# About
Name: Cosmos Blog
Description: Team meeting spaces designed for remote teams to collaborate in the moment without disturbing. Say goodbye to waiting for replies, scheduling calls, or sharing meeting links.
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog

# Navigation Menu
- Search: https://cosmos.superblog.cloud/search
- Features: https://cosmos.video/features
- Pricing: https://cosmos.video/pricing
- Demo: https://cosmos.video/book-demo
- Try for free: https://cosmos.video

# Blog Posts
## Increase Productivity in Minutes: How the 'Shoulder Tap' Accelerates Collaboration
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-12-01
Category: Future of Work
Tags: shoulder tap, instant collaboration, social cues
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/increase-productivity-in-minutes-how-the-shoulder-tap-accelerates-collaboration

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-693-1764676640145-compressed.png)

In the physical office, you'd walk over to a colleague's desk for a quick question.

"Hey Sarah, which font did we decide on for the client presentation?"

Two minutes. Problem solved. Back to work.

Now picture the same scenario remotely: you send a Slack message and wait. Sarah's in another meeting. You check back later—still no response. You send a follow-up. By the time you get an answer, three hours have passed, your momentum is gone, and you've context-switched five times.

Welcome to coordination friction: the hidden productivity killer in remote work.

According to research from ProofHub, [40% of remote workers miss spontaneous, in-person connections](https://www.corpsteam.com/2024/10/21/are-employees-ready-to-return-to-the-office/) with their teammates—those quick "shoulder tap" conversations that kept work flowing. The result? [64% of employees waste at least three hours a week due to collaboration inefficiencies](https://www.proofhub.com/articles/workplace-collaboration-statistics), with 20% losing up to six hours.

That's not a communication problem. That's a structural problem with how remote work operates.

This article explores how coordination friction destroys productivity, why the "shoulder tap" matters more than you think, and how [virtual office platforms](https://cosmos.video/solutions/virtual-office) recreate instant collaboration without the scheduling overhead.

The Hidden Cost of Coordination Friction
----------------------------------------

### What Is Coordination Friction?

Coordination friction is the time and mental energy spent arranging collaboration instead of actually collaborating.

In an office, you see who's available. You walk over. You talk. Immediate feedback, instant clarity, problem solved in minutes.

In remote work, that same interaction requires:

*   Sending a message ("Can we talk?")
    
*   Waiting for a response (minutes to hours)
    
*   Scheduling availability ("I'm free at 2pm")
    
*   Sending a Zoom link
    
*   Waiting for the meeting
    
*   Finally having the conversation
    

What took 2 minutes in the office now takes 2 hours—or even 2 days.

### The Numbers Don't Lie

[43% of workers spend 3+ hours per week just scheduling meetings](https://archieapp.co/blog/meeting-statistics/)—not attending them, just coordinating when they'll happen.

The workforce wastes [24 billion hours per year in unproductive meetings](https://www.notta.ai/en/blog/meeting-statistics), costing organisations [$37 billion annually](https://www.notta.ai/en/blog/meeting-statistics).

But here's the real killer: [unnecessary or ineffective meetings waste $25,000 annually per employee](https://fellow.ai/blog/unproductive-meeting-statistics/). For organisations with 5,000+ employees, that's **$101 million a year** lost to coordination overhead.

This isn't a small inconvenience. It's a systemic productivity crisis.

### Why Async Communication Isn't the Answer

Async-first workflows were meant to solve this. Write detailed messages, reduce meeting overload, give people focus time.

But async creates its own problems.

When quick decisions are needed, asynchronous delays slow progress. If team members are spread across time zones and no one's available to respond, deliverables get impeded, people get confused, and valuable time gets consumed.

The lack of immediacy means simple clarifications turn into multi-day email chains. A question that deserves a 30-second answer instead generates five Slack messages, two follow-ups, and mounting frustration.

Async is brilliant for documentation and deep work. But it's terrible for "quick questions" that need quick answers.

What We Lost: The Productivity Power of the "Shoulder Tap"
----------------------------------------------------------

### The Office Shoulder Tap, Explained

The "shoulder tap" isn't about literally tapping someone on the shoulder. It's about **frictionless, instant access** to teammates when you need them.

In a physical office:

*   You see who's at their desk
    
*   You gauge if they're busy or available
    
*   You walk over and ask your question
    
*   They answer immediately
    
*   You both return to work
    

No scheduling. No waiting. No coordination tax.

It's collaboration at the **speed of thought**, not the speed of calendar availability.

### Why It Worked So Well

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-700-1764676742175-compressed.png)

The shoulder tap worked because of three elements remote work destroyed:

**1\. Presence Awareness**  
You could see teammates. You knew who was in the office, who was on a call, who was heads-down working. This visibility eliminated guesswork.

**2\. Instant Access**  
When someone was available, you could reach them immediately—no links, no scheduling, no "jumping on a quick call."

**3\. Social Cues**  
You could tell if someone was approachable. Headphones on = focus mode. Chatting with a colleague = interruptible. Staring intensely at their screen = probably not the time.

Remote work stripped all three away. Now you're sending blind messages into the void, hoping for a reply, with no idea if the person is available, busy, or even online.

### The Productivity Impact

[Effective communication leads to a 72% increase in productivity](https://www.notta.ai/en/blog/workplace-communication-statistics) amongst business leaders, according to 2024 research.

More specifically, [improving internal communication can boost organisational productivity by up to 25%](https://www.sociabble.com/blog/employee-communications/communications-statistics/).

Why? Because [73% of employees do better work when they collaborate](https://www.deloitte.com/au/en/services/consulting/blogs/delivering-on-promise-digital-collaboration.html), and [60% are more innovative in a team environment](https://www.proofhub.com/articles/workplace-collaboration-statistics).

But collaboration requires **momentum**. When feedback takes hours or days instead of minutes, momentum dies.

The shoulder tap preserved momentum. Remote work coordination friction kills it.

