The Race to Fix Virtual Meetings

New software solutions are emerging to address the professional and social needs of remote workers.

Working remotely has greatly reduced the social exchanges that are natural in a shared workspace. While productivity numbers may be up, that improvement comes at the cost of the casual, fortuitous interactions that spark creativity and create connections among co-workers who share the same space. Current offerings like Slack, Google Meet and Zoom don’t replicate the full spectrum of social exchanges that enrich a physical work environment or an in-person conference.

Now a growing number of start-up companies – including Gather.town, Kumospace, Pluto, Hopin and Run the World – are competing for customers in the arena of virtual meeting software that seeks to evoke compelling aspects of the face-to-face experience.

To replicate the social milieu of an office or conference, software can create the equivalents of auditoriums, meeting rooms, cocktail lounges and conversation nooks.

Current virtual meeting and communication software isn’t particularly flexible or spontaneous. It offers little opportunity for schmoozing, hanging out...