The time when a piece of fruit was still just a piece of fruit and a company was still a real company seems to be slipping away: thanks to - or because of - the metaverse, all this will soon be a thing of the past: we will all be living in a parallel world.
What luck some would say, as their real worlds are so sad, poor, or desolate, but many of us will still prefer the real world, despite all the constraints and challenges, because it is so captivating and beautiful!
The idea here is not to confront the two worlds: it is simply to assess the advantages and constraints of a more “virtual” approach. This “new world” will perhaps allow us to study certain paths, certain behaviours, certain solutions without having to “play them for real” with all the consequences that this may have.
Aren’t FM and workspaces also, to a certain extent, virtualising the environment, the first step towards entering the ‘new world’? Here are some examples:
• The virtual representation of the building (BIM, GEM, BOS, etc.) to build, maintain or transform it.
• The virtualisation of contacts by introducing videoconferencing.
• The digitalisation of workflows replacing personnel in favour of engineering and embedded automation.
• Shifting the burden of business to the customer through specific applications (e.g., ordering a train ticket, show tickets, etc.).
It may be argued that digitalisation does not yet mean the ‘meta-verse’. True, but it is a gateway or, who knows, a back door…
The transition from the real world to the virtual world - in the sense of the metaverse - is not far off. We can see that certain tools designed for real operational work are being transformed by first passing through the door of the ‘virtual’ and, who knows, in the very near future that of the ‘metaverse’.
Thus, a worker would carry out his tasks sometimes in the real world and sometimes thanks to his “virtual clone” in a parallel world.
It is interesting to note that the younger generations do not (anymore?) ask themselves this kind of question and move from the real world to the virtual world and vice versa with disconcerting dexterity. The point here is not to pass any judgement but to know how to anticipate and rethink the world of work, workspaces, and the FM in this context.
Are companies ready for these challenges? Let’s face it: most are not, and perhaps don’t want to be.
The societal challenges are enormous, and one wonders if we are not experiencing a Frankenstein remake where the creators of the metaverse are being overtaken by their creatures…
We still have some time to think about this and above all to appreciate real time. The current challenges of workspaces and FM are already quite enough for us to deal with them to our satisfaction without adding to them in the world of the “metaverse”, but who knows…
Have a good week, good thoughts, and good reading.