New York startup Spatial recently released a prototype of a new form of office communication it calls a collective computing environment. It’s a hybrid of augmented reality and video conferencing that lets you become a 3D character capable of interacting with workplace documents, software, and, of course, other video callers. I use the term “character” as the system doesn’t render your actual human body, rather it creates a cartoonish avatar out of a still photograph.
VC Daily recently reported on aholographic telemedicine demonstration that used curved, bubble-like displays in which 3D images were projected. Perhaps Spatial could draw on this technology, at the very least as a simple way to allow workers to interact with holographic files, documents, and graphics.
Until that occurs, however, we are left to ponder that supersensory augmented reality office of the future.
It’s clear from devices such as Spatial’s prototype that we’re not far away from inhabiting workspaces that are essentially a blank slate for an entirely digital experience. The only hardware you currently need to live in Spatial’s world, after all, is a desktop or phone and a pair of goggles. Your surroundings, in fact, should probably be left blank so you can maximize the visual impact.