How Coordination Friction Kills Feedback Cycles

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-696-1764676685460-compressed.png)

### The Feedback Loop Problem

Consider a designer working on a client presentation. In the office, they'd walk to their manager's desk:

**Designer:** "Quick question—should this headline be bold or regular weight?"  
**Manager:** "Bold. Matches the brand guidelines we discussed."  
**Designer:** "Perfect, thanks."

**Total time:** 90 seconds.

Now the remote version:

**11:23am** - Designer sends Slack message: "Hey, quick question about the presentation headline—bold or regular?"  
**11:47am** - Manager sees notification during another meeting, can't respond yet  
**1:15pm** - Manager finally replies: "Can you send a screenshot?"  
**1:43pm** - Designer uploads screenshot  
**2:30pm** - Manager responds: "Bold—matches brand guidelines"  
**2:45pm** - Designer sees response, makes change

**Total time:** 3+ hours.

That's not just lost time. It's **context switching**, broken focus, and momentum destroyed.

### The Compounding Effect

Now multiply that by every small decision:

*   Which version should we use?
    
*   Did the client approve this change?
    
*   Can I get your input before submitting?
    
*   Is this approach aligned with what you wanted?
    

Each question becomes a mini project. Each answer requires scheduling or waiting. Each delay fragments your day further.

But most teams don't have real-time feedback—they have multi-hour delays disguised as "asynchronous collaboration."

### When Feedback Delays Cost More Than Time

At **Frontier**, a production team, feedback delays weren't just annoying—they were blocking revenue.

"Our team was drowning in back-to-back Zoom calls, spending more time scheduling meetings than actually collaborating," said Mike Williams, Production Manager. "We tried Slack for quick questions, but the back-and-forth took forever and people felt anxious about reply times."

When they couldn't get instant feedback, projects stalled. Team members either made assumptions (and had to redo work later) or waited for answers (and sat idle, unproductive).

After switching to [Cosmos](https://cosmos.video), where teammates could instantly "walk over" for feedback: "Our employee NPS increased by 20%. It helped create a stronger sense of belonging, and we use it daily for meetings, review sessions, and weekly all-hands."

The difference? **Instant feedback access**, not scheduled feedback sessions.

[Read the full Frontier case study here.](https://cosmos.video/case-studies/frontier)

The Solution: Recreating the Shoulder Tap Digitally
---------------------------------------------------

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-703-1764676834862-compressed.png)

What Virtual Offices Do Differently

[Virtual office platforms](https://cosmos.video/solutions/virtual-office) don't replace Zoom or Slack. They replace the **office environment**—the persistent space where teammates exist together, visible and accessible.

Instead of:

*   Sending a message → Waiting for reply → Scheduling call → Joining Zoom
    

You get:

*   See who's available → Walk over → Start talking
    

It's the shoulder tap, digitally recreated.

### How It Works

**1\. Persistent Presence**  
Your avatar exists in a digital space during work hours. Teammates can see you're "at your desk," in a meeting, or focusing—just like they could in a physical office.

**2\. Instant Collaboration with** [**Personal Rooms**](https://cosmos.video/product/features/personal-rooms-for-instant-collaboration)  
Each person has a personal space. When you need to talk, you walk to their room. Audio and video connect instantly—no links, no "let me start the call," no friction.

**3\.** [**True Statuses**](https://cosmos.video/product/features/true-statuses) **Replace Guesswork**  
Instead of Slack's meaningless green dot, you see real availability:

*   **Available** = ready to talk
    
*   **Listening** = can hear if you approach, will respond if needed
    
*   **Focus** = deep work mode, don't interrupt unless urgent
    
*   **Away** = not at desk
    

You know if someone's interruptible **before** you approach, just like you could in the office.

**4\. Sub-50ms Connection**  
Traditional video calls take 30+ seconds to start: click link, wait for browser, join meeting, unmute, "can you hear me?"

Virtual offices connect instantly. Walk close to someone, audio starts. That's it. The "shoulder tap" happens at the speed of walking, not the speed of scheduling.

### The Productivity Gains

Cosmos customers report:

*   **60 quick interactions daily** in 30-person teams
    
*   **45 minutes saved per employee per day** by eliminating coordination overhead
    
*   **40% reduction in scheduled meetings** because quick questions no longer require scheduling
    

But the biggest gain? **Momentum preservation.**

"We go through crunch times much faster compared to back-and-forth messaging," said Keama from **Reconciled**, a 60-person accounting firm. "For people who need community and quick support, Cosmos is a game-changer."

When feedback takes seconds instead of hours, work flows. When you can ask questions the moment they arise, context stays intact. When collaboration doesn't require scheduling, productivity soars.

Practical Implementation: Bringing Back the Shoulder Tap
--------------------------------------------------------

### Step 1: Audit Your Coordination Tax

Before changing tools, understand the problem.

Track for one week:

*   How much time you spend scheduling meetings vs. attending them
    
*   How many Slack messages are "quick questions" that turn into long threads
    
*   How often you're blocked waiting for feedback or decisions
    
*   How many times you context-switch between tasks whilst waiting for replies
    

[43% of workers spend 3+ hours weekly scheduling](https://archieapp.co/blog/meeting-statistics/). You're probably in that group.

Quantify the problem, then you'll understand the opportunity cost.

### Step 2: Identify "Shoulder Tap Moments"

Not everything needs instant collaboration. Deep work should stay protected. Strategic planning deserves scheduled time.

But these deserve instant access:

*   Quick clarifications ("Which version did we choose?")
    
*   Fast approvals ("Can I send this to the client?")
    
*   Directional input ("Am I on the right track?")
    
*   Technical blockers ("This API isn't working—can you look?")
    
*   Creative feedback ("Does this design feel right?")
    

These are **high-frequency, low-complexity interactions** that used to take 2 minutes. Remote coordination turned them into 2-hour delays.

Make a list. These are your shoulder tap opportunities.

### Step 3: Set Up a Virtual Office with Clear Norms

Choose a [virtual office platform](https://cosmos.video/solutions/virtual-office) that enables:

*   Persistent presence (see who's online)
    
*   Instant audio/video connection (no links or scheduling)
    
*   Status indicators (respect focus time)
    
*   Personal and meeting spaces (structured + spontaneous)
    

Then establish team norms:

**Availability Windows**  
Not everyone needs to be "in the office" 8 hours a day. Set core collaboration hours (e.g., 10am-3pm) when the team is present and accessible for shoulder taps. Outside those hours, async is fine.

