Virtual community and working space for remote individuals
TLDR;
I got ahead of myself and made a landing page and even started designing the product, but I am curious what you think: https://www.spacify.xyz/
Problem: remote work can be lonely. I've experienced this myself for many years and have personal stories from people I know who get lonely working remotely. 20% of remote workers report feeling lonely. This reduces productivity and generally keeps you off task. Slack is good at connecting people, but still leaves a feeling of loneliness (doesn't quite make you feel connected).
Solution: A virtual community (virtual rooms) where remote individuals can occupy a seat in a group. You join a larger room but sit at a table and can only interact with those in your proximity (via push to talk audio and optional video chat). Everyone is still able to access chat for the full room.
Groups bring benefits:
- You feel closer to people and get to know them as opposed to sitting in a huge slack channel with thousands of people.
- You can work side by side with audio and or video chat accessible any time without having to join or leave meetings.
Environment benefits:
- Feel like you are a part of a physical space - a coffee shop, a cafe, whatever.. themes to come.
Features:
- Quick group - send an invite link to anyone and get grouped right away to start collaborating or to just work side by side.
- Video pairing (up to 4) so you can feel connected with people while working.
- Chill lounge - take a break, play games or watch videos together.
- Private video chat with anyone for serious discussions or quick meetings.
- Themed rooms -- space, RPG, cyberpunk etc...
Eventual / possible B2B features:
- Real time screen collaboration
- Whiteboards
- File sharing
I got ahead of myself and made a landing page and even started designing the product, but I am curious what you think: https://www.spacify.xyz/
Working on this with @LZRdada
Hey Gene!
I think this would be really cool. I actually searched for something similar to this a couple of days ago but only found a few dormant slack and discord servers. Working from home can be lonely, and it can be nice to communicate with new people outside of your normal routine.
The problem with slack and discord is that you have this forever long list of idle people that never really participate in chat. I like the idea of being able to, at any point, approach someone and start a conversation - just as if you were at an office setting.
If you focused on making it an authentic remote working environment that somewhat mimics an office setting (rather than making a slack/discord/MSTeams clone) I think this could appeal to a certain set of people.
I followed on twitter and signed up for beta. Good luck!
Glad we share some of the same experiences. I agree, slack and discord can be quite idle depending on size. I also never quite got the feeling of being connected to a point where loneliness didn't set in. The only time I forget to feel alone is when I play video games. Of course, you cant work and play and video games would be a huge distraction from getting things done, so it seems like there is room for something in between that is not quite 3d virtual, but gets to the core of sharing an experience (being in "close" proximity to others in a small setting).
Hi Gene,
@heylorenzut might have a lot of input on this idea!
Cheers,
Jonathan
Interesting concept! Thanks Jonathan!
This comment was deleted 3 years ago
I really like this but wish it were in VR. I wrote this a few times today but video chat and phone calls aren't enough to quench my social thirst!
Hi Gene,
Nice mockup. Currently, there're quite a few startups trying to tackle the same problem. Ex: tandem chat, teemly, pragli, ... How will you differentiate your product?
Thanks for the comment. Yes, this is indeed a hot space right now. I like many of the features from the competitors you pointed out. Each has their own pros and cons.
Looking at all of those, I still wonder if there's room for something that does not necessarily resemble a virtual office. Something more relaxed and gets you connected with a broader group of people while remaining socially close (smaller group within a larger "room"). I am hoping the theme aspect of the app would set it apart -- where you are not just there to see a person face to face or just to talk to them, but to actually feel like you are in a virtual space of sorts and occupy some place that's not necessarily the office. Of course, this could be my own bias and others may not feel that way. I mostly think this would be a step up from some of the startups you've pointed out because I have an extensive experience in gaming and think gamification is one of the the better ways to tackle feeling alone.
Of course, this also brings up the question of whether people will have the screen open and for how long, or if it will be minimized and if the room themes aspect of it even makes any difference given people will be focusing on something else..
I guess most of this is based on my own experience and that of few others I've spoken to, where just connecting via chat/voice/video is deficient in alleviating the feeling of loneliness. If I could, I would throw everyone in a virtual world and have them play to work haha, but I know this is not possible or practical. I'm looking for a sweet spot in between where you feel as part of a community and a group at the same time while having fun and being able to toggle into work mode quickly.
What do you think?
I think mostly the products that I mentioned in the comment tries to mimic the office in term of real-time collaboration and micro-communication (Zoom is kinda meeting communication). Social or fun environment is not their main focus so maybe that could be your sweet spot. But then you probably should adjust your strategy to more focus on that. Gamification can be good to make them stick with your product, but the main pain point still needs to be solved first.
Thanks for your candid feedback!