Working in VR is more stressful and lessens productivity. Big surprise

pcgamer.com:

Companies like Meta have been putting a lot of weight into the idea of a digital exodus. There's a lot of talk that working in distraction free, virtual environments(opens in new tab) could be the future. But as it stands today, researchers say, working in virtual reality is not only more overwhelming and frustrating, it doesn't rank as highly for usability or productivity as we might've been lead to believe.

The paper, 'Quantifying the Effects of Working in VR for One Week(opens in new tab)'  (PDF warning) takes a deep dive into the viability of working long term in a virtual environment (via New Scientist(opens in new tab)). Participants, all of which were employees or researchers at a university, were asked to work in VR for an entire week. 

The results were less than positive.

Participants were asked to work using Chrome Remote Desktop, which if my personal experience is anything to go by was likely half the usability problem. Jokes aside, the researchers opted for an Oculus (Meta) Quest 2(opens in new tab) VR headset, so participants could use the hand tracking with a physical keyboard—a Logitech K830 with integrated trackpad if you we're wondering, nothing fancy. 

Part of the reasoning behind not using the absolute highest spec headset around, was to go for «a setup delivering a comparable experience to working in the physical desktop environment.» 

Most people, as it happens, don't have $2,399 to drop on a 12K Pimax VR headset(opens in new tab), let alone the PC spec to run it.

Before they even got into the bulk of testing, the study notes «concerning levels of simulator sickness» and «below average usability ratings.» Two subjects even dropped out on day one because they were experiencing nausea, migraines, and