutes productivity is being redefined in this era of hybrid work between home and office.

Jamie Teevan, Chief Scientist at Microsoft, wrote an article in 2021 in Harvard Business Review “Let’s Redefine “Productivity” for the Hybrid Era” (Teevan, 2021) with a focus on what we define here as “Soft Factors”. Our intent here is simply to frame the question of whether digital workers can indeed be more productive working in a virtual environment. The real question is, as Teevans’ article suggests, can we boil the full measure of the work effort down to a simple formula? It’s important to state that a weakness in boiling down productivity to a formula is the many soft factors that can contribute to a user’s work effort.

Soft factors can be defined as those elements not directly tied to the work effort, but enhance the workers’ sense of wellbeing, focus and energy. I would have to personally state that it is some of these soft factors, like the ability to manipulate my environment location, background ambient sounds and music, screen location and size and additional, novel tools that bring me back to working in VR time and again. I “feel good” working in these environments. It’s a simple psychological concept that if I enjoy the space I’m in and the way that work is presented to me, I am reinforced to return to experience it all again. VR absolutely gamifies the work environment, with built-in reinforcement it keeps you wanting to come back.

Think about the efforts in physical offices to enhance the work area. I recall an effort at my organization to install fish tanks, water features, and even small baking ovens where fresh bread would be prepared, all in an effort to make the environment more pleasant to the workforce. I can’t replicate the fresh bread smell in VR yet, but I can certainly beat having a fish tank in the office when I can have an office overlooking the beach one day and be on a star ship circling the earth the next!

VR and Flow State

One topic that I feel is intrinsically linked to this discussion is how productivity is impacted by the psychological state we are in when we work. I am particularly fascinated with the topic of Flow State, as I find VR induces Flow State as a natural byproduct of using the device.

The state was first named “Flow” by psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi in 1975. Research on flow states began to increase in the 1980s and 90s. A definition from “What is a Flow State?” (Goodridge, 2020) describes it this way:

“Flow state — Flow state is the optimal state of human consciousness.

It describes moments of total absorption, when you become so focused on the task at hand that everything else falls away. Action and awareness merge. Time flies. Self vanishes. Mental and physical performance go through the roof.”

One might hypothesize that VR, as a medium, is intrinsically able to induce Flow State. As such it contributes to high levels of performance and satisfaction in activities. This would correlate to achieving high levels of productivity, so one might assume Digital Work + VR = Flow State = Optimal Productivity.

Much work and study would need to be done to validate this but the experience of many early adopters I’ve spoken to suggests this would be an interesting area to investigate.

I introduce this here as I believe when we look at this topic holistically, it may be a significant component of personal productivity in VR. Like me, other users of VR productivity platforms may have experienced Flow State and not been able to describe the experience adequately. Perhaps Flow State captures this concept?

The subject is a bit esoteric, and we won’t be diving into it in depth here. I introduce it to suggest it as an important dynamic and to generate thought and discussion around the subject.

Major factors in VR productivity

Yet, at the end of the day, as good as these experiences make me feel I need the tools to get my job done. As I have considered my exploration of personal productivity in virtual reality, one critical component of my search is the ability for an application or platform to be able to present me with at least two or more screens simultaneously in my virtual viewing space.

While several VR applications offer remote connectivity back to a PC for various purposes, the fact that they present the desktop is often secondary to their primary function. The application Virtual Desktop, as its name implies, does a fantastic job serving up a single desktop screen. While it would certainly be possible to explore working in that desktop, the focus of Virtual Desktop is to be a conduit for launching and playing desktop games in VR and PCVR titles on the Quest headset.

Similarly, the application Bigscreen provides remote access to a desktop with the focus of streaming movies and entertainment to a shared virtual space where groups can jointly view the content. So, while these functions exist in other apps they are often secondary and it’s not the intent to design these platforms as productivity tools. As such, this has narrowed my options to just a handful of applications and platforms.

