The workspace of the future is a lot more than a typical office cubicle.
It may be a coffee shop, the living room, an airport terminal, or anywhere technology can provide connections.
Laptops already allow many people to work remotely, but the trend is gaining momentum with advances such as virtual reality avatars and telepresence robots.
“People are working not only from home but from wherever it is convenient,” says Ted Schadler, an analyst at Forrester Research who studies mobile collaboration technology.
“Some people may leave early and then work at home after they put the kids to bed.”
A 2012 survey by software firm Citrix found 90% of US employers allowed “mobile work styles.”
And the practice is almost as widespread in China (85%), Brazil (81%), India (77%), Britain (72%), France and Germany (71%) each.
The next leap may be the introduction of technologies to allow robots or virtual reality to fill the gap of face-to-face communications.
So-called telepresence robots allow a kind of videoconferencing.
A product made by California startup Double Robotics uses an iPad attached to a self-balancing scooter which can roam around an office and interact with colleagues.
The robots have been satirised on television comedies, but Jay Liew of Double Robotics says companies are warming to them.
“We’ve had customers tell us they can’t remember when the person was really there and when the robot was there,” Liew told AFP.
“After the initial excitement wears off, it’s not just a robot. It’s John. It’s Connie, from the Seattle office.”
And the person working remotely can get be a part of the “team” by moving around the office, chatting in the break room, or “stopping by” a colleague’s desk to ask a question.
Another technique allows people to interact in a cartoon-like world via their “avatars” — or images they create.
