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VR could very well be the future of the remote workplace. But there are things that need ironing out first.
As I put the final touches on a rough draft, my eyes can’t help but wander toward the city view just outside the floor to ceiling windows of my top floor office. I watch cars pass on a distant bridge, building lights flicker, and the sun reflect off of neighboring skyscrapers. The Popular Mechanics logo, a collage featuring covers of some of our print issues over the past 120 years, and our latest cover page line the walls. After a productive workday, I slowly nod off to a Lo-Fi Spotify playlist as the clock on my computer hits 6 p.m.
My vision fades to black and a tri-tone beep rings. No, I’m not asleep just yet, but my virtual reality Oculus 2 headset is due to its limited battery life. As I slowly remove the goggles, I’m greeted by the sight of my fiancée sitting across our tiny kitchen table from me, eating dinner as she types away at her laptop. The real world is a bleak and cramped contrast to my spacious digital office. I had been toiling away in Meta’s Workrooms app, which provided that private, distraction-free retreat for my most productive work. Beyond creating an isolated workspace, it’s part of the overarching Metaverse, in which coworkers can join each other “in-person” over the internet. While I’ve been experimenting in it for the past year, my teammates and I all got together recently to collaborate for the first time. And they each have differing opinions on its potential after experiencing it for themselves.
Pre-pandemic, I would spend 90 minutes aboard a train and an additional 15 minutes driving in traffic after the workday ended. Now it’s a different story. With employers forced forced to adopt remote work to get by, apps like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom have become increasingly more useful. My commute now, to call it that, consists of me rolling out of bed and walking to my desk at home. This necessitated reliance on video and audio calls and meetings has spurred a mass change and wider acceptance of remote work. According to Pew Research, 59 percent of all employees that can perform their job responsibilities online work primarily from home these days.
Unfortunately, the flat nature of screen- and phone-based calls doesn’t translate body language, hold attention, and foster a sense of connection that in-person meetings can help establish. Ultimately this can make them less engaging and potentially stifle collaboration.
Last year, Facebook rebranded itself as Meta with a focus on creating richer social interactions over the internet. I’ve used virtual reality for gaming and keeping in touch with friends states away for years, since this is the closest I can come to seeing them face to face. In these digital online environments, we can play and experience games together, whether working to survive on an island or piloting space ships. This experience (and being the PopMech consumer tech editor) already made me inclined to using virtual reality as a remote work tool, as this level of interaction boosts focus and interaction opportunities over the web. Meta’s Workrooms app is a VR work suite that combines the best functions of all its competitors like chatting, meeting scheduling, and task management while adding its own secret sauce: immersive and customizable virtual-reality meeting spaces.
You access Workrooms exclusively via Meta’s Quest 2 VR headset, which the company hopes will help restore some of the sense of presence lost over the internet. It does so by creating interactive digital environments that you can physically move around, interact with, and present in with other Workrooms users. In theory, you simply throw on a headset, customize your avatar, and meet face-to-face “in-person" inside of a shared virtual office space. Once you’re setup, jumping into a shared virtual meeting takes the same time as getting up from a desk to walking into a physical meeting room. In here, you can collaborate in front of different backdrops—from city skylines to beaches—with teammates who also have headsets, restoring and encouraging in-person levels of brainstorming and engagement.
Everyone in a headset has a digital avatar that looks like them, sounds like them (it’s their real voice coming through the speakers), and is even as tall as them. And people who don’t feel like throwing on a headset can join a meeting using a webcam via a link, like they would with Zoom or Teams for a conference-call view of the 3D space. This is is possible and more accessible due to the advancements in Meta’s Quest 2 headset.
Over the past decade, VR headsets capable of tracking your real-world body and room have condensed in size and price. At the start of the modern virtual reality push in 2012, you needed a powerful computer, a wired hefty VR headset, and multiple base stations spread throughout a room—all that easily costing over $1,200. Today, standalone headsets are wireless all-in-one systems with a computer and tracking system built directly into a lightweight set of goggles. Meta’s Quest 2 is just a quarter of the price at $299 while equipped with sleek motion controllers and an onboard operating system. You can download apps, browse the web, and play video games directly from the headset. It uses six built-in cameras to track the surrounding room, your body movements, and even objects within your play space. You can further blend reality with the Metaverse by connecting your phone to see live notifications, calls, and messaging without removing the headset. There are many ways to interact with the virtual world, like using the included motion controllers, your hands, or even your voice. There’s also a passthrough view of your digital environment with reality. You can see your desk space, objects in the real world, and walls, so that you don’t bump into them.