**Status Respect**  
If someone's in Focus mode, don't interrupt unless urgent. [Focus Rooms](https://cosmos.video/product/features/focus-rooms-for-online-body-doubling) allow silent co-working for accountability without interruption.

**Two-Minute Rule**  
If a conversation will take under 2 minutes, shoulder tap it. If it needs more than 10 minutes, schedule it. This keeps quick questions instant whilst protecting time for deep discussions.

**Async for Documentation, Sync for Decisions**  
Use Slack/email for updates, documentation, and non-urgent info. Use the virtual office for decisions, feedback, and anything that benefits from real-time dialogue.

### Step 4: Model the Behaviour

Leaders set the tone.

If managers are "always busy" and unreachable, teams will revert to scheduling everything. If leaders are visibly present and approachable during core hours, teams will embrace instant collaboration.

At **Frontier**, the shift happened when leadership used Cosmos daily: "We use it for meetings, review sessions, and weekly all-hands. It created a stronger sense of belonging."

Be the person who walks over. Answer shoulder taps quickly. Show the team that instant collaboration is valued, not intrusive.

### Step 5: Measure the Impact

Track the same metrics you audited in Step 1:

*   Time spent scheduling (should decrease significantly)
    
*   Slack threads for quick questions (should drop as they move to shoulder taps)
    
*   Time blocked waiting for feedback (should approach zero)
    
*   Context-switching frequency (should reduce)
    

Also measure qualitative shifts:

*   Do decisions happen faster?
    
*   Do people feel less isolated?
    
*   Is team morale improving?
    
*   Are feedback cycles accelerating?
    

At Frontier, employee NPS increased 20%. At Reconciled, crunch times became "much faster." These aren't just efficiency gains—they're culture wins.

Addressing Common Objections
----------------------------

### "Won't This Create Constant Interruptions?"

Only if you ignore status signals.

The office shoulder tap worked because of **social cues**: headphones on, focused expression, closed door. You respected those signals.

Virtual offices have digital equivalents. [True Statuses](https://cosmos.video/product/features/true-statuses) tell teammates:

*   **Available** = interrupt me, I'm here to help
    
*   **Listening** = I'm working but can respond if needed
    
*   **Focus** = deep work, don't disturb
    
*   **Away** = not at desk
    

Respect Focus mode the way you'd respect a closed office door. Problem solved.

### "Our Team Is Global—How Does This Work Across Time Zones?"

You're right: instant collaboration requires overlap.

That's why you define **core collaboration hours**—a window where most of the team is online together. Outside those hours, async communication dominates.

Global teams often set 3-4 hour overlap windows (e.g., 2pm-5pm GMT) where shoulder taps happen. The rest of the day is async-first.

This hybrid approach works because not everything needs instant access—just the high-frequency, low-complexity questions that used to take 2 minutes in the office.

### "We Already Have Slack and Zoom—Why Add Another Tool?"

You're not adding a tool. You're replacing a gap.

Slack is for **async updates**. Zoom is for **scheduled meetings**. Neither handles **instant, informal collaboration**.

That's the gap. That's where coordination friction lives.

[Virtual offices don't replace Slack or Zoom](https://cosmos.video/solutions/virtual-office)—they replace the **office environment** where teammates exist together and can reach each other instantly. Many teams use all three: Slack for updates, Zoom for formal meetings, Cosmos for the in-between moments.

The question isn't "Why another tool?" It's "Why are we paying £25,000 per employee annually in coordination waste?"

### "What If People Don't Want to Be 'Always On'?"

They don't have to be.

Virtual offices aren't surveillance tools. You control your presence. Set your status to Away when you're not available. Close the app when you're done for the day. Take breaks without broadcasting your location.

The goal isn't "always on"—it's "present when needed." Just like the physical office: you're there during work hours, accessible during collaboration windows, and gone when the day ends.

At Reconciled, Keama noted: "Everyone being available in our Cosmos space created a real sense of community." The key word? **Available**, not monitored.

The Bigger Picture: Rethinking Remote Collaboration
---------------------------------------------------

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-698-1764676916174-compressed.png)

### The Problem Wasn't Remote Work

Remote work didn't fail. **First-generation remote tools** failed.

We tried to make distributed work function using:

*   Chat apps designed for notifications, not conversation
    
*   ​[Video conferencing](https://cosmos.video/blog/remote-collaboration-tools-vs-traditional-video-conferencing-whats-better/) built for formal meetings, not quick check-ins
    
*   Email optimised for documentation, not real-time collaboration
    

None of these tools were designed to replace the **spontaneous, informal, instant collaboration** that made offices productive.

We digitised meetings and messages. We forgot to digitise the **space between them**—the hallway conversations, the desk check-ins, the "got a sec?" moments.

That's the gap virtual offices fill.

### From Tool Overload to Workflow Clarity

Tool fatigue is real. But the solution isn't fewer tools—it's **clearer workflows**.

*   **Async updates and documentation** → Slack, email
    
*   **Scheduled meetings and formal presentations** → Zoom, Teams
    
*   **Instant collaboration and quick questions** → Virtual office
    

Each tool serves a purpose. The problem is when we force tools into roles they weren't designed for—like using Slack for real-time brainstorming or scheduling Zoom calls for 2-minute questions.

Match the tool to the task. Shoulder tap moments belong in virtual offices, not Slack threads.

### The Culture Shift

Here's what research shows about workplace communication in 2024-2025:

*   [40% of remote workers miss spontaneous, in-person connections](https://www.corpsteam.com/2024/10/21/are-employees-ready-to-return-to-the-office/)
    
*   [86% believe ineffective collaboration is a major reason for workplace failures](https://pumble.com/learn/communication/communication-statistics/#:~:text=Workplace%20communication%20statistics%20show%20that,we're%20about%20to%20present.)
    
