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Our new hybrid lives: Tactile virtual experiences and hardware that lives with us



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Francois Nguyen
Contributor

Francois Nguyen, executive design director of product design at frog, is responsible for ensuring high standards of design excellence.

With hybrid models taking off across many aspects of society, it’s clear that though they offer incredible flexibility, the boundary lines between work and personal life are becoming increasingly blurred and emotionally draining.
Ritual has always been a powerful force in shaping our mental and emotional states; the gathering of people, physical totems, wardrobe and space design all work to choreograph that experience. But for people in the hybrid workforce, many of the rituals to which they’ve become accustomed are no longer accessible—their daily work experience involves no gathering, no change in location, and little (if any) wardrobe change.
We are doubling down on hybrid virtual experiences, even though studies reveal that young people who spend more than seven hours a day staring at a screen are more susceptible to depression, anxiety and have greater difficulty in completing tasks. Furthermore, employees are reporting fatigue and exhaustion from a sea of back-to-back meetings that stretch across multiple time zones, making the days feel endless.
Given that so much of the population is currently reliant on comput …

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