Remote work is still unsuited in today's metaverse: Study

21-Jun-2022 By: Rohit Khandelwal

Remote work is still unsuited in today's metaverse: Study

Working in the metaverse using today's tools, according to a research released earlier this month, may reduce employee productivity while also increasing their frustration and worry over remote work. Eleven percent of the research participants were so distressed that they were unable to complete even one day of the study, leaving their assignments unfinished.

Companies and individuals are hoping that the metaverse, a digital picture of our reality that allows people to do jobs afar, will play an essential part in the future of employment. Researchers from Coburg University, the University of Cambridge, the University of Primorska, and Microsoft Research recently published a paper that presents a distinct image of the problem.

During a 40-hour work week, 16 distinct workers developed their jobs in a regular setting and in a similar metaverse configuration, according to the research "Quantifying the Effects of Working in Virtual Reality for 7 days." The results were generally negative, suggesting that today's metaverse is still too small to allow work-related applications.

People who used the metaverse configuration experienced 42 percent greater frustration, 11 percent more anxiety, and nearly 50 percent more eye strain when compared to their typical work setting, according to the study. Furthermore, the participants stated that they felt less productive in general.

In addition, 11% of the participants were unable to finish even one day of the work trials owing to a variety of issues, including headaches caused by the VR setup and a lack of familiarity with it.

While metaverse technology is now associated with gaming and entertainment, one of the industry's most important future uses is considered to be facilitating remote work. According to recent research conducted by an Argentinian software company, metaverse technology will play a critical part in that application.

However, the study's findings indicate that today's technology will make that task impossible. But it's not all bad news: the researchers discovered that as the study progressed, participants were able to overcome the limitations of the metaverse technology and their initial discomfort, prompting them to call for future research into the consequences of longer-term productive work in Virtual-reality setups.

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