Teleporting yourself during a meeting, moving into another space? It sounds like you have landed in a science fiction film that even surpasses Star Trek… And still, it is becoming reality. And developing at the speed of light.
Visual trend
Our communication methods have become increasingly visual. Posts with visuals and videos are much more quickly clicked than text-only messages. The average website also uses a lot of imagery and little text. This trend is being followed in the conference room. Although online meetings are increasing exponentially, for instance via Skype, Facetime of Google Hangouts, real eye contact is lacking, simply because the camera is not properly placed. And good contact...that is really essential for many meetings!
3D Avatar of your colleagues
The IT geeks of the world have invented something better for meetings, even when you are in different places: Holographic Telepresence. Not everyone who participates in a meeting is physically present, so they appear as a 3D avatar in the space via Holographic Telepresence. So you can look each other directly in the eyes and pick up all of the communication signals, without actually being in the same the room.
Just an illusion? Think again! Microsoft is, for instance, already quite advanced in the development of this technology. Curious how it works? Watch this video. Are you eager to prepare for this trend? Get a head start by making a 3D hologram with your smartphone, using this tutorial.
Other trends
In addition to Holographic Telepresence, other trends have recently been developed. Written minutes, for instance: ancient history. : shelve them with your fax machine. More and more companies replace them with audio and/or video minutes. And meetings with paper? Also going the way of the dinosaur.
Digital meetings
If you work in multiple locations or on-site by various clients and hold frequent online meetings, then paper documents are extremely impractical. In many companies where they use the latest digital tools, paper documents are no longer even seen in the meeting room. Bye bye, piles of documents! No matter how much discussion you have during the meeting, your ‘pile’ never gets higher than the thickness of your tablet or laptop.
Would you like to bring these and other trends to the attention of your colleagues with an organized overview? Or perhaps you would like to read up on it, so you can get a running start on instituting more efficient meetings after the summer?
