1 research outputs found
"Just a Normal Day in the Metaverse" -- Distraction Conflicts of Knowledge Work in Virtual Environments
The changing nature of knowledge work creates demands for emerging
technologies as enablers for workplace innovation. One emerging technology to
potentially remedy drawbacks of remote work arrangements are meta-verses that
merge physical reality with digital virtuality. In the literature, such
innovations in the knowledge work sector have been primarily examined against
the backdrop of collaboration as a dependent variable. In this paper, however,
we investigate knowledge work in metaverses from a distraction-conflict
perspective because independent, uninterrupted activities are as much
characteristic of knowledge work as collaboration. Preliminary findings show
that knowledge workers in meta-verses experience arousal from the 1) presence,
appearance, and behaviour of other avatars, 2) realism, novelty, and
affordances of the virtual environment, and 3) technological friction and
navigation. This work has the theoretical implication that distraction-conflict
theory must be extended to incorporate additional sources of arousal when
applied to the context of knowledge work in metaverses.Comment: Australasian Conference on Information System