Endless MS Teams, Zoom Meeting, Sykpe, and Webex calls for remote team members and remote team leaders can become tiresome. Furthermore, think about fatigue educing. This article gives 11 suggestions for VR and AR adoption for remote teams and encourages remote job seekers to help innovate VR and AR.
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Remote teams drained from endless video conferencing
Want to sap the energy from your virtual team members? Require minimum four hour mandated video conferencing back to back. Think it is unheard of? Its true.
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83.13% spent up to 12 hours each week video conferencing
Let’s take a look at the paradigm shift. In 2018, Tech Jury estimated that staff spent lees than four hours each week participating in video conferences. Fast forward to today.
- 37.82% of US employees, regardless of work location attend a video conference meeting at least one to twice per week.
- 83.13% spend up to 12 hours weekly participating in virtual team meetings.
- 49% of respondents in an Airgram survey reported higher levels of exhaustion after video conferencing on-camera than off camera.
Before pandemic less than 60% employers used video interviews
In addition to mixed location workers, on site employees, distributed staff and workers working from home, the growth of video conferencing has transformed the job interview process as well. For instance, in February 2020, before the global pandemic took hold, Forbes reported that less than 60% of companies surveyed planned to use video interviewing as part of their hiring strategy. By October 2020, there was a dramatic 360 turn around.
90% employers intend to use video interviewing during hiring process
Almost 90% of companies surveyed responded that they intended to incorporate video interviewing in their hiring process (see Gartner survey here).
We are only pointing this fact out as business conditions force employers to change on a dime. From not considering an in innovation. To, hey wait a minute. Maybe this product/service/good will help us:
- achieve efficiencies
- lower costs
- become more productive
- improve quality
With the increased demand, usage and global market for video conferencing as a conduit for meetings and job interviews, you would think maybe we’ve reached the point of oversaturation. Satiation perhaps. What do you think?AR and VR
Global market for video conferencing to reach $20 Billion by 2027
Statista calculates that the global market for video conferencing has ballooned to $10.6 billion dollars. It is projected that worldwide, it will continue to grow to reach almost $20 billion dollars in three short years. Zoom provided estimates too showing how in 2019, there were roughly 10 million participants daily using video conferencing. By 2020, Google Meet reported 300 million daily participants!
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Remote workers experience video conferencing ‘Zoom Fatigue’
But as with every ‘fad’ or craze that catches blaze it either morphs into something better or dies by the wayside. Researchers from the University of Chattanooga, Tennessee found as the number of meetings held through virtual streaming videos, users began to complain about the following:
- mental and physical fatigue
- stress related to demands to hold prolonged eye gazes with other participants
- mental adjustment required to calibrate images that are presented as to large or too small on the monitor
- concerns about the violation of private space
- experiencing information overload while attempting to view multiple faces, shared documents and chat boxes simultaneously
- extraneous background stimuli viewable by all causing unintended distraction
- requirement to view one’s own self and the internal self criticisms that may follow
AR and VR the next logical step to video conferencing satiation
You get the picture. So let’s talk about AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) in the context of remote workers working on virtual teams distributed throughout the world.
Back in 2021, journalists writing for Forbes suggested that augmented reality and virtual reality are the next logical step from static and stale video conferencing. And, it isn’t a far stretch. Real estate agents use 3D virtual tours to sell properties, surgeons use 3D imagery to use tactical incisions, the military and aircraft pilots use simulations to mimic real war and flight path scenarios. Even counselors and therapists employ augmented reality to help patients overcome fears and phobias.
56% of companies embrace VR and AR with video conferences
But you ask, “how can this technology be applied to remote work?” It is being done as we speak! Silicon Valley blog cited a survey by Grid Raster demonstrating that more than half (56%) of companies survey are already embracing AR and VR technology.
11 Implications for AR and VR adoption for remote working staff
In speaking about remote job interviews using video conferencing, if we up it a notch, we can make it a truly immersive experience. Reflect upon the behavioral assessment interviews. What a bore and a drain. With AR and VR, employers:
- can submerse the applicant into simulated real life ‘what if’ scenarios and watch them apply their knowledge.
- present corporate culture, values and practices and measure for fit.
We wrote an article last week about the way in which the corporate office environment and culture can positively or negatively impact the perception of the potential recruit. AR and VR could be used to:
- Give the job applicant a 3D view of the corporate offices.
- Exposure to the day to day job duties and functions for the job in which they are being considered.
Once the applicant has been hired, virtual reality could be used to:
- Train and re-train employ on proper procedures by task and function using ‘learn by doing’ pedagogy.
- Bring the corporate employee handbook and standard operating procedures manual to life.
- Enable employees to manipulate simulated objects in a virtual environment to deepen their understanding of a business process or procedure.
- Review and train using case scenarios of client contact and customer service engagement.
- Provide an immersive training experience using advanced AI with increasing item (task) difficulty as the employee advances through various stages of a training program.
To improve team collaboration, virtual reality could be used to:
- Enhance virtual team member engagement with office layouts, avatars communicating with one another to solve a joint problem.
- Visually dissect a problem using root cause analysis to help virtual team members brainstorm and collaborate together on a solution.
AR and VR opportunities for recent graduates remote job search
In conclusion, what does AR and VR mean for remote teams? Both offer significant opportunities for remote team leaders and employers to better engage their remote staff.
What does AR and VR mean for a recent college graduate embarking on a career, possibly fulltime remote work? It opens the floodgates of opportunity. Young adults are on the cusp of something great. Not to be seen in previous lifetimes. Take charge today. Learn more about AR and VR. Seek to apply your knowledge and experience in gaming and mandated online college course completion for your financial benefit. Not just for entertainment and relaxation.
Young adults experienced the horrors of two to three years of required online university instruction where face-to-face interaction with your peers was lacking. In person guidance from your professors was nonexistent. Based upon your experience, and analysis, you can help design AR and VR programming. Young adults can help design products and services to meet the needs of remote workers and distributed teams who find video conferencing a drain. Go for it!