In setting out to look at what contributes to productivity in these VR platforms we must define the features and capabilities of the medium. Below I try and outline the features that can contribute to productivity in VR which can impact productivity IRL (In Real Life). Of course, this is MY list. These are the features that, to me, have made a difference in my productivity and work from within a VR HMD.

One of the key elements common in all these platforms, and I propose is THE essential element, is overcoming the limitations in physical viewing space for information. In other words, being able to have as many monitors / screens / windows / applications as you can manage in your viewing field at any size and position I might want. The use of multiple monitors’ contribution to productivity can be debated. However, for the purposes of this paper, we take the position that the utility of connecting to a device that may have a single monitor and being able to multiply this resource virtually, is a key driver for the use of VR for work.

It goes unsaid that with the platforms covered here you can use 1 monitor and increase if needed, while other platforms are locked at a single monitor, limiting the utility of these applications. It’s quite normal to work with one monitor and many home offices can even manage two. But when working in a virtual environment we may want to easily access 3, 5, or even more screens so we can quickly and easily access the information we need to consume and use to create output for others. So, my list of platforms is comprised only of those applications that have allowed me to spawn multiple virtual windows for consumption or input of information.

Architecture Considerations

Being a digital worker implies you are working on some given digital platform. Whether necessity or preference your platform or operating system determines to a large extent the tool sets and UI (User Interface) you work with. Once you develop comfort and familiarity with a given one, it enables your level of productivity. Platform, hardware, and VR architecture can guide if not outright determine the direction you look as you explore options for VR productivity.

· Computer OS Platforms supported
Given that the nature of how most of these applications work is by emulating the screens and functionality of an actual physical computer system, the system that you wish to connect to will dictate the platforms you are able to use to emulate them. Presently there is only one in our list that you can use if you are a Mac or Linux user.

· VR OS and Hardware Platforms supported
Another factor for consideration is the VR hardware and operating system platform that you’re tied to. So, the HMD (head-mounted display) you go with will guide your options as you explore what work you can get done within VR. If you only had a Quest and no remote device to connect to you might be surprised how productive you can be without a computer. If you are using a Valve Index you will have to forgo the options available via Meta and will need to leverage the platforms available on Windows Mixed Reality.

· Remote access methods used
A final consideration is the type of network access to the resource you are wanting or need to use.

o Self-Contained — all resources are local to the HMD and no external device is being emulated (this is specifically related to the Quest)

o Wired — The HMD is physically connecting to the resource being emulated. (this specifically relates To Windows Mixed Reality.)

o LAN — Local Area Network access is needed, and the external device is on and can be seen on the user's local network.

o WAN/Internet — the resource is not local but connected to the internet and is accessed from the HMD using a cloud-based intermediary. (this specifically relates to vSpatial).

Productivity Tools

· Monitors/Screens/Apps available
Again, as I state above, this is a critical element of the productivity use case for VR. It can be argued how many screens are optimal for use and varies per the user's need. In health care, Radiologists often have a room-sized space so they can have 5–7 monitors around them, each with a specific function. Stock traders similarly have multiple screens of content running simultaneously. VR can erase the barrier of physical space and cost of placing multiple screens around you.

· Screen sizing, placement, and manipulation
Even if you’re not a Radiologist, Day Trader, or other content-hungry user and may only need 2 screens at your disposal, VR again transcends the physical limits of working on your fixed-sized screen and allows you to scale those to the literal limit of your visual field. Place your screens in any position at any angle at any resolution that might suit your needs. Additionally, you can change that as your needs dictate at any given time.

