Smart working could be an intermediate step towards a new era of work characterized by the metaverse, with several companies already working to apply the most immersive technology to professional contexts.
Security experts, however, warn about the dangers of a 'darkverse', that is, a new place of reference for carrying out criminal activities.
If already today the videoconference allows to cross the physical barriers between countries, facilitating the "encounters" on the digital paths, the metaverse will go further by giving the possibility to collaborate in a three-dimensional environment.
The trend is on the rise as evidenced by recent research by Regus, a company that analyzes changes in workspaces.
He questioned over two thousand British managers and professionals: two thirds believe that the metaverse will become an established work interaction platform.
The same slice is convinced that in a few years their business will be declined, in some way, on 3D scenarios to be accessed with viewers and goggles.
Additionally, 65% of managers think the metaverse will be more revolutionary than any other technology today.
For 44% of employees, it will also benefit from communication with colleagues and, for 35%, training.
"Certainly the technologies enabling the metaverse will improve remote work with a view to greater immersion, therefore likelihood with physical experience, reducing travel to the workplace, therefore the impact on the environment and human health - explains Vincenzo Cosenza, founder in Italy of the first Observatory on the metaverse - Today video calls do not give a sense of presence and lead us to easily distract ourselves. There are already concrete cases such as the industrial use of Microsoft HoloLens, Google Glass Enterprise or of the European Varjo viewers. But it will take time, however, because the technology is still expensive and not within the reach of all companies ".
Italy, too, thanks to the momentum of European modernization projects, is trying.
Ntt Data, which provides business services, has opened a new European training center on the metaverse in our country, focused on the industrial sector.
In Milan, on the other hand, iDea inaugurated Made, a place for immersive teaching, which sees the metaverse as a way to develop innovative solutions for the benefit of scientific societies, companies and institutions.
Certainly it will be necessary to train specialized people, both in the development of projects and in understanding the opportunities and associated risks.
For example those concerning data security.
Trend Micro cybersecurity experts talk about redefining the concept of privacy, as the metaverse will open up to a collection of information that will grow as more activities are migrated online.
For this, the group talks about Darkverse, the "dark side" of the metaverse, a new place of reference for criminal activities.
The latter could try to compromise the spaces managed by the operators of critical infrastructures with the aim of carrying out sabotage or extortion of industrial systems.
Or they might try "avatar assault",
