We’ve spoken at length across various articles about how
your working environment, including everything from its general aesthetics to
it layout,
colour,
lighting
and countless other details, can influence your productivity, motivation,
health, and wellbeing as you go about your work. However, converting an entire
office space in order to better meet these demands is expensive, crucial as it
may be.
Aiming to bring an appealing environment into the office
without the need for this hefty expense is a Reykjavik-based Icelandic start-up
called Mure VR. Utilising the still-developing technology that is virtual
reality, their goal is to allow workers to escape the monotony of the same old
office space and work instead in a stunning location of their own choosing, all
via their new ‘Breakroom’ app.
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Img: Mure VR - Breakroom |
Companies are already starting to recognise the benefits of
providing more novel environments within their offices. These may be break areas designed purely for restorative purposes, or additions such as outdoor working areas filled with plant life, which have been specifically designed to boost productivity and mood;
either way, the traditional office is fading into the background as more imaginative
and intuitive ideas take hold.
“Our idea is that you could actually just sit at your desk
and you could get this feeling, this psychological restoration, without having
to leave the workstation,” says company CEO Diðrik Steinsson.
The app, if proven successful in the long run, could save
companies a fortune all while continuing to properly address the needs of the
workforce; it seems like a win-win. Also let’s face it, who doesn’t like the
idea of sitting atop Kilimanjaro of pegging out on a virtual beach as you flick
through your company inbox each morning?
While developing the Breakroom app, Steinsson and his team
consulted with environmental psychologist Pall Jakob Lindal. With Lindal’s help
and advice concerning attention-restoration theory, they were able to create
virtual environments in which individuals felt comfortably immersed yet free
from distraction.
Dawn Chan of The New Yorker recently got the opportunity to
trial the app, and while she seemed to be impressed overall she did express
some concerns with the technology. While the principle behind the app, she
argues, is a good one, its limitations become apparent when performing
demanding tasks or opening multiple browser windows. She also remarked on how
the scenery became somewhat blurred during head movements, which provided mild
distraction. On the whole however, she concluded that the app offered “just
enough escape”.
If Mure VR can manage to navigate these minor issues,
improving the apps memory, rendering, and general capabilities, then I would
expect them to achieve at least some measure of success. I still struggle to
imagine a world in which we all sit at our desks with a huge headset strapped
to our faces, but the same has been said in the past about many emerging technologies
and accessories which seemed somewhat bizarre at the time, so I’m willing to
accept I may be wrong in that regard.
Sam Bonson
Sam
is an aspiring novelist with a passion for fantasy and crime thrillers. He is currently
working as a content writer, journalist & editor in an attempt to expand
his horizons.
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