Day 10 in the Virtual Office!
Total Time in VR: 3 hours and 10 minutes (across 6 VR sessions)
Use Cases: Focus Time (1 hour 23 min), Team Meetings (56 min), Mini-Mindfulness (29 min), Evening Work (21 min)
While I didn’t spend as much time today in VR as the rest of the week, a couple of sessions painted a picture of the balance I find in these virtual spaces. So here is “The Tale of Two VR Sessions”.
My first session of the day was Mini-Mindfulness, as it is most days. But today I was heading to the mini-golf course alone. My co-workers told me they wouldn’t be in attendance, so I was able to prepare ahead of time. I’ve been meaning to test out using a meditation app for the 10 minute session, and a solo session seemed the perfect opportunity. I placed myself in a good spot on the Quixote Valley course, and started the “Daily Calm” session in the Meditation app, “Calm” (using Airpods linked to my phone). This is a 10 minute guided meditation. I’ve used Calm for years off and on, but using it while immersed in VR was one of the best experiences I’ve had. In the past when I opened my eyes during a session, I saw my room, and I was distracted by my “stuff”. In VR, it didn’t matter if I opened my eyes because I was isolated on the minigolf course. Sure, the courses are very interesting and worthy of attention, but after so many sessions, these virtual worlds really are tools to help me focus versus distractions. This was a great start to my last day of the week. Even though I was by myself.
That session was immediately followed by a collaborative session with several of my co-workers (who allowed me to use their avatars in my header today). This was a dynamic session where we discussed the validity of VR for productivity. I am always thinking about how a fully remote company retains talent, when isolation and loneliness are real realities (pun) we face. There is no building to drive to in the morning. No co-workers to see in the hallways. It’s all in the computer, from Zoom to Slack and all the emails in between. I know that VR can make a difference, but I also know that I’m an early adopter who will run screaming into new tech without hesitation. This collaborative meeting allowed for more voices at the virtual table.
Both of these VR sessions were awesome in their owns ways. The mixed reality of Mini-Mindfulness and the Calm app was a new way to do a practice I’ve been at for years. And the shift into a dynamic collab meeting felt exactly like it would have on campus. Getting up from my cubicle, walking down the hallway to work with my co-workers for an hour in a conference room.
Cup Half Empty: It has been brought to my attention that in many cases the use of the Remote Desktop with Horizon Workrooms causes issues with scaling the physical monitors post-session. One person on my team doesn’t want to map a remote desktop because it screws up her computer afterwards. This is something that will need to be resolved for remote work to scale in virtual reality for certain. It’s worth noting I have not had these issues, but I work on a Mac most of the time and it seems like Workrooms was optimized for Apple computers. I might have to try my Razer next week to compare the experience.
Also, the Horizon Workrooms website was down today. A rare occasion.
Cup Half Full: I continue to be amazed by how easy it is to work inside VR. I feel so productive in the VR Office. The goals I’m setting now are trying to figure out where the line is for “how much VR is too much?” This line will be in one place. I image the “how much will an early adopter tolerate” line will be very close to the first line. But the big question is “how much VR will a new user find valuable?”. That one is the puzzler.
#TLDR
Two weeks down! I set out to maintain my usage this week and it held pretty steady. The more I use Workrooms, the more I wonder about how VR is enhancing my productivity. Meaning when is VR making me FASTER. I know that I enjoy being in the VR space to work more than the home office I’ve been in for years. But it has to be about more than enjoyment, it has to take things to the next level. And I think I’m on my way.
Next week the VR Office moves back upstairs into my physical office to see how much moving office spaces impacted my first experience with the VR Office. And the Quest Pro will make it’s first appearance soon…
Till Tomorrow…
Carrier Pigeon XR 