5 ms·

Your comment makes little sense as a reply to mine,wrong comment?

mncharity 7y ago
> desired environment The desired environment depends on the technology in use. A large change in technology, might significantly alter the desired environment. This increases both the value of customization, but also the current uncertainty about what might be needed. In the past, having office phones on desks, and calls that couldn't easily follow you, increased the importance of having secretaries, and of remaining within chaseable distance of them. Current desks bare but for power and network, depend on laptops existing. If work in VR meant everyone having a 3 meter mat and waving their arms (it actually doesn't) that would impact office layouts. Having conference room scheduling, means not having to wander around trying to find one not in use. If AR becomes a viable screen substitute/supplement in the next year or few, and displays start disappearing from desks, that makes it easier to hot swap desks. But that also raises new challenges for open office plans. Instead of being visually focused on a little opaque wall in front of you (the display), you're now looking around much more, seeing more of your physical surroundings. So open-office visual distraction may become an issue similar to their current auditory distraction. And while there's been a long-term trend of human office interactions, once handled by colocating physically, increasingly being handled virtually, it's been a slow trend. But it may not remain slow. Some imaginary level of virtual presence would be a fully functional substitute for office presence. Whether actual technology will approach that substitution gradually, or with punctuated equilibria where some large set of constraints and opportunities on office design suddenly change, seems unclear. Things-remain-largely-unchanged is always a good bet, except when you lose it. If changing technology increases the distance between desired environments and installed base, that increases the opportunity for the customization you describe. But also a raises a long-term risk, that the ecology of office use changes out from under you. Though I was just in an office originally built, as an office, in the early 1900's... so maybe not?

> desired environment The desired environment depends on the technology in use. A large change in technology, might significantly alter the desired environment. This increases both the value of customization, but also the current uncertainty about what might be needed. In the past, having office phones on desks, and calls that couldn't easily follow you, increased the importance of having secretaries, and of remaining within chaseable distance of them. Current desks bare but for power and network, depend on laptops existing. If work in VR meant everyone having a 3 meter mat and waving their arms (it actually doesn't) that would impact office layouts. Having conference room scheduling, means not having to wander around trying to find one not in use. If AR becomes a viable screen substitute/supplement in the next year or few, and displays start disappearing from desks, that makes it easier to hot swap desks. But that also raises new challenges for open office plans. Instead of being visually focused on a little opaque wall in front of you (the display), you're now looking around much more, seeing more of your physical surroundings. So open-office visual distraction may become an issue similar to their current auditory distraction. And while there's been a long-term trend of human office interactions, once handled by colocating physically, increasingly being handled virtually, it's been a slow trend. But it may not remain slow. Some imaginary level of virtual presence would be a fully functional substitute for office presence. Whether actual technology will approach that substitution gradually, or with punctuated equilibria where some large set of constraints and opportunities on office design suddenly change, seems unclear. Things-remain-largely-unchanged is always a good bet, except when you lose it. If changing technology increases the distance between desired environments and installed base, that increases the opportunity for the customization you describe. But also a raises a long-term risk, that the ecology of office use changes out from under you. Though I was just in an office originally built, as an office, in the early 1900's... so maybe not?