*   [Employee engagement declined to 21% in 2024](https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx), costing the global economy **$438 billion**
    

The problem isn't skills or motivation. It's **structural isolation** created by coordination friction.

When collaboration requires scheduling, people collaborate less. When questions take hours to answer, people stop asking. When feedback loops span days, innovation slows.

The shoulder tap wasn't just about speed. It was about **connection**—the feeling that your teammates are there, reachable, and ready to help.

Virtual offices recreate that feeling. And when people feel connected, engagement rises, productivity increases, and teams deliver better work.

Conclusion: Minutes Matter
--------------------------

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-704-1764676965443-compressed.png)

A 2-minute question shouldn't take 2 hours to answer.

That's not an acceptable tradeoff for remote work flexibility. It's a structural failure we've normalised because "that's just how remote work is."

It doesn't have to be.

The office shoulder tap worked because it eliminated coordination friction. You saw who was available. You walked over. You talked. Problem solved in minutes, momentum preserved, work continued.

Remote work destroyed that. Scheduling friction, async delays, and coordination overhead replaced instant access with multi-hour waits. The result? [24 billion hours wasted annually](https://www.notta.ai/en/blog/meeting-statistics), $101 million per company lost, and [64% of employees losing 3+ hours weekly](https://www.proofhub.com/articles/workplace-collaboration-statistics).

[Virtual office platforms](https://cosmos.video/solutions/virtual-office) recreate the shoulder tap digitally: instant access, persistent presence, and frictionless collaboration. No scheduling. No waiting. Just the speed of thought.

The teams that embrace this—like Frontier (20% NPS increase) and Reconciled (crunch times "much faster")—aren't just more productive. They're more connected, more engaged, and more innovative.

Because when feedback takes seconds instead of hours, work flows. When quick questions get quick answers, momentum survives. When you can walk over digitally, collaboration becomes natural again.

**Minutes matter.** Don't let coordination friction steal them.

Start Increasing Productivity Today
-----------------------------------

Ready to bring back the shoulder tap and eliminate coordination friction?

[**Try Cosmos free**](https://cosmos.video/download) – no credit card required, live in 5 minutes. Experience instant collaboration, 96kbps audio quality, and the feeling of working **with** your team, not just **near** them.

[**Explore case studies**](https://cosmos.video/case-studies) to see how teams like Frontier and Reconciled transformed productivity by replacing scheduling friction with instant access.

[**Compare virtual office solutions**](https://cosmos.video/virtual-office-comparison) to find the platform that fits your team's size, workflow, and collaboration style.

The shoulder tap isn't dead. It's just been waiting for the right tool.


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Remote Collaboration Tools vs. Traditional Video Conferencing: What's Better?
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-12-01
Category: Future of Work
Tags: remote collaboration tools, traditional video conferencing, video conferencing
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/remote-collaboration-tools-vs-traditional-video-conferencing-whats-better

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-683-1764590124346-compressed.png)

It's 10:47am. You need a quick answer from Sarah about the client presentation.

In a physical office, you'd walk to her desk. "Hey Sarah, which font did we decide on?" Two minutes. Done.

Remote work version: Open Slack. Type message. Wait. Check back 30 minutes later—no response. She's probably in a meeting. Send another message. Still nothing. Fine, let's schedule a call. Open calendar. Find mutual availability. Tomorrow at 2pm. Send Zoom link. Wait 28 hours for a 2-minute answer.

Your 2-minute question just became a 2-day project.

This isn't a "Zoom vs Google Meet" debate. This is about a fundamental mismatch: **traditional video conferencing tools were never built for daily teamwork**. They were designed to replace scheduled meetings, not replace the office itself.

And that mismatch is costing teams billions of hours annually.

This article examines why traditional video conferencing creates coordination friction, how [virtual office platforms](https://cosmos.video/solutions/virtual-office) solve different problems, and which approach actually fits remote teamwork in 2025.

The Hidden Cost of Video Conferencing for Remote Teams
------------------------------------------------------

### It's Not About the Video Quality

Zoom works perfectly for what it was designed to do: host scheduled meetings.

Crystal-clear video. Screen sharing. Breakout rooms. Recording. Chat. Reactions. Virtual backgrounds. The features are excellent.

The problem isn't the tool. It's how remote teams are forced to use it.

When every interaction—including 30-second questions—requires scheduling, link creation, link distribution, and coordinated joining, you've built a system optimised for formal meetings, not spontaneous collaboration.

[According to 2024-2025 research](https://archieapp.co/blog/meeting-statistics/), **43% of workers spend 3+ hours weekly just scheduling meetings**—not attending them, just coordinating when they'll happen.

That's 156 hours per year per person spent on calendar Tetris. Before a single meeting actually occurs.

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-684-1764590182469-compressed.png)

The Meeting Link Multiplication Problem

Here's what happens in a typical globally distributed team:

**Monday morning Slack thread:**

*   "Can we discuss the Q4 roadmap?"
    
*   "Sure, when works for you?"
    
*   "I'm free 2-4pm GMT"
    
*   "That's 3am for me, can we do 9am GMT Tuesday?"
    
*   "I have a conflict then, how about Wednesday 1pm?"
    
*   "Let me check... yes that works"
    
*   "Great, I'll send a Zoom link"
    
*   _Creates meeting, copies link, pastes in Slack_
    
*   **Thursday:** "Hey which Zoom room is this? Can't find the link"
    
*   "Let me resend it..."
    

**Total time invested:** 30+ minutes of back-and-forth messages, calendar checking, and link management.

**Actual meeting duration:** 15 minutes.

According to the [2025 State of Meetings Report](https://www.flowtrace.co/collaboration-blog/state-of-meetings-report), **the average employee spends 392 hours per year in meetings**—more than 16 full workdays—with meeting time costing an average of **$29,000 per employee annually**.

But that only counts meeting attendance. It doesn't count the coordination tax: the tiny text conversations about "which link?", "when works?", "can you resend?", and "did that meeting get moved?"

Those micro-conversations add up to hours of wasted time weekly.

