A team of researchers at Coburg University, the University of Cambridge, the University of Primorska, and at Microsoft Research set up the largest- and longest-scale VR working experiment yet performed, with sixteen test subjects spending an entire 40-hour work week in VR.
The outcomes show heavy effects on the health of the subjects while working in a virtual environment.
VR is being considered a non-efficient way of working.
A forty-hour Virtual Reality work week for test subjects put together by a set of researchers, the results turned out to be terrible but “expected”.
What is the Metaverse?
It is well known that Facebook billionaire, Mark Zuckerburg puts his belief in the Metaverse which is a new prototype where people can experience virtual reality and interact with both content and people.
He has even created a company called meta. The main issue with VR is that other than its commonly used application, that is, gaming, it is not a great help, especially when it comes to working.
A team of researchers at Coburg University, the University of Cambridge, the University of Primorska, and Microsoft Research, set up a large VR working experience yet performed, with sixteen test subjects who spent 40 hours of their workweek through virtual reality. They used a typical commercially-available setup: a Meta Quest 2 headset, the one made by Facebook and a Logitech K830 keyboard with an integrated trackpad. All the work was done in the conventional PC environment.
Outcomes
The results have been claimed to be “as expected.” The report showed a 35% increase in work task load, 42% more frustration, 11% more anxiety, and a whopping 48% increase in eye strain. Participants rated their own productivity at 16% lower and their well-being at 20% lower. In fact, a man and a woman, dropped out of the study on the first day, they reported migraine, nausea and anxiety.
The researchers fully aimed at replicating the typical VR work set up as it is available today and not an ideal one. Despite the fact that the Meta Quest 2 is one of the best-selling head-mounted displays in the market, there are other VR headsets with better resolution and wider, more human-like fields of view. Indeed, the VR environment does have potential advantages, even when applied strictly to productive tasks. These include the ability to customize a user’s setup and see massive amounts of data beyond the limits of a physical screen.
Conclusion
The overall research shows a totally negative outcome of VR technology. It had subjects with both zero and extensive experience with VR but it showed both, discomfort and a fall in productivity level.
The researcher claims that it is absurd that millions of people spend their days on a virtual reality technology rather than in the real world. The research concludes that VR gaming is indeed a great experience but bringing it to work is a preposterous idea.
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Source: PCWorld
