How Businesses Use Virtual Worlds for Everyday Tasks

According to Gartner analysts, by 2026, a quarter of the planet’s population will spend at least an hour a day in virtual worlds. Metaverses erase the boundaries between the virtual and the real, reduce distance and costs, while having almost unlimited functionality. That is why it was not ordinary users but business clients who were the first in Russia to bet on virtual worlds. In the article, we will discuss: why they do this, why your company needs to go to Metaverse, and how virtual worlds can take any organization to a fundamentally new level.

What is the metaverse?

The metaverse is a virtual world. A digital space filled with thematic activities. It is like a computer game, but without a specific scenario: the user is given complete freedom of choice and action. In essence, the metaverse is a simulation of the real world. Here you can work, study, gain and develop skills, meet with colleagues and even attend concerts.

How does metaverse help employees of Russian companies?

According to Statista, in 2023, 28% of employees worldwide worked from home (full time or part time). Over the past four years, this figure has more than doubled. At the same time, most employers consider remote employees less engaged and less immersed in the corporate culture. And the remote workers themselves consider loneliness and difficulty communicating with colleagues to be the main problems.

But the problem of an employee’s physical presence in the office can be easily solved by virtual presence! Research has shown that virtual avatars (characters) of real users significantly affect the feeling of co-presence and real interaction, which significantly increases the effectiveness of cooperation (Frontiers Research). At the same time, there is no need to change the work processes in the company. It is enough to selectively introduce some tools into your corporate culture so that employees feel more included.

Quarterly meetup of Absolut Bank employees

How can an IT department manager gather 100 of his employees in one place to discuss plans and metrics? Hold a meetup in the Pixity metaverse! We managed to hold a non-boring event that lasted more than 1.5 hours. We diluted it with interactivity to collect important feedback from employees on the department’s work. The event took place in a futuristic event hall, divided into 2 spaces:

The lobby is a spacious entrance area where employees spawned when entering the metaverse. There were waiting areas with sofas where you could sit down and chat with colleagues, as well as a huge board with stickers where employees left notes with their suggestions. We uploaded all the notes left by employees into a convenient table and handed them over to management.

The amphitheater is an auditorium with a large screen. Here, participants could take seats and watch the director’s speech in live broadcast mode. Thanks to the convenient shape of the hall, all guests can clearly see the speaker and presentation materials, and the general chat allows participants to send questions.

Marathon “Free to be yourself” from SK Samolet in the metaverse Pixity (2024)

The marathon lasted for two weeks. During this time, participants attended open discussions with invited speakers and top managers of the company, took part in interactive voting on gender stereotypes and competed with each other, collecting gifts at the company’s locations.

In total, 4 unique spaces were opened at the event:

Terminal (lobby) – the entrance to the metaverse and the general gathering place of guests. You can quickly enter the lobby from any device with one click on the link – there is no need to download separate programs or register.

In the lobby, you can use the teleport to other spaces, change your avatar into branded SK Samolet merchandise, or look at the scoreboard of leaders who won the first place in virtual competitions.

Space ” Labyrinth of Stereotypes “. This space is a labyrinth from which the employee must find a way out. The space is exciting – Easter eggs and prizes are hidden in secluded corners, and therefore you want to explore it to the end.

Space “Track” . An obstacle course that must be passed without falling into the abyss. During the game, the user runs and jumps, overcoming obstacles, and also collects items to advance in the rating.

Large concert venue. The main event space with a large screen, stage, dance floor and lounge area. Performances and discussions, parties and team building activities took place here.

During the discussions, speakers discussed established gender stereotypes with guests. Participants could communicate via chat or voice messages, and vote “for” or “against” in special zones — votes were counted automatically.

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