Facebook unveils infinite Office its futuristic virtual reality office concept

By Matthew Griffin Virtual World 20th October 2021

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

Why use a laptop when you can work anywhere from anywhere in AR or VR?

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The future of work is changing. Post pandemic many offices still sit empty as more people work from home, Nvidia is rolling out a Virtual Reality (VR) office that is literally a photon level clone of its own HQ, and apparently all of that got the guys at Facebook thinking …

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This week at the company’s first ever fully digital Augmented Reality (AR) and VR focused conference Facebook introduced the rather stunning but also intriguing “Infinite office” concept — their platform that lets people create their very own virtual working environment.

Work anywhere from anywhere!

Targeting those who still may be working from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the infinite office will overlay itself on real world environments, however in order to enhance worker focus and flexibility users can toggle between a fully immersive experience and a mix of virtual displays with “Passthrough” so that they can have a greater awareness of their surroundings – such as screaming children who are saving the pets.

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The features of the new infinite office include a large workspace with multiple customizable screens with no extra monitors required. Meanwhile, Facebook says that its Oculus browser will offer a “desktop class web experience.”

Passthrough at work …

The platform has also been designed to be as portable as possible, and as a sign of things to come you won’t see a laptop in sight as it lets users ditch their laptop once and for all, pick up their sleek pair of AR or VR glasses, and pick their work up right where they left off wherever they want.

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Facebook has also announced a partnership with Logitech to bring a physical keyboard into VR beginning with the widely available Logitech K830.

Infinite office was announced at Facebook Connect, where the tech giant also announced Oculus Quest 2. To enter the VR workplace users simply put on the “Quest 2” headset and begin customizing their surroundings, and the company says it will begin rolling out the first infinite office features as an experimental release for Quest 2 soon.

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“We’ve already started early experiments with third parties including Spatial, which shows how passthrough could enhance a virtual co-located meeting,” said a spokesperson for the company, adding, “There’s more in store, and we’re excited to share what’s next.’

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Described by NASA as a "Walking Encyclopaedia of the Future" and one of the world’s most in demand keynote speakers Matthew Griffin, Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm, is a multi-award winning Futurist and strategic foresight expert, author, lecturer, mentor, podcast and YouTube host.

With a distinguished career running global business units at Atos, EMC, and IBM today Matthew helps leaders and titans of industry from all over the world explore the impact of the inter sections of technology, culture, and leadership, then helps them create high performance organisations that can continuously disrupt, outpace, and outthink their competition.

15 times author of the hit series the Codex of the Future series Matthew's ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders across the G7, G20, and G77, and many of the world's most recognised and exceptional organisations including ABB, Accenture, ABN Amro, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Deloitte, Dentons, Disney, Dow, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Microsoft, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Nokia, Paramount, PepsiCo, PWC, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, Visa, WIRED, WPP and hundreds of others.

Matthew is regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, and his mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.