· Input methods supported
Typical mouse and keyboard input that users are so familiar with IRL is tricky in VR. If you are a touch typist, I bow to your skills, but I find I, and many typical users, must glance at the keyboard at least some of the time while typing.

o Mapped Keyboards
Platforms have come up with ways to bring a picture of your keyboard into the headset and map it spatially so your brain can at least closely approximate the location of the keys on your keyboard.

o Tracked Keyboards
The team at Meta have taken mapped keyboards to the next level and has provided the ability to see a tracked keyboard that follows the exact device in space AND shows your actual hands as they rest above the device. The keyboards they have mapped are small in number, but this is a very powerful enabler for this vital function.

o Passthrough Window
Another approach is to remove the built-in limitation in VR of being closed off from the outside world and using the external cameras on the headset, open a passthrough window users can spawn that provides a view into the real-world environment and the user's keyboard and mouse.

o Voice Command and Dictation
In my mind, this is the holy grail of virtual reality input. Much of what I do is based on structured, natural language text input. Documents, emails, presentations, and planning which all lend themselves to voice dictation. Along with the ability to perform simple commands in the app (“Open settings”, “Spawn new monitor”, and “Change room to…”) this lessens the friction of controller or keyboard input on the user.

· Meeting capability
It goes without saying that as the pandemic has shifted work focus to the home, the need to connect with colleagues while remote has resulted in a boom in the video conferencing industry. You might be somewhat saddened by the fact that VR can’t save you from this. But VR can make meetings more engaging and fun! This need hasn’t escaped the developers of productivity platforms. Several have provided in-app camera systems that can connect your virtual space and avatar to any video conferencing platform. You would find you have all the same capabilities participating in the meeting in VR as you do IRL only you never have to worry about your messy room, what you might be wearing, or how your hair looks!
Some also provide a friends list that you can use to see if a colleague is online and available for a quick meeting or discussion. Typically, these users need to be using the same application or platform in order to join you in a given space or room and participate in a meeting.

Soft Factors

· Social elements
At times being productive can best be accomplished by removing all distractions and interruptions. While VR lends itself to this, there may be times we may want to look up and see other people in our space or hear the sounds of conversation in the background. Perhaps even take the chance of meeting someone new or running into a friend that you know that hangs out in that space around the same time every day. There are platforms in our list that provide social spaces so you can co-work in a café or lounge with others using the same platform and not feel isolated. It’s interesting how you can start to recognize the same people dropping in and the serendipitous conversations that can get started in these spaces.

· Environment options provided
You can choose to launch these platforms and work in completely dark empty rooms or floating in the open expanse of space. Or you can choose to work in a café or an airy lounge area, or a private office or ski lodge, all with the expected background music or audio to enhance the feeling of being there. The weight of this factor is very individualized. I personally enjoy playing some meditative background music while having the familiarity of sitting at a desk with a view of the ocean or forest outside my huge 180-degree office window. At other times, I like sitting in a Starship circling the earth, with the hum of the ship in the background and the vastness of space off to one side.

The Current Landscape

My current list of personal productivity Platforms in VR is very short. Setting the requirement as that I have for the multiple virtual screens narrows the list quite significantly. I also must admit that while I feel fairly well versed in what productivity applications exist across the VR industry, I very likely may have overlooked some candidates. This fact also makes it well worth mentioning that the platforms I am discussing today are evolving rapidly. Therefore, the further out from the date of publication you are reading this, the more likely it is certain things have evolved on these platforms and, in fact, that new platforms may have emerged. I certainly invite feedback and discussion and hope you will join us over on Facebook in the XR4Work community to discuss this and other professional and business-related topics in the XR industry ((2) XR4work Community | Facebook).

Well, who are my “Four Horsemen” (apocalyptic only in how they may destroy the current landscape of personal productivity and change it for the better!) who made the cut for this article? I will give a brief introduction of each and present in alphabetical order, not indicating any level of priority or preference.

