Experts say soon VR could be coming to the workplace.

    Virtual business meetings will replace conference calls, as the technology has started to be tested in offices worldwide and this could happen in the next couple of years.

    Andrew Glennerster, professor of visual neuroscience* at Reading University said: “With Facebook investing US$2 billion in VR and several new headsets coming out this year, it could be very soon, for example in the next two years,” he said. “I think they may soon be extremely realistic and convincing,” he added. “You will all feel that you are in the same room as other people.”

    It might seem like certain aspects of meetings involving human contact will be lacking from virtual meetings, like handshakes and eye contact, Glennerster says technology will advance enough for these to also seem real.

    “I have tried robot hands, they give a convincing handshake,” he said. “Eye tracking can, in theory, mean that avatars will have the correct eye movements so eye contact and similar cues will be available.”

    Alcatel recently released a virtual reality headset that works without a smartphone, while rivals like the Samsung Gear VR require a mobile phone and the HTC Vive is designed to work with a computer.(SD-Agencies)