What is my product and what are my inspirations?

This exercise intends to thrive into the physical part of meetings. What technologies do we have already that may help us have a more suitable meeting space. How should be that meeting space? The future of meetings will compose of two big players. The physical player and the remote player. What else can we add or arrange (besides computers, laptops and screens) to have a seamless integration of team players in a physical meeting. My product incorporates new office pieces to make a new kind of meeting room. One where the most important piece are the people that are meeting. The circular walls  provide the spatial condition to have a broad view of what’s happening in the meeting. It integrates physical with virtual services to provide a seamless experience for meetings. It does not necessarily need a native software because it focuses on the arrangement of available hardware. A laptop computer and mobile devices (already accessible) work. The center piece of a table is removed. Although a small table is provided as a personal additive to your chair, our product promotes that the tables should be virtual.
See Bert’s and Furqan’s post (http://legacy.iaacblog.com/mai-2012-2013-future-of-workplace/2013/04/before-the-meeting/). They are bringing  the table into software.

What does it include?

The basics of a meeting room but arranged in a different way.

Chairs physical-Which provide rotating angles. Minimal personal table space and capabilities of remote meetings.
If you are remote- You will have a physical space within the reunion. Others will have to look at your position to see at your face expressions. You can also rotate, move, zoom ext. Remote “meeters” will no longer belong to the same screen in which other important stuff is being projected or showed. You should be able to look at everyone.

Back Projections- No longer meetings will have a punctual focus point for presentations. Doublescreens with angled projections provide simultaneous wide views for everyone arranged the meeting. Two of these screens can be projecting the presentation interface and the other can have important information not directly related to the presentation. For example: weather conditions, information about team members in the meeting, space for presenter to drag and drop complementing information etc.

Nfc instant sign in-Recognition of mobile phones for profile integration when you arrive prior to meeting. It provides the correct identification, what group or team you belong to and what is your position. When someone enters the room, his/her mobile device sync your “meety” or social network profile into the meeting. Your business info is synced via near field communication. It’s like a sign in with your phone or mobile device. This is also alredy available.

The product should be of interest for new emerging companies that want to keep up with technology and that may have an open space that can be arranged in these ways for meetings. People that want the meetings to be concise and that want to bring the visual aspect onto people and not tables and computers. For these guys the meeting will be more of a work experience than a normal meeting. These is for great importance for the productiveness of a company or a group. The product bases it’s service in the correct mix of available software and hardware that may be already in an office. It is customized for every case. In every case every player can watch screens but everybody can watch you also. The decision of where to watch falls in the team player and not the limitations of hardware/software capabilities available.

A correct meeting place should provide the tools for the continuation of productive work and not the stoppage to “discuss” that often derails to other things that are not important, especially if everybody is looking at their own stuff and not paying attention. Correct concise, powerful meetings. This is something that we can steal from Jedis.

They have a simple video explaining their ideas for their services.

http://www.ricoh.com/about/company/technology/rd/office.html

Future Trends
We have projected six trends in office form and workstyle based on transitions in the social climate as the premise for our vision of the future.

First, (1) we expect that the focus will be on core operations. Here, we define the operations the organization or the individual execute by profession as core operations. These differ depending on the organization or individual. Outsourcing non-core operations to whoever makes them into their own core operations, allows individual client organizations to concentrate on their own core operations. In order to focus on core operations, (2) internal and external networks will be strengthened. IT has enabled people to work anywhere regardless of locale. However, because different systems are used among organizations, under present circumstances, effective information transfer may be lacking. Following transitions in the world economy, (3) greater emphasis on operations in emerging markets can be predicted. If ways of working are not to be affected by place or device, or by networked environments, there will be a need to (4) respond to the confluence of business and personal. For example, to use devices purchased by the individual for business, or to use devices purchased by the company for personal use. Although the devices are the same, payments will be based on segmenting accounting between personal and business use. As the global way of working develops, consciousness of the global environment as global citizens also becomes high and the pursuit to (5) preserve the environment will further develop. Beyond that, rising health consciousness will also increase (6) the individual’s consciousness in pursuit of safety and security.

From these six trends, we assumed the following three office visions of the future.
1. Integration of usiness processes in advanced and emerging markets.
2. Two types of office worker: knowledge workers and skilled workers(*).
3. Individually optimized work environment.

* Polarization of workers: Here, we have defined the way people work into two categories: knowledge workers and skilled workers. A knowledge worker depends little on the company or the organization regarding the devices used or safety and security, and is a worker who views the project as a way of working, indifferent to working hours or the work place. On the other hand, a skilled worker depends greatly on the company or the organization regarding the devices used or safety and security, and is a worker who views work on the basis of working hours and the work place.

Ricoh’s vision for the future of work

We have examined the values that will guide Ricoh in supporting the new ways of working that reflect these office visions of the future.

First, we can imagine that we will build a workflow to connect internal and external organizations to construct seamless document workflow, where we may provide alternate processing and process-building services. Of course, because the workflow extends beyond the country and region, the environment must enable smooth collaboration, overcoming language barriers. We can support global collaboration by removing document and conversational language barriers, in order to communicate more seamlessly. We believe that providing one-stop outsourcing services related to business processes including higher level operations will improve the customer’s productivity so that each company can concentrate resources on core operations.

Further, the workplace is also diversifying. It will become necessary to provide information equipment-systems and services suited to diversified environments and needs, such as in newly emerging markets. Beyond that, a comfortable, secure and optimum mobile tele-work environment must be realized as workers and companies work anytime and anywhere (with anyone). We may provide the third space, not merely a space for rent, but accompanied by services with high added value, such as outsourcing services and remote communication beyond mobile services. A third space is meant to be a space where business can be accomplished at places other than an office as the first choice or home as the second. Although the way of working changes, a support environment is also needed to support brainstorming and self-development in accordance with the career and cultivation of human resources, self-learning, and response to diversified career plans.

Of course, we consider it important to provide services that are secure, safe, comfortable and suited to the individual. These must be able to realize an environment that saves energy and promotes health management and security.

The Ricoh Group forges ahead with R&D by focusing on technologies that adapt to the customer’s work style and reduce environmental impact, with a view to various future potentialities.