A look into the future? Experts say technology may bring creative changes to workplace
WASHINGTON (ABC7) — As the Washington, D.C. area begins the slow, careful process of reopening, many of us may be thinking about what our workplace will look like when we return full-time to the office?
Experts say technology will bring about some amazing changes. Those changes will be brought about to makes us safe through the creation of a touchless office.
It's not science fiction or a tech idea that might come true sometime in the distant future. Sophia Moshasha of the VR/AR association says right now, " We can go into virtual spaces where we are represented as avatars a digital twin. Virtual reality, avatars, holograms, get used to them. Like it was in the movies like Minority Report, where he's moving all these things around, and it's really cool right. Well that's about to come into a lot of offices."
"You will walk into the office and see coworkers moving their arms touching nothing but air. Sensors in the device track your movements, and in turn move the screens you see through special eyewear," says Sayon Deb of the Consumer Technology Association. Deb adds what employees are demanding are touchless office spaces.
Mark Ein who owns Kastle Systems one of the largest providers of building and office security in the country believes, "Technology can be a big enabler to the safe return to the office."
Hands-free access according to Ein will start in the palm of your hand. "Doors will open automatically," says Ein," You won't have to have shared services. You can call elevators from the app on your phone and tell it which destinations you want to go to."
That technology is in place to be used right now in all of the buildings Ein's company secures in the D.C. area.
Once you get into your personal office space you may be a little wary about touching computers and maybe phones in the conference room. Soon we won't have to. Remember Google Glasses? Well they are back, and they have competition. Virtual reality and augmented reality have put the computer into those high tech glasses. Microsoft just shipped 185 pairs of its HoloLens 2 glasses to Case Reserve University in Ohio for its first-year medical students to learn about COVID-19.
Meeting in conference rooms may already be obsolete. "You don't have to be in the office with ten different people. You can with 10 people in different parts of the world," says Deb.
If you want to see the full interviews with our experts in this story and more videos of this amazing technology in use watch here:
Below are links to videos of the technology in use:
Case Western Reserve University
Augmented Reality with Spatial