• Immersed — https://immersed.com/
  Immersed was the first major personal productivity app release on the Quest but had been on the Go and Gear even before that. It’s been on the Quest that they have garnered a solid and faithful following of users and aggressively churn out updates and enhancements to their growing user base. They perfected the process of spawning virtual monitors across all major OS platform’s that users are connecting to, and offering a broad selection of environments for users to work in.
• Meta Quest2 (Home Browser) — https://developer.oculus.com/documentation/web/
  https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/1916519981771802
  Meta has been showing the concept of what they call “Infinite Office” for over a year now. While they have not confirmed anything definitive, videos of the concept specifically focus on the Quest browser as the centerpiece of this effort. The browser shows updates in my headset almost weekly and it gains increasing functionality with every major new release.
• vSpatial — https://www.vspatial.com/
  vSpatial was a pioneer in the VR personal productivity space, launching on Oculus Rift in 2017, Steam in 2018 and coming to Quest in 2020. Utilizing an innovative, wraparound docking system and the ability to work with individual apps as windows as well as virtual monitors, this platform offers users a great deal of flexibility. They also allow connecting using just the Quest back to the host system over the internet through their cloud hosted linking capability.
• Windows Mixed Reality — https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/mixed-reality/windows-mixed-reality?rtc=1
  Microsoft has had a VR component built into Windows since 2017. Their corporate focus, however, has been on the HoloLens as a marketable product. Hololens and its desktop counterpart Windows Mixed Reality, share code and functionality. WMR exists as an option for any user with a currently up-to-date Windows 10 and Windows 11 system in the world making it quite accessible for many users.

A few words about the charts below

As I was putting together the charts below, I was never quite satisfied with the layout. I tended to look at the data sorted in two ways. One was by functionality, where I listed what I considered those important areas of functionality, as section headers and then listed each platform and how that functionality applied. The other was using the actual platform as the header and then listing each area of functionality along the other axis. Since I wasn’t happy with either I decided to include both. Below you will find a Functionality Chart and then under that a Product Chart. Then, for good measure, I played around with a Use Case Chart! I hope somehow between the three charts you are able to tease out the information and the data that’s helpful to you.

Functionality Chart

Product Chart

Use Case Chart

Summary

In this paper, we have covered a lot of detailed, dense data. What did we find out?

Architecture:

Regardless of your current digital platforms, there is likely a solution for you. If you work on a Mac, Linux, Windows, or even if you don’t have a computer at all, you can get started doing work from a VR HMD today. Be it doing email using the Quest browser or plugging a WMR headset into your Windows device, you’re on your way to exploring this new paradigm of digital work.

Tools:

Tools are more of a mixed bag. To do your work in VR at this stage is a commitment. The whole of the experience might feel better but be ready for some challenges in becoming productive. Like the US Marines motto says, you will need to be ready to “Improvise, Adapt and Overcome”!

Initially, you will find working in VR is a foreign experience. There is a big learning curve to get started. Your entire visual perspective changes and you are not working so much WITH a user interface as much as you are IN a user interface. You may start out working with controllers and not a keyboard and mouse. Once you get oriented and devices set up, you will start dealing with familiar concepts like monitors, browsers, applications, and keyboards but they all work differently than IRL. Onboarding guides and experiences are key to helping new users adapt and current users to stay on top of the features as they are changed or added.

Unfortunately, developers are still very focused on creating functionality and these onboarding experiences can be lacking. This leaves users having to explore and experiment to not only understand but develop new skills. Ready to become a touch typist or learn voice recognition commands? How about find that lost monitor or app that’s floating somewhere in the 360 space you now have command over? These are some of the new challenges that await explores of this new medium.

There is an immediate real estate benefit from having multiple monitors and the ability to place, size and manipulate them to optimize your viewing and input needs. But while consumption gets a boost, input becomes a challenge. This can make or break the experience for the average user and regardless of the method you choose there will be an adjustment curve in migrating input to VR. If you are a touch typist who never has to look at their hands and can manipulate your mouse by feel you will adapt quicker. However, the user is now a disembodied entity and the physical objects my not correlate to the location shown in the virtual world. The majority might give up on the process right there. Fortunately features like mapped keyboards and, even better, tracked keyboards, tracked hands and pass-through viewing help address these challenges. And for natural language, structured text entry, voice dictation will be a way forward.

These platforms focus on individual productivity first. Meetings haven’t been a priority for these applications. Immersed and vSpatial provide friend lists and the ability to share a space with others. It’s still small scale and they offer few meeting tools at this stage. Meta has Workrooms, which is a separate app designed for meetings and not personal productivity. They have stated they have intent to allow users to share the home space with others but it’s unclear if you will then be able to share content. Like Meta, Microsoft has users enter their platform AltSpace if they want to meet with users but like the former you lose most of your productivity tools once you jump into these spaces. This area is still early in development and evolving.