### The Context-Switching Spiral

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-682-1764590238859-compressed.png)

Your typical remote worker's morning:

*   9:03am: Check Slack (3 new channels, 12 unread messages)
    
*   9:12am: Open email (23 new messages)
    
*   9:18am: Click Zoom link for standup
    
*   9:45am: Back to Slack, respond to urgent question
    
*   9:52am: Open Asana to update task status
    
*   10:05am: Switch to Google Docs for presentation
    
*   10:23am: Jump back to Slack (someone @ mentioned you)
    
*   10:31am: Click different Zoom link for client call
    
*   11:15am: Return to Google Docs
    
*   11:22am: Slack notification pulls you away again
    
*   11:30am: Check calendar for next meeting
    
*   11:35am: Click another Zoom link
    

**Result:** You're spending more time managing tools than actually working.

Research shows that [employees check email or Slack every six minutes](https://medium.com/@TheInfluenceJournal/how-constant-context-switching-is-quietly-wrecking-your-team-3906f8c1e448), resulting in **80+ daily interruptions**. After each interruption, **it takes an average of 23 minutes to regain focus**.

More critically, over 50% of respondents blamed switching between apps as a barrier to getting essential work done, with teams losing approximately **2 hours daily to app jumping**.

**The productivity math:**

*   80 interruptions × 23 minutes recovery time = 1,840 minutes = 30.6 hours
    
*   That's nearly 4 full workdays lost per week to context switching
    

Traditional video conferencing doesn't create this problem alone. But it contributes by existing as yet another separate tool requiring yet another link, yet another app window, yet another mental context.

### The Isolation Paradox

Here's the strange contradiction: video conferencing tools technically "connect" you to teammates. You see their faces. You hear their voices. You collaborate on shared screens.

But [40% of remote employees report feelings of isolation and loneliness](https://pumble.com/learn/collaboration/remote-work-statistics/) despite using these tools daily.

Why?

Because traditional video conferencing is **transactional**. You schedule a meeting. People join at a specific time. You talk. Everyone leaves. The space disappears the moment the call ends.

There's no lingering in the hallway after the meeting. No spontaneous "oh hey, while I've got you..." moments. No casual awareness of who's around, who just wrapped up a call, who's deep in focus work.

The tools technically work. But they don't replicate the **ambient connection** of working near other humans.

What Traditional Video Conferencing Was Actually Designed For
-------------------------------------------------------------

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-689-1764590292261-compressed.png)

### Event-Based vs. Workspace-Based

Understanding the problem requires understanding the original design intent.

**Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams—these platforms were built to replace:**

*   Quarterly board meetings
    
*   Client presentations
    
*   Training webinars
    
*   Conference calls with external partners
    
*   Structured team meetings with agendas
    

**They were NOT built to replace:**

*   Walking to someone's desk for a quick question
    
*   Spontaneous whiteboard sessions when 3 people are discussing something
    
*   Natural conversations near the coffee machine
    
*   Casual awareness of who's around and available
    
*   After-meeting hallway conversations
    

Video conferencing platforms are **event-based**: temporary spaces that exist only during scheduled time blocks.

Physical offices are **workspace-based**: persistent environments that exist continuously, where you see teammates, gauge availability through social cues (headphones = focus mode, not at desk = unavailable), and interact spontaneously.

The mismatch creates dysfunction.

### The Technical Limitations Nobody Talks About

Try this experiment: Open Zoom at 9am. Keep it running until 5pm.

**What happens:**

*   Your laptop fans start spinning by 11am
    
*   Battery drains completely by 1pm (even when plugged in, heat accumulates)
    
*   CPU usage spikes to 60-80% sustained
    
*   Other applications slow down noticeably
    
*   Your laptop becomes uncomfortably hot
    

Traditional video conferencing platforms consume **significantly more CPU resources** during all-day use compared to platforms optimised for persistent presence.

**Why?** Because Zoom was engineered for 1-hour meetings, not 8-hour workdays.

The codec optimisation, video processing pipelines, and resource allocation strategies assume:

*   Short duration (60-90 minutes maximum)
    
*   High engagement (everyone actively participating)
    
*   Full video feeds from all participants
    
*   Intensive screen sharing and feature usage
    

None of these assumptions hold for "virtual office" use cases where:

*   Duration is 8+ hours
    
*   Most time is spent working independently (video/audio dormant)
    
*   Presence matters more than constant transmission
    
*   Efficiency and battery preservation are critical
    

This isn't a critique of Zoom's engineering—it's simply a tool being used for a purpose it wasn't designed to serve.

### The Awareness Gap

In a physical office, you have **ambient awareness**:

*   You see Sarah's at her desk, headphones off → probably available
    
*   Tom's in the conference room with clients → definitely not available
    
*   The design team is clustered around a whiteboard → something interesting is happening, maybe join if relevant
    
*   Jen just returned to her desk after a long call → good time to ask a quick question
    

This awareness is **passive**. You don't need to actively check. You simply observe as part of being in the environment.

**Slack's approach:** Green dot = online. That's all you get.

But "online" doesn't mean "available." Someone might be:

*   Deep in focus work (don't interrupt)
    
*   On a different call (can't respond)
    
*   Technically logged in but away from desk (won't see message)
    
*   In a flow state writing code (interruption will break concentration)
    

According to 2024-2025 research, [**38% of managers say collaboration has become more difficult in remote settings**](https://www.keevee.com/remote-work-statistics), largely because this awareness infrastructure disappeared.

You're always either:

1.  **Interrupting blindly** (sending messages without knowing if someone's available)
    
2.  **Over-scheduling** (turning every interaction into a formal meeting to ensure participation)
    

Both options create friction. Neither recreates the effortless coordination of physical offices.

The Alternative: Remote Collaboration Tools (Virtual Offices)
-------------------------------------------------------------

### Category Education: What's the Actual Difference?

Most people think "remote collaboration tools" and "video conferencing" are the same category. They're not.

