I have recently done some thinking (amazing stuff), and realized that society would benefit immensely from the institution of virtual workplaces. No, no, not just using computers more. We need to institute a sense-immersing protocol that would allow people to telecommute from home on a universal basis (for white-collar jobs, at least), as there are so many jobs these days where people essentially sit in a cube, office, or whatever, and type all day, occasionally answering the phone or going to meetings. In a truly virtual workplace, all this could be done over the 'Net. People could wear VR (virtual reality) helmets with cameras inside that capture facial expression, and with said helmet project VR versions of themselves ("avatars", as they are known), complete with faces. The helmets would also have microphones, of course, for talking over the telephone, in virtual meetings, and for any integrated voice-recognition software (such as for dictation of documents). Speakers would also be included in the helmets for audio reproduction and communication.
Another interesting feature would be virtual paper. People could distribute documents as virtual sheets of paper in their VR workplaces. These could be kept organized as easily (if not more so) than the files on existing computers (because they would simply be virtual representations of said files), but would still have the ease of use and appearance of paper. In addition, if the person actually wanted a real piece of paper with the document on it, they could simply send it to their printer from their home VR computer (the one they'd be connected to via the helmet, which would in turn connect them to their virtual workspace). They could be organized into virtual binders (as many as one could want) in a matter of seconds (a bit longer if one wanted an especially nice cover), and distributed in a few seconds more. The recipients, of course, would be able to store the entire virtual binder away in their computer somewhere so it would take up no space at all, but could be asked for at a moment's notice. Again, the use of files that have a shape and size only when we want them to would lend a more realistic feel to the workspace while still keeping things efficient, minimalistic, and organized when need be. In addition, e-mails could be "tangibilized" and messages from higher-ups in the organization with urgent status could be flagged more vigorously than at present.
Employees would have some other benefits from this technology relating to their personal portions of space available to them. Because the space available in each company's "office" would only be dependent on the memory in which the data for the office was stored, employees could have essentially limitless room available to themselves--everyone gets an office! These rooms could be customized in various ways--visible floor or invisible, making an area look like a given place on the planet somewhere (complete with sun position to match) or simply having a standard office space laden with decorations, a small area or a huge one--the sky's the limit. (Or not--you could have it look like the view from somewhere on Mars, or on a fantasy planet, or even in the sky itself, complete with clouds floating by.) Having a nice and comfortable atmosphere surrounding them, employees will have less stress, more job satsifaction, and increased productivity. Employees can have seasonal decorating contests without ever buying a "thing", and visiting a co-worker can become a pleasant experience due to his or her own selected atmosphere.
The doors in the virtual workspace can be made into more than just doors--instead of simply leading into the VR corridor where the standard door to that employee's "office" is "located", the employees, on their way out, can select any other destination that a door opens onto and simply end up there. As it would take some time for the data for any room beyond any door to load onto the employee's home computer, employees on the other side of the door can be alerted to the coming of the person entering before they actually "arrive". This will also save on corridor traffic and help resolve the issue of navigating the VR office.
Telecommuting from home has some other benefits. Immense amounts of fuel would be saved, pollution prevented, and traffic minimized by the number of people who don't even have to go out their front doors in the morning. People could save money (and more car time and resources) by having lunch at home instead of going out, and lunch break times could be recorded precisely by when the employees logged in and out of their virtual systems. Employees would have more time with their families because they wouldn't have to drive to work and back every day.
Other benefits aren't as apparent, but still present. People could answer the phone just as easily as before through their microphones in the helmets, but have the benefits of hands-free built in, saving neck strain or having to not have one arm available for use. In addition, the home phone lines of the employees could be fed into the system as well, allowing them to answer their home phones just as easily as their business ones.
Companies as a whole could have some nice perks as well. A virtual lobby could be accessible to anyone and used for people who want to "visit" without actually going anywhere. Receptionists could be on hand to assist the visitors, of course. Also, the offices of any one company could all be virtually brought together into one place, saving money on airfare (and the use of fuel and production of pollution associated with flying) for business trips and on phone bills for teleconferences. While the complex could be divided into areas by where the physical offices used to be, the entire complex could be easily navigable with the door-portals I mentioned earlier. A company's employees could be living anywhere in the world, saving money on relocation packages.
The two major difficulties are as follows: realistic hand force-feedback, and mobility within the virtual workspace. Making a glove that conveys a sense of what the avatar's hand is touching presents a unique challenge--inventing a glove that can make you think you're touching something you're not, all while not being too cumbersome, heavy, or stiff. How this will be done is something of a creative enigma, though my current idea would involve special contractile fibers or something to that effect that would resist movement as you pushed on a virtual object. It would be an unusual construction, to be sure.
The mobility would be an issue because people typically do not have a home with the same floorplan as their office--virtual offices included--and as such would be unable to simply have VR boots alone. However, I propose to fix this by retaining the VR boots, for short distance movement, but for longer spans, people could have a VR board with a control joystick integrated into their favorite chair, bed, or other support. People would be able to navigate their virtual job from the comfort of their own beds! And, due to the VR system, the workspace (and the related gravity) could be rotated so that the work would be done directly above the people's heads. Any object of sufficiently substantial volume and mass could be converted into a virtual movement system! The joystick would allow people to move their virtual avatars any distance and in any direction--including altitude adjustment controls would also allow people to "fly" through their workspaces.
Naturally, a new race of graphic designer-programmer hybrids would be necessary to program the objects that would inhabit these virtual workspaces, as each and every one would have to look like its real-world inspiration, but contain data to tell the computers about where it is, how big it is, etc. But this kind of skill is already becoming in demand due to the advancing technologies already in place. This concept will simply give the whole thing a hefty nudge.
One last slightly-related thought. This technology could easily be expanded into exceedingly realistic gaming capability, and the results could be stunning. A lot of real whiz-type engineers and programmers and the like are avid gamers, and letting them tinker with the tech could make this innovation advance even further explosively quickly.
Long-winded enough to be a rave, fo sho. Another concept, proposed by yours truly, that probably won't be noticed soon enough to change anything. But we'll see. This is kind of a dream of mine, so perchance I'll find a way to make it happen.
