Picture this: A corporate executive spends the morning exploring a trade show floor, viewing videos and presentations on new products and networking with companies, vendors, and other attendees from around the world.

In the afternoon, they teleport to the grand auditorium for a keynote presentation, followed by a post-keynote breakout session in which the executive plans to present their latest corporate findings to a stakeholder audience.

As they teleport into this new room, they are greeted by an array of avatar stakeholders, including the top 10 CEOs to whom they hope to present. Grateful for everyone having the time to meet, the executive's avatar begins presenting, using collaborative tools.

Assuming the technology works smoothly, this scenario highlights the potential convenience and elevated engagement of a virtual world: A digital environment where users can meet, communicate, interact, and collaborate without the hassle and expense of travel — or the current practice of face masks and social distancing.

Communication, collaboration, and engagement have evolved with technology. The forms and methods used to exchange ideas have advanced from enabling simple message exchanges between two participants to instantly, simultaneously conveying information to many participants across vast distances.

Each new communication technology — many of which have remained in use rather than being superseded — has expanded the geographic range of both sender and recipient. The next advancement takes this several steps further: Virtual worlds enable many-to-many communication, simultaneously, with multi-participant engagement unrestricted by the location where collaboration can be facilitated in a three-dimensional environment.

Continue reading this article on Deloitte's website to learn how real work and life are transitioning to virtual worlds, and what it means for global collaboration.

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