Nth Floor

The Accenture Nth Floor is an enterprise metaverse concept created by teams across Microsoft, AltspaceVR and Accenture that enables people to meet, interact & collaborate in virtual offices leveraging virtual reality.[1] The term “Nth Floor” relates to the infinite amount of virtual floors a company can use, in comparison to the physical limitations of real-world offices.

Entering the enterprise metaverse through XR Pods in the office (vs. XR room at home)

The concept was originally developed and tested in 2019 by a team led by Ben Holfeld (Accenture), Katie Kelly (Microsoft) & Jason Warnke (Accenture CIO). It came to particular prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic as more employees began to work remotely, being featured in the Wall Street Journal in 2020[2] and presented at the 2021 Microsoft Ignite Keynote.[3]

Summary

The Nth Floor concept was originally presented at Microsoft Ignite 2019[4] but the need to work remotely during the 2020 pandemic accelerated the demand for new ways of virtual interaction.[5] Thanks to new hardware as Oculus Quest and developer tools by Unity Technologies, Oculus and Microsoft, the concept became reality and has been announced at multiple events and conferences.[6][7]

In 2021, during the announcement of Microsoft Mesh, the Nth Floor was highlighted[8] and the concept of virtual offices and collaboration were shared across news media.[9][10][11] The concept and several solutions have been used for immersive virtual town halls, summits,[1] conferences, recruiting events and social events[12] avoiding high costs and carbon-emissions through significant travel which is usually necessary for these types of global events.

The Chief Leadership & Human Resources Officer of Accenture shared how through this concept and technology, a unique immersive experience is provided for the yearly 100K+ New Joiners at the company, to experience through new ways the culture, learn in immersive environments, and connect in meaningful ways.[13]

In October 2021, after Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook's focus on the Metaverse by rebranding the company as Meta, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, also shared his vision on the future of work and the role of Metaverses in Harvard Business Review and included Accenture's Nth Floor as an example of the Enterprise Metaverse.[14]

Photo of VR headset, Nth Floor door hanger, and a table mat for entering the Nth Floor

See also

References
  1. "Ready for Close Encounters of the Virtual Kind | Accenture". WordPressBlog.
  2. Stern, Joanna (September 28, 2020). "You Can Go Back to the Office—You Just Need a Virtual-Reality Headset" – via www.wsj.com.
  3. "Microsoft Mesh is an Azure-powered platform that aims to revolutionize mixed reality". Neowin.
  4. "The Nth Floor - Future of Collaboration" – via www.youtube.com.
  5. "Put on your VR headset and meet me on the Nth Floor". www.linkedin.com.
  6. "Digitale Revolution: Wie Microsoft Hologramme in die Arbeitswelt bringen will". www.handelsblatt.com.
  7. Team, rAVe. "The Outlook for Home Working Beyond COVID-19 – rAVe [PUBS]". www.ravepubs.com.
  8. "The Nth floor at Microsoft Ignite" – via www.youtube.com.
  9. "Microsoft Steps Up Push to Bring Virtual Reality to the Masses". March 2, 2021 – via www.bloomberg.com.
  10. "Microsoft launches Mesh mixed reality platform at Ignite". financialpost.
  11. James, Lindsay (July 15, 2020). "A new holographic reality for business". eandt.theiet.org.
  12. "Welcome to the Nth Floor – Accenture's Virtual Office" – via www.youtube.com.
  13. "Mesh-Enabled AltspaceVR". AltspaceVR.
  14. "Satya Nadella about Future of Work / Nth Floor at Harvard Business Review".
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