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»Workroom«: Better than video calls?
Photo: FACEBOOK / via REUTERS
On Thursday, Facebook presented a new app for its Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headset: In “Workroom”, colleagues can meet in the form of avatars in a virtual conference room and access their computers at the same time.
The app is the first foretaste of the so-called Metaverse, which the Facebook boss wants to establish as the new generation of the Internet.
In a virtual press conference, Facebook demonstrated the new system that the company is already using for internal meetings. The graphics and the avatars are reminiscent of "Second Life", the virtual online world that triggered a hype more than a decade ago and was also touted as a conference tool. However, thanks to the integration of Facebook's Oculus Quest 2 VR glasses with built-in cameras, the environment is much more sophisticated. This creates the impression of actually sitting next to a colleague, because you have to turn your head to see him - the voices of the participants also seem to come from the corresponding direction of their avatars.
In addition, participants can integrate parts of their real work environment into the virtual world. The cameras built into the VR glasses record the hands of a user, for example, and display them in the virtual environment. The computer screen and some keyboards are also recognized and made available virtually. However, »Workroom« ignores the rest of the objects on the real desk, so that one has to be careful not to knock over a coffee cup when gesturing.
The new conference software is intended to represent a better alternative to video conferences, which have been shaping the everyday work of millions of office workers for more than a year. Although the program started before the outbreak of the Covid19 pandemic, the system is still suffering from teething troubles. Participants at the press conference reported that Mark Zuckerberg's avatar was frozen and that he had to log in again in order for his avatar's mouth to move again. Journalists also stated that they felt unwell after an hour - a fundamental problem with virtual reality glasses.
After the billion-dollar takeover of the industry pioneer Oculus VR in 2014, Facebook continued to invest in the technology, but its breakthrough did not materialize. Facebook does not announce official sales figures for its virtual reality glasses, but four million devices are said to have been affected by a product recall in the USA for the Oculus Quest 2. Especially after the conflict with Apple, Facebook is interested in making itself independent of other hardware manufacturers.
If you want to use the glasses, you have to link them to a Facebook account.
However, the company assures that the data in the virtual conferences will not be evaluated for the allocation of personalized advertising.
The new conference app is to be offered free of charge, but will only be available by special invitation for the foreseeable future.
tmk / Reuters
