Digital twins, the Internet of Things, and new technology "blessed" telecommuting can still be done like this

In recent years, traditional offline office methods have gradually moved away from us, and many companies have realized the advantages and disadvantages of remote office.

Microsoft recently launched Azure Digital Twins (Azure Digital Twins) service, the product is directly positioned in this new industry order. The Azure digital twin service has been brewing for two years, enabling industrial designers to plan, model, deploy, monitor and control a physical environment full of sensors and based on the Internet of Things/edge. This new cloud service uses the Digital Twin Definition Language (DTDL) developed by Microsoft to support physical environment modeling and to track any changes made to those physically mapped areas by collecting configuration data from deployed IoT sensors.

These digital twin products seem to be very suitable for promoting the development of collaborative robots for hybrid physical/virtual workplaces. Johnson Controls has become a user of Microsoft's Azure digital twin service. The company is a leader in building products and technology, and is using the service and related tools to manage the energy use, workspace optimization, and security workflows within and between distributed physical facilities.

Immersive reality connects physical/virtual workplaces

Remote work often lacks the kind of hands-on interactive support that we require on-site technical and management support staff.

The demand for immersive reality will attract much attention. The technology includes augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality. When this technology enters the developer's toolbox, it will enable them to build this kind of application: even for the most virtualized remote work tasks, it can smoothly provide a hands-on interactive experience.

Microsoft's recently launched Azure digital twin service seems to be paving the way to this future, including cloud-based spatial intelligence maps for tracking people, places, and devices. It also supports the development of digital twin applications that use 3D or 4D visualization, physics-based simulation, and artificial intelligence-based generative model functions. Just a few months before the launch of this service, Microsoft announced the launch of three new immersive reality products that were tailored to consolidate this vision:

The HoloLens 2 headset is available worldwide. This headset combines the dynamic superimposed subtitles of augmented reality with the simulated environment of virtual reality.

A new type of immersive service called Azure Object Anchors is currently in preview. It enables HoloLens headsets to recognize objects in the real world and dynamically map related instructions or pictures on the objects.

Based on pilot projects in 16 cities, the Ministry of Public Security has promoted the electronicization of motor vehicle inspection signs in two batches across the country, providing electronic license services for motor vehicle owners, drivers, and related industries and administrative departments. Launched Dynamics 365 Remote Assist, a service that enables people in two different places to collaborate and solve problems in a shared immersive reality environment.

Encourage closer cooperation

Multi-person offices will not disappear, but for most knowledge workers, they will no longer be the default workplace. This is not necessarily a bad thing. As far as I am concerned, I have only had to report to the shared office every day for one year in the past 22 years, and I don't want to go back to the original cubicle office. This is not to say that I am anti-social, I just like to bury my head in work and work very efficiently in my home office.

Looking to the future, the question of where to work will become a negotiable topic, and business departments, teams, and individuals can negotiate with each other to adapt to changing conditions. I hope the IT industry can quickly unite and define a realistic vision for the infrastructure, tools, and standards required to drive this trend forward.

First of all, many industry organizations are vigorously promoting the standardization of the technical foundation of this new world of distributed hybrid working environment. It would be nice to see them working together. At least, any work in this area is inseparable from the participation of the following organizations: the Modern Computing Alliance, the Digital Twin Alliance of the Object Management Group (OMG), the IEEE Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Standards Committee, and the Robot Industry Association.

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