Facebook just announced an invite-only beta version of its Horizon Workrooms that brings people and computers into a virtual workspace, but the concept has already been implemented by another company and it's possible to get started for free. Telepresence has been discussed for many years and comes in different forms. However, with the worldwide pandemic forcing remote work to become a reality ahead of schedule, the timing for these solutions is perfect, and it's great to see more than one company involved and offering viable tools right now.
Facebook's Horizon Workrooms comes with some limitations. The requirement of an Oculus Quest 2 headset to enter the workspace in virtual reality (VR) means those with older models are left out of the complete experience. Facebook does allow people to connect via a computer only, so it is still usable without a Quest 2. The more limiting factor is that this is a beta version that requires an invitation to participate in creating a room. Since the experience seems fairly complete already, it might open up soon and allow more to join and experiment with this new way of working.
In the meantime, a very similar experience has already been fully implemented by a company called Immersed. The free offering is quite impressive, allowing a virtual desktop experience with two monitors that can be positioned around the user in a personal VR workspace. The resolution, orientation, and curvature are adjustable. While this would be quite awkward to use if typing was done with a virtual keyboard, Immersed has a clever way to align a physical keyboard with the virtual one, allowing typing to feel just as it normally would. The title of the app and company is quite appropriate as this is a very immersive experience that allows real work to be done while in virtual reality. To interact with others, a subscription is required and there is a seven-day trial available which unlocks all of the features. Facebook's Horizon Workrooms offers some but not all of the same features.
In comments to Screen Rant, Immersed founder Renji Bijoy said, "The most innovative solutions are what stick around. If WorkRooms has innovative ideas, that'll stick, and that'll be great market validation for all of us." Bijoy also added, "The more the merrier."
Immersed Teams Vs. Horizon Workrooms
Horizon Workrooms launched as a free beta service and currently requires an invitation to participate. Immersed Teams is a paid subscription service that is quite similar, offering customizable meeting rooms and avatars, with remote desktop and screen sharing built-in. Whereas Facebook's solution is limited to the Oculus Quest 2 headset, Immersed supports the first and second-generation Quest. Horizon Workrooms also currently supports Windows PCs and Intel Mac computers with M1 support coming soon. Immersed supports Windows, Mac, and Linux. M1 Mac support is currently in beta testing and already seems to perform well. Immersed started in 2017 and has developed a very robust and complete solution and it seems Facebook has created a nearly identical solution with its Horizon Workrooms.
There are tradeoffs with both virtual workspace services. Immersed charges $15 per month for a shared workspace with up to four collaborators and $30 per month for 12 or more collaborators, roughly on par with Horizon Workrooms which allows 16 VR collaborators. Additional features are unlocked with an Immersed subscription, in some cases going beyond what is possible with Facebook's offering, such as support for up to 5 virtual monitors. It also can place a virtual phone within the VR world. When Facebook's Horizon Workrooms goes live, it will presumably offer VR meeting rooms at no cost but might switch to a paid model in the future. If it remains free, users should not be surprised to see ads appear within the virtual space eventually although Facebook has not mentioned any such plans yet. While Facebook is a big fan of VR and its metaverse concept, it is still a business and will require funding at some point to satisfy investors. Whichever ends up being a better answer for remote teams in the end remains to be seen. In the meantime, Immersed is available now and supports a much larger group of people and hardware than Facebook's Horizon Workrooms.
Source: Immersed