**Video Conferencing (Traditional):**

*   Event-based (space exists only during calls)
    
*   Requires links for every interaction
    
*   Optimised for scheduled meetings
    
*   High CPU usage if used all day
    
*   Transactional (join → talk → leave)
    
*   No ambient awareness of teammates
    

**Virtual Office Platforms (Collaboration Tools):**

*   Workspace-based (persistent space exists continuously)
    
*   Single global link (like a physical address)
    
*   Optimised for all-day presence
    
*   Efficient CPU usage for extended sessions
    
*   Continuous (teammates are "in the office" together)
    
*   Ambient awareness through visual presence
    

The [global market for virtual collaboration platforms](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/08/12/3131887/0/en/Virtual-Collaboration-Global-Strategic-Business-Report-2024-2030-Adoption-of-Asynchronous-Workflows-Creates-New-Opportunities-for-Persistent-Flexible-Collaboration-Platforms.html) is projected to grow from **$20.5 billion in 2024 to $36.1 billion by 2030**, with **65% of companies expected to use AI-powered collaboration functionalities by 2025**.

This isn't a niche experiment. It's a fundamental shift in how distributed teams work.

### How Virtual Offices Eliminate Coordination Friction

Remember the Sarah font question from earlier? Here's how it works in a virtual office:

**10:47am:** You open your virtual office. You see Sarah's avatar at her "desk" with status showing "Available."

You walk your avatar near hers. Audio/video connects instantly—no link, no clicking "start call," no 30-second connection ceremony.

"Hey Sarah, quick question—which font for the client deck?"

"Arial, 18pt for headlines."

"Perfect, thanks!"

**Total time:** 90 seconds.

**No scheduling.** No link sending. No calendar checking. No waiting hours for a Slack response.

This is what [Frontier's production team experienced](https://cosmos.video/case-studies/frontier):

> "Our team was drowning in back-to-back Zoom calls, spending more time scheduling meetings than actually collaborating. We tried Slack for quick questions, but the back-and-forth took forever and people felt anxious about reply times."

After switching to a persistent virtual office:

> "Our employee NPS increased by 20% as a result. It created a stronger sense of belonging. We use it daily for meetings, review sessions, and weekly all-hands."

The difference? **Instant access without scheduling overhead.**

### The Single Link Revolution

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-685-1764590354347-compressed.png)

One of the most underrated benefits of virtual office platforms: **one permanent link**.

Your team memorises it. Bookmarks it. Uses it every day. It's your team's digital address.

Compare this to Zoom:

*   Different link for every meeting
    
*   Calendar invites to track them all
    
*   "Which link was that?" confusion
    
*   Lost links requiring resharing
    
*   Guest access requiring new links
    
*   Broken links when meetings are rescheduled
    

Research shows that [43% spend 3+ hours weekly just on meeting coordination](https://archieapp.co/blog/meeting-statistics/). A significant portion of that time is link management: creating, sending, finding, resending, updating.

With virtual offices, that entire category of friction disappears.

### True Statuses: Solving the Availability Problem

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/group-3469250-1764590639714-compressed.png)

Slack's green dot tells you someone's logged in. That's it.

[True Statuses](https://cosmos.video/product/features/true-statuses) solve the awareness problem with intelligent availability indicators:

**Available** → Ready to talk, walk over anytime  
**Listening** → Working but can hear if someone approaches, will respond if needed  
**Focus** → Deep work mode, don't interrupt unless urgent  
**Away** → Not at desk, message instead

These statuses auto-switch based on calendar and behaviour, giving teammates accurate information without manual updates.

You know before approaching whether someone's interruptible. That solves the "am I being annoying?" anxiety whilst preserving instant access for those who are available.

### The Performance Advantage

Virtual office platforms built for all-day use optimise differently:

*   **Efficient codecs** that minimise CPU usage during dormant periods
    
*   **Spatial audio** that only transmits when avatars are near each other
    
*   **Adaptive video** that reduces quality when you're not actively in conversation
    
*   **Lightweight presence** that shows avatars without constant video streaming
    

[According to competitive performance analysis](https://cosmos.video/product/features/performance--reliability), platforms optimised for persistent use achieve **10.4% CPU usage** compared to 20%+ for traditional video conferencing during all-day sessions.

**Practical result:** Your laptop doesn't scream, your battery lasts, your fans don't sound like a jet engine, and you can actually multitask without lag.

The Honest Comparison: When Each Approach Wins
----------------------------------------------

### When Traditional Video Conferencing Is Better

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-686-1764590682643-compressed.png)

Let's be honest: video conferencing isn't wrong for everything.

**Use traditional video conferencing when:**

**1\. External meetings with clients or partners**  
Your clients already have Zoom. They don't want to download new software or learn new interfaces. Sending a Zoom link is frictionless for them.

**2\. Large formal presentations (50+ participants)**  
Webinars, all-hands meetings, training sessions—these are genuine "events" where the event-based model makes sense.

**3\. Scheduled interviews and demos**  
When you're meeting someone once or twice, the overhead of onboarding them to a virtual office isn't worth it.

**4\. Teams with strong async culture and minimal synchronous needs**  
If your team rarely needs real-time collaboration and prefers async-first workflows, persistent presence adds little value.

**5\. Recording and compliance requirements**  
Some industries have strict requirements for meeting documentation. Traditional platforms have mature recording, transcription, and compliance features.

Nobody's arguing you should abandon Zoom entirely. It's a valuable tool for specific use cases.

### When Virtual Office Platforms Are Better

**Use virtual office platforms when:**

**1\. Internal team collaboration is primarily synchronous**  
If your team needs frequent quick check-ins, spontaneous discussions, and real-time feedback, persistent presence eliminates scheduling friction.

**2\. Coordination overhead is crushing productivity**  
If you're spending 3+ hours weekly on meeting scheduling, or waiting hours/days for simple answers, you need instant access.

**3\. [Remote isolation is hurting morale](https://cosmos.video/blog/how-to-overcome-isolation-and-low-motivation-in-your-remote-team/)**  
If [40% of your remote team reports feelings of isolation](https://www.teamcamp.app/blogs/remote-work-statistics), they need more than scheduled meetings—they need ambient connection.

**4\. Context switching is destroying focus**  
If your team is jumping between Slack, Zoom, Asana, and Google Docs 20+ times daily, consolidating communication into one persistent space helps.

