Immersive Virtual Environments: Understanding it\u27s Influence on Organizational Routines

Within the last 10 years richer 3-dimensional graphics have increasingly immersed users in virtual environments (VEs). Recently, immersion in VEs is also facilitated by cheaper and better head mounted displays. Immersion benefits individuals as well as organizations because it makes users feel as if they are physically present in the VE. This can reduce costs in industries heavily reliant on visualization, such as the architect, engineering, and construction industry. However, more immersive software and hardware does not necessarily lead to increased use in organizations, exemplified by the lack of organizations using virtual worlds and 3-dimensional computer aided software. While many IS scholars has focused on immersive VEs, the majority has looked into individual factors and applied methods, that are far from practice. Our research introduces theoretical lens of organizational routines and through initial interviews in four organizations, we investigate how the introduction of immersive VEs change organizational routines. We present four vignettes and propose a categorization enabling a better understanding of how artefact specificity and routine divergence influence the use of immersive VEs

Liquid Workplaces: The Potential Implications of Virtual Reality on the Workplace

Recently, virtual realities or immersive virtual environments (IVEs) has gained increasing attention. Yet, IS-researchers have paid little attention to the implications of IVEs in a work context. The objective of this paper is thus to understand how the use of IVEs may impact our workplace, and how we feel present in them. Theoretically, we build on Bauman’s concept of liquid modernity and the concepts of point-of-view and presence. We substantiate our literature review by analysing newspaper articles. Based on these insights, we argue that because work is performed in more fragmented workplaces we are going from a more collective to individual feeling of presence in the workplace. The first contribution is to close the knowledge gap that exists in the academic literature on IVEs in a work context. Second, practitioners will have a better understanding of the changes IVEs have on workplaces and how we feel present in them