Immersive home offices by 2030

What: Ericsson conducted a survey of 8400 white-collar employees from 16 countries, who are early adopters of AR/VR/virtual assistant technology at work, about their expectations of a future workspace. Fifty percent of the respondents indicated they want a full-sense remote office in the near future – using the internet of senses to enhance, touch, temperature, sight, sound and even the taste of food. Sixty percent envisage a permanent increase in online meetings, and a shift to immersive technology to allow these to be as effective as before. 

So what: This survey already represents 133 million employees around the world today. Technology is evolving very rapidly, allowing them to reasonably anticipate that full-sense home offices will be a reality within this decade. Meeting with clients may no longer have to be in person, using sensory immersion to make situations realistic while allowing companies to drive efficiency gains and sales. If large organisations such as Ericsson are already proposing the shift within the decade, then this is a clear signal that dematerialisation is the next big trend to consider.