There is an acceptance curve still building to participate in meetings as an avatar. As we see large platforms like Zoom and Teams offer bridge capabilities joining users IRL to users working in VR we will likely see that gain more acceptance. Also, the tools sets for meetings are still immature. Being present and sharing a screen hold value and can even be enough on a certain scale. However, managing larger groups, accessing larger pools of content and data and providing meeting tools like invites, attendance, minutes/recordings of meetings is still not common.

Soft Factors:

This may be the area of greatest benefit to working in VR at present. The ability to transcend our location, environment, to experience presence with others even when we were alone IRL, and to manipulate those subtle psychological factors that impact our work performance is very powerful. However, these factors are very individualized and difficult to measure. But I think it’s very safe to say that at the least these things can positively enhance our psychological state and we can draw an inference that it has the potential to improve general work performance.

Closing Thoughts

Let’s revisit our formula for Productivity.
Productivity = Output/Input

In exploring this topic and looking at how VR impacts our productivity, we may need to reframe the formula to help us tune the calculation. A critical element in understanding Productivity in VR, is understanding more about what affects the Input element of the formula. Let me suggest the following. Input = Task/Skills+Tools+Inspiration. Now we can narrow our focus to how working in VR leverages current or provides us new skills, offers us novel and useful tools to address a task and then Inspires and Motivates us to focus and work optimally to accomplish a goal.

Ultimately, the questions a user needs to ask as they explore work in VR are:

Skills (Architecture) — Does the platform leverage skills I have or adequately train me to use new ones in its unique UI.

Tools — Does the platform provide tools that I can use to be equally as or more efficient than IRL?

Inspiration (Soft Factors) — Does the platform motivate me to perform at my optimal level? (does it bring on Flow State?)

Presently it seems the greatest strength to working in a VR app through a head-mounted display lay in the soft factors we have reviewed. The unmatched level of focus, ability to remove all distractions and the level of control and manipulation over one’s environment are extremely powerful motivators. Yet, given the early developmental state of the medium at this stage, there are real challenges when it comes to onboarding new users, replicating the real-life tools like keyboards and pointing devices, and developing and stabilizing new input methodologies like hand tracking and voice commands. Underlying much of this is the state of hardware development one which much of this relies. As the hardware develops and matures, developers will have better tools to work in expanding input options.

As the current solid and growing core of digital workers would suggest, working in VR is not only viable, it's more efficient and productive. There is likely a correlation between adapting to this way of work based on a level of comfort in experimenting with technology and making adjustments to your own current work preferences and styles.

Where to next?

So, what does the future of personal productivity in VR hold? Some “tech builders” (including the CEO and founder of Immersed) were asked the question “Will the Metaverse replace the Physical Office” (Will the Metaverse Replace the Physical Office?, 2022) and had varying thoughts on the future of work in an XR work environment. Interestingly I found most of the responses to focus on the future of hybrid work and the soft factors of meetings, community, and connection and not on the tools to get work done.

Just like the rest of the immersive industry, these apps and platforms are developing and evolving quickly. No doubt as soon as this article is published there will be changes and updates that will have to be made as developers race to add new features and functionality. We are at the very early stages of truly seeing what this technology can do for us.

Let’s imagine for a minute what we might want to see and expect in future immersive offerings. Presently most models are tied to having an external piece of hardware, a computer being emulated, that the user must connect to. This is additional space, additional cost, and additional management for the user to take on. Meta has designs that one day the Quest will be all you need for most of your computing tasks and given the migration of apps and storage to the cloud they may be on the right track. For those scenarios where the computer is still a factor, we might expect to see some of these other platforms support compute in the cloud where your computer is a virtual machine hosted somewhere on the Internet. We see this already in models such as Plutosphere (PlutoSphere) which allows users to play PC VR games direct from their Quest headset through a virtual computer in the cloud.