**5\. You want to replicate office spontaneity**  
If you miss the "hey got a sec?" interactions, spontaneous whiteboard sessions, and casual hallway conversations, virtual offices recreate those patterns.

[Reconciled, a 60-person accounting firm](https://cosmos.video/case-studies/reconciled), needed fast turnaround during crunch times:

> "My remote team was struggling with isolation. Traditional communication tools like Slack made new team members hesitant to seek support—they felt anxious waiting for replies."

After moving to a virtual office:

> "Everyone being available in our Cosmos space created a real sense of community. We go through crunch times much faster compared to back-and-forth messaging. For people who need community and quick support, it's a game-changer."

**The pattern:** When collaboration speed, spontaneity, and connection matter more than formal structure, virtual offices win.

* * *

The Hybrid Approach: Best of Both Worlds
----------------------------------------

### You Don't Have to Choose One

Here's what actually works for most teams:

**Virtual Office = Daily Workspace**

*   Team logs in during work hours
    
*   Quick questions get instant answers
    
*   Spontaneous collaboration happens naturally
    
*   Ambient awareness of who's around
    
*   Casual social connection
    
*   Reduces meeting scheduling by 40%
    

**Traditional Video Conferencing = Special Events**

*   Client meetings and external calls
    
*   Large all-hands presentations
    
*   Formal recorded sessions
    
*   Interviews and onboarding
    
*   Compliance-required meetings
    

The key is understanding which tool serves which purpose.

### Migration Strategy: How to Transition Smoothly

Most teams fail at adopting virtual offices because they try to replace everything at once.

**Better approach:**

**Week 1-2: Pilot with 5-10 people**

*   Choose early adopters who are excited about experimentation
    
*   Use virtual office for one team only (e.g., engineering or design)
    
*   Keep Zoom for everything else
    
*   Measure: How many "quick questions" get answered faster?
    

**Week 3-4: Expand to core team**

*   Invite remaining internal team members
    
*   Establish "office hours" (e.g., 10am-3pm team is "in the office")
    
*   Use virtual office for internal collaboration
    
*   Continue using Zoom for client meetings
    
*   Measure: How much meeting scheduling time decreased?
    

**Week 5-8: Optimize workflows**

*   Define status norms ([Available vs Listening vs Focus](https://cosmos.video/product/features/true-statuses))
    
*   Create [custom floor plans](https://cosmos.video/product/features/fully-customisable-spaces) matching team structure
    
*   Set up [focus rooms for body doubling](https://cosmos.video/product/features/focus-rooms-for-online-body-doubling) during deep work
    
*   Integrate calendar and Slack
    
*   Measure: Team sentiment and adoption rates
    

**Month 3+: Scale and refine**

*   Virtual office becomes primary internal workspace
    
*   Zoom remains for external meetings
    
*   Team naturally gravitates to instant collaboration
    
*   Measure: Employee NPS, collaboration speed, meeting load
    

[Frontier's production team](https://cosmos.video/case-studies/frontier) used this approach:

> "We didn't abandon Zoom overnight. We started using Cosmos for internal team coordination whilst keeping Zoom for client work. Within 2 months, our internal meeting load dropped by 40% and employee NPS increased by 20%."

The transition works when you solve real pain points first, not when you force wholesale replacement.

Addressing Common Objections
----------------------------

### "We Already Have Too Many Tools"

Valid concern. Tool fatigue is real.

But consider this: are you adding a tool, or **consolidating**?

**Before virtual office:**

*   Slack (for quick questions → but answers take hours)
    
*   Zoom (for scheduled meetings → but scheduling takes hours)
    
*   Calendar (to coordinate → constant back-and-forth)
    
*   Email (for async → adds to overload)
    

**After virtual office:**

*   Virtual office (for instant internal collaboration)
    
*   Zoom (for external meetings only)
    
*   Reduced Slack usage (quick questions answered instantly)
    
*   Fewer calendar gymnastics
    

[According to context-switching research](https://medium.com/@mattlar.jari/the-slack-context-switch-tax-why-teams-lose-2-hours-daily-to-app-jumping-180dc97c0510), **teams lose 2 hours daily to app jumping** between communication tools.

If a virtual office reduces that by replacing Slack + Zoom for internal work, you're not adding—you're subtracting complexity.

### "Won't This Create Constant Interruptions?"

No—**if you respect status indicators**.

That's the whole point of [True Statuses](https://cosmos.video/product/features/true-statuses):

*   **Focus** = Do Not Disturb (equivalent to closed door in office)
    
*   **Away** = Not at desk (don't approach)
    
*   **Listening** = Working but can respond if needed
    
*   **Available** = Ready to talk
    

In a physical office, you don't interrupt someone wearing headphones in a closed office. Same rules apply digitally.

The anxiety about interruptions usually comes from Slack, where there's no reliable availability signal. Everyone appears "online" even when they're unavailable, so every message feels like a potential interruption.

Virtual offices solve this by giving accurate, real-time availability information.

### "What About Battery Life and Performance?"

**Legitimate concern for traditional video conferencing used all-day.**

Zoom wasn't designed for 8-hour sessions. CPU usage spikes, battery drains, laptops overheat.

**Virtual office platforms optimised for persistent use solve this through:**

*   Efficient spatial audio (only transmits when needed)
    
*   Adaptive video quality (reduces when not actively collaborating)
    
*   Lightweight avatar presence (doesn't require constant video streaming)
    
*   Intelligent resource allocation (dormant when you're working solo)
    

[Performance benchmarks show](https://cosmos.video/product/features/performance--reliability) that platforms built for all-day use achieve **10.4% CPU usage** with **minimal battery drain**, allowing 6-8 hour battery life on laptops.

Test it yourself: Open your virtual office at 9am on battery power. Check at 5pm. Compare that to running Zoom all day.