This accessibility shift makes it easier to use and acquire for more people. When you think about it, the $299 price is relatively affordable for a device that’s basically a phone, laptop, and game console. It’s camera-centric tracking system opens natural holodeck-like possibilities. You can scan in large pieces of furniture like your couch or desk so that you can use them in virtual spaces. With the Workrooms remote desktop client, you can even bring your computer from the real-world into a virtual office, where the cameras can track your keyboard, arms, and fingers. This creates a digital overlay for a realistic typing experience. You can feel like you’re somewhere else in the same room with others, then return to reality. It’s an effective way to escape for work and change up your environment but shines best as a communication tool.
Workrooms doesn’t bank on keeping you in VR full time. The web app is a lightweight but serviceable answer to a program like Teams or Slack. Most scheduling, uploads, and chatting occurs directly on the Workrooms web app. Virtual reality is the biggest draw and enhances communication while leaving access points for anyone who wants to call in or use a webcam. After downloading the Workrooms app on my Quest 2, I visited the website to schedule meetings for my team on a shared calendar, send messages, upload files, create to-do action items with deadlines, and generate meeting links for non-VR collaborators.
The Workrooms interface looks clean and is straightforward to use. Connecting my MacBook Pro to the remote client allows me to work on it directly from the virtual space whether I’m typing up a quick note or sharing my screen with the entire team. I’ve gone over spreadsheets, shared pitch ideas, and presented without moving more than 2 feet in the real world. The core elements of each room are the same. There’s a giant whiteboard for physically drawing notes, presenting slides, or sharing your computer screen. Flipping your controller around like a pen near your desk board or whiteboard allows you to draw and annotate images with satisfying haptic feedback. In front of the meeting desk is a monitor for real-world team members to call into the Metaverse using a webcam. And in the layout menu, you can arrange seating, backgrounds, and wall decor options with a click. There’s no stress or expense of a commute to have everyone seated in the same “space.”
After throwing on a headset and making my way through a few menus, I’m able to load into virtual environments. On the other hand, Meta’s limited venue choices keep things easy but stifle power users who would want to create tailored layouts or brainstorming rooms. While you can customize three elements (the logo, an image, and a poster) using custom files, you can’t place these where you want within the room. Allowing us to modify and place 3D objects could also help with workflows. It would be truly innovative if I could meet with a brand rep and actually learn about a new product by examining its 3D rendering.
I will say there’s no lag or audio dropouts between teammates. Even when we gathered on the same weak 7-Mbps office Wi-Fi, the meetings ran smoothly. But the experience still isn’t perfect. “It feels like it could all be 5 percent better, especially in hand tracking,” says Autos Editor Matt Crisara. “It’s effective for chatting, but the navigation is tedious. There’s a lot of moving parts from making sure your headset, the app, and remote desktop client are up to date. Then you have to open the app on the headset, select the correct room, and ensure your laptop keyboard is visible to the cameras. The virtual typing feels like it has about a half second of lag, which can be frustrating when typing up longer assignments.” Crisara’s joined me in meetings since January, so he has six months of testing behind these claims. “When it works, it’s amazing. But you need to put in the work to get there.”
“Using Workrooms feels natural, especially learning how to operate with just your hands, since there’s a lot of handholding throughout setup,” says Deputy Editor Will Egensteiner. Other than running into a brief hiccup during setup (in which he got stuck in a screensaver-type view and had to reboot the headset), he was impressed with the experience. He found having scheduled meetings, to-dos, links, and chat from one spot in the web app is helpful. “I can jump between channel—or as they’re called here, meeting rooms—while assigning tasks or chatting. Plus, in the headset, I can bump up the size of the virtual monitor so it feels twice the size of my physical laptop.” But Egensteiner was intrigued most by the potential of using equipment that isn’t at home with you physically, like that giant whiteboard. “I would love to create a deep-thinking space for brainstorming—where I can take notes on my computer then turn to the board to jot down ideas. As it stands, if I move to the whiteboard, I have to click a button to go back to my desk, and if I physically stand I can’t easily track my laptop keyboard. To be useful, all of this should be seamless."
