In addition to the revenue from his YouTube channel, creator habie147 keeps a steady income from a traditional 9-to-5 he completes remotely. With an increasing number of employers asking staff to return to the office, he worries that his remote arrangement may not last — so he decided to make the most of it in an unusual way: by working from inside Tamriel.
The VR-focused content creator posted a video documenting an experiment in which he spent an entire workday inside Skyrim VR, hoping the immersive environment would curb the urge to constantly check his phone.
He wondered whether a spectacular virtual view — “a giant phosphorescent mushroom,” as he imagines — would reduce the impulse to scroll through social feeds.
First he needed a suitable workspace. Habie147 searched for a comfortable spot around Whiterun and Solitude but quickly discovered that finding a quiet, practical place to settle wasn’t as simple as it sounded. After some trial and error he took a seat on a tree stump at an abandoned campsite, summoned his desktop through a bit of SteamVR trickery, and clocked in.
To keep himself accountable, he gave himself a handful of “quests” for the shift:
- Schedule marketing emails
- Handle some QuickBooks tasks
- Finish a PowerPoint deck
- Collect contact information
- Most importantly: avoid getting fired
The plan unraveled quickly. Soon after starting, an NPC mugged him at knifepoint, forcing a move to a calmer location. He tried working in the middle of a stream until a dragon took an interest and interrupted the workflow. Eventually he found a tranquil subterranean cave full of glowing mushrooms and old Dwemer ruins — a setting that actually helped him concentrate.
“I don’t think I’ve checked my phone in an hour and a half,” he reports, initially pleased with the results.
After roughly two hours, however, the novelty began to wear thin and he admits his patience frayed. He wrapped up the experiment at the summit of the Throat of the World, midway through spawning an aurora when reality intruded: his phone rang.
He handled the call without issue and conceded he would happily work in VR more often if headsets were lighter and more comfortable for extended wear. “This is the worst idea I’ve ever had,” he laughs, adding that part of his hesitation was the risk of his boss seeing the video — he half-jokes that he’ll try to convince management the whole thing was staged.
On the lighter side, he muses that other virtual destinations — Silent Hill among them — might have some intriguing office real estate for adventurous remote workers. The report didn’t include any details on corporate culture there.
Source: Polygon