### "Will My Team Actually Use It?"

**This is the #1 fear for decision-makers.**

Adoption depends on solving real pain points, not forcing adoption:

**Teams adopt virtual offices when:**

1.  Coordination friction is genuinely painful (3+ hours weekly on scheduling)
    
2.  Leadership models behaviour (executives use it daily)
    
3.  Quick practical wins happen early (saved time, faster answers)
    
4.  Tool is genuinely easier than current workflow
    
5.  Team sees value within first week
    

**Teams abandon virtual offices when:**

1.  Forced adoption without clear pain point addressed
    
2.  Leadership doesn't use it (signals "not actually important")
    
3.  No quick wins (feels like extra work, not time savings)
    
4.  Technical issues or confusing UX
    
5.  Team doesn't see value quickly
    

[Frontier's success story](https://cosmos.video/case-studies/frontier) demonstrates this:

> "We didn't mandate usage. We started with daily standups in our virtual office. When people saw how much faster they could get answers to quick questions, adoption happened naturally. Within 3 weeks, team members were asking why we were still scheduling some meetings instead of just 'walking over' in Cosmos."

Adoption isn't about coercion. It's about genuine value delivery.

Making the Decision: What's Right for Your Team?
------------------------------------------------

### Questions to Ask

**1\. How much time does your team spend scheduling meetings?**

*   If <1 hour/week per person → video conferencing is probably fine
    
*   If 2-3 hours/week → virtual office will save significant time
    
*   If 4+ hours/week → virtual office is essential
    

**2\. How often do simple questions turn into multi-day waits?**

*   Rarely → async workflows are working
    
*   Occasionally → assess if frustration is building
    
*   Frequently → coordination friction is crushing productivity
    

**3\. What's your team's loneliness/isolation level?**

*   [Use Gallup's loneliness assessment](https://www.gallup.com/workplace/645566/employees-worldwide-feel-lonely.aspx)
    
*   If 20%+ report isolation → ambient connection needed
    
*   If 40%+ → urgent culture problem requiring persistent presence
    

**4\. How distributed is your team?**

*   Single timezone, occasional remote → video conferencing works
    
*   2-3 timezones, mostly remote → hybrid approach recommended
    
*   Fully distributed across 4+ timezones → virtual office for overlap hours, async for rest
    

**5\. What's your collaboration style?**

*   Async-first, minimal real-time needs → stick with async tools
    
*   Mixed async/sync → hybrid approach (virtual office + async)
    
*   Sync-heavy, frequent collaboration → virtual office essential
    

### The ROI Calculation

**Cost of coordination friction:**

*   43% spend 3 hours weekly scheduling = **156 hours annually per person**
    
*   At $50/hour fully-loaded cost = **$7,800 per person annually** wasted on coordination
    
*   For 50-person team = **$390,000 annually** lost to scheduling overhead
    

**Cost of meeting overload:**

*   [392 hours per year in meetings per employee](https://archieapp.co/blog/meeting-statistics/)
    
*   If 65% are unproductive = **255 wasted meeting hours annually**
    
*   At $50/hour = **$12,750 per person annually**
    
*   For 50-person team = **$637,500 annually** lost to unproductive meetings
    

**Potential savings from virtual office adoption:**

*   40% reduction in scheduled meetings = **$255,000 saved annually** (50-person team)
    
*   45 minutes saved daily per person (Frontier case study) = **$312,500 annually**
    
*   **Total potential ROI: $567,500+ annually for 50-person team**
    

**Investment required:**

*   [Virtual office platform costs](https://cosmos.video/pricing): ~$149/month for 25 concurrent users
    
*   Onboarding time: ~2-4 weeks for full adoption
    
*   **Payback period: <1 month**
    

The math isn't even close. If coordination friction is genuinely painful, virtual offices pay for themselves in weeks.

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-688-1764590718802-compressed.png)

Conclusion: The Tool Mismatch Everyone Tolerated
------------------------------------------------

Here's what happened: when COVID-19 forced everyone remote in 2020, we grabbed whatever tools existed.

Zoom was available, familiar, and functional. Slack was already in use. Both technically "worked" for remote communication.

Five years later, we're still using event-based meeting tools for workspace-based collaboration needs.

We've normalised:

*   Spending 3+ hours weekly scheduling meetings
    
*   Waiting days for 2-minute answers
    
*   Jumping between 4+ applications constantly
    
*   Feeling isolated despite being "connected"
    
*   Managing dozens of meeting links weekly
    

None of this is acceptable. It's structural dysfunction we've tolerated because "that's just how remote work is."

But it doesn't have to be.

**Traditional video conferencing isn't bad.** It's excellent for what it was designed to do: replace scheduled meetings.

**Virtual office platforms aren't magic.** They simply recreate the instant access, ambient awareness, and spontaneous collaboration that made physical offices productive.

The question isn't "which is better?" in absolute terms. The question is "which solves your actual problem?"

If your team is drowning in coordination overhead, waiting days for quick answers, and feeling isolated despite constant Zoom calls, you're using the wrong tool for the job.

**Your 2-minute questions shouldn't take 2 days.**

Take Action: Experience the Difference
--------------------------------------

**Ready to eliminate coordination friction?**

[Try Cosmos free](https://cosmos.video/download) – no credit card required, live in 5 minutes. Experience instant "walk-to-talk" collaboration, 96kbps audio quality, and the feeling of working with your team, not just near them.

[**Explore case studies**](https://cosmos.video/case-studies) to see how teams like Frontier and Reconciled saved 45 minutes per employee daily by replacing coordination friction with instant access.

[**Compare virtual office platforms**](https://cosmos.video/virtual-office-comparison) to find the solution that fits your team's size, workflow, and collaboration style.

**The future of remote work isn't more meetings.** It's less scheduling and more spontaneity.


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Meeting Fatigue Is Real: How Back-to-Back Meetings Kill Productivity
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-11-29
Category: Future of Work
Tags: meeting fatigue, productivity, deep work
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/meeting-fatigue-is-real-how-back-to-back-meetings-kill-productivity

![Brain feels like static during work](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-672-1764529182277-compressed.png)

**By 3PM, your brain feels like static.** You've been in seven back-to-back Zoom calls since 9AM, and you still haven't started the strategic document that's actually due today. Sound familiar?

You're not lazy. You're not unmotivated. You're experiencing **meeting fatigue** — and the neuroscience behind it confirