That's true, but the constraints and nature of the medium open up new avenues of expression. We're not likely to catch subtle facial expressions-- or, for that

That's true, but the constraints and nature of the medium open up new avenues of expression. We're not likely to catch subtle facial expressions-- or, for that matter, smells and touch-- for a long time, but we'll gain incredible new powers in the mean-time. I'm thinking gesture capture (hands and body) and words/sounds in a virtual environment. You can fluidly interpret those inputs into sights and sounds which illustrate ideas. It won't be intimate in a physical sense, but it will be extremely expressive, and that's what the office needs.