Hardware limitations with the HMDs themselves will be improved on. While I marvel at what the current generation of VR headsets can do, there is more on the short-term horizon that will make working in VR so much better. There will be advances in the visuals giving us wider fields of view and making objects and text clear and sharp and perhaps even enhanced in our view. The device will be lighter and more comfortable to wear for longer periods. We will see improvements in hand tracking for more precise mapping and use of hands without controllers for fine, precise controls. The external cameras will improve and add color so the Mixed and Augmented reality functionality will be more valuable and likely expand in prevalence. Facial tracking will be added so when we do meet or attend social events, our avatars will reflect our non-verbal’s more clearly and bring value to these exchanges.

While it will be some time before we can do away with a keyboard and a mouse, I’d like to see other creative forms of input implemented. I’ve already mentioned voice as an obvious command, control, and dictation method that’s fairly common and established on today’s desktops. As an adjunct to voice, I’d like to see an introduction of virtual assistants powered by AI. One of the things I enjoy about working in WMR is that I can still call upon the Cortana assistant for simple commands and questions. Improved hand tracking and eye tracking will offer even additional options for input using slight motions of the fingers or the eyes to indicate intent. Again, in WMR I am able to use a combination of gaze and voice as part of the UI to accomplish simple tasks. I’ve seen models of creative reimagining of a keyboard in 3D space that would make hand tracking “air-typing” or swipe typing as supported on our smartphones an intriguing possibility.

Many social elements are being explored in the numerous platforms focused on meeting and collaboration. In the future I might imagine a move away from apps siloed on one specific focus or functionality to platforms where users can move seamlessly between productivity, meetings, events, and even team building and gaming. This will remove a lot of the friction and juggling users must do now as they move from siloed experience to siloed experience.

Without a doubt, we are at the early stages now and these experiences and platforms will continue to evolve and improve rapidly over time. Who knows… maybe one day we will run into each other in the virtual cafe, jump into a virtual lecture hall, then meet up for virtual round of golf where we decide to collaborate in a virtual productivity space on a needed update to this article!

Works Cited

Brown, C. (2022, Feb 6). 10:23 Culture. Retrieved from YouTube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RPjdO68rcs

Casteel, R. (n.d.). XR4Work. Retrieved from YouTube.com: https://www.youtube.com/c/XR4WORK

Goodridge, C. S. (2020, Oct 2). What is a Flow State. Retrieved from https://www.flowresearchcollective.com/: https://www.flowresearchcollective.com/blog/what-is-flow-state#:~:text=What%20is%20a%20Flow%20State%3F%20Flow%20state%20is,Mental%20and%20physical%20performance%20go%20through%20the%20roof

Stevens, R. (2022, Feb 7). What Can You Actually Do in the Metaverse in 2022? Retrieved from CoinDesk: https://www.coindesk.com/learn/what-can-you-actually-do-in-the-metaverse-in-2022/

Teevan, J. (2021, Sept 9). Let’s Redefine “Productivity” for the Hybrid Era. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/: https://hbr.org/2021/09/lets-redefine-productivity-for-the-hybrid-era

Tomlinson, P. (2021, Sept 27). Working From Orbit. Retrieved from Medium: https://blog.immersed.team/working-from-orbit-39bf95a6d385

Valentine, N. (2022, Jan 29). Writing on the Holodeck. Retrieved from Medium.com: https://medium.com/xr4work/writing-on-the-holodeck-1477677c4191

Will the Metaverse Replace the Physical Office? (2022, Feb 24). Retrieved from Future.a16z.com: https://future.a16z.com/question/will-the-metaverse-replace-the-physical-office/

Acknowledgements: It was great fun writing this paper. I got to do so in some amazing virtual locations and with the feedback of some great friends who helped along the way. As I got to a first draft, I put out a call on the XR4Work Facebook community page for reviewers and editors and found a number of folks willing to help. Here’s to their valued input and inspiration that this was worth pursuing.

Thank you all!