Test Editor Roy Berendsohn has been with Popular Mechanics for decades, and while his focus is on tools, he was pleasantly surprised by the virtual headset and our digital office space. “There’s no denying that this is remarkable,” he says. “Putting on this apparatus instantly transports you to another world.” While he thinks there’s no complete substitute for meeting in person, he says this comes incredibly close. “How many people met remotely before the pandemic? Suddenly meeting from home is easy and indispensable. I think this can and will hit the mainstream, but there’s stuff to work out.” Berendsohn found the headset to be heavy at the front, straining his neck after 15 minutes. Setting up his account was also tedious, since our company spam blockers kept sending the invitation email to his junk folder. However, once in the room, Berendsohn had a grin on his face as he laughed at how surreal the experience felt.
Meta’s biggest critic was Test Editor Bradley Ford, who questioned why we would switch from our current streamlined setup to a clunky process filled with hoops both physical and technological through which to jump. It’s a fair point—the friction it takes to get into the headset, select the app, and run the room (which took us just over a minute on average), is a far cry from our current Microsoft Teams notifications. Each morning, every editor receives a meeting reminder that pops up and allows us to join a call with a click in under five seconds. “In this stage, Workrooms is a toy, not an enterprise solution for having meetings,” he says. “For professional workspaces, I don’t see a value for it right now. It’s a cool time waster for sure. But real enterprise uses are custom-built to present realistic situations for construction scenarios or flight training. While I don’t need to see cartoon versions of my teammates, I’m sure this is great for a distant coworker or from home.”
Virtual reality could very well be the future of remote work, but the friction to jump into a meeting and limited customization holds it back. As it stands, entering the Metaverse takes a lot of effort that not everyone is willing to give. Meta takes one step forward and two steps back in a few ways. The giant all-in-one smartboard in the center of the room is a useful element that’s multifunctional for writing, annotating, and projecting content. However, you can’t use it to multitask easily so that you can switch from working on your computer to jotting down notes simultaneously. Meanwhile the cartoon avatars offer a deep level of customization and are synced up to move their mouths in time with your speech coming through the microphones. They do their best to emote for more engaging conversations, but they don’t have a wide range of expression.
Even still, I can feel the presence behind a presentation rather than someone sitting on a webcam and reading slides off their screen. Talking has more enthusiasm and flow. This technology works well, but it’s locked behind an obnoxious account setup process and too many clicks to launch. And unlike user-created worlds in VRChat or Horizon Worlds, the environment selection is paltry, with just three locations with two variants each. With that said Workrooms isn’t science fiction coming in the near future; anyone with a Quest 2 can download and use it for free right now. If you can put up with the tedious multi-step process into launchings meetings then you’ll be able to step into the next evolution of online communications. I’ve spent the past year using the platform since its release for weekly calls and as a change of scenery for productivity boosts. As someone who uses web communication apps like Slack, Teams, and Zoom every day, I can say that virtual reality is certainly the most novel way to meet with others over the web.
Not only does it allow for a better sense of presence for more natural, engaging online communications and presentations, but the bevy of useful tools and interactions work well and offer an experience you can’t get from looking at a screen. Meanwhile, its web app is a jack of all trades accessible by any browser but not doing any one thing especially well. Outside of its rich VR meeting spaces, the task tracking, calendar, and file storage systems are too basic to make a strong enough case for larger teams to switch to Workrooms from established setups like Teams or Zoom. That’s a shame, because office work across the country is changing with more remote opportunities cropping up all the time. Teams are more likely to be spanning different coasts and time zones.
You won’t be spending more than two hours a day in here. Hell, most people probably won’t keep the headset on for more than 20 minutes. But this technology saves time, money, and effort when you’re unable to work together in person. While we may not be able to beam into a room like in sci-fi shows, this reproduction of a meeting room comes very close and could have a place in the future office. Not everyone is going to embrace it with open arms. While it’s certainly more engaging than video calls, it’s not going to replace work suites or in-person meetings. Maybe one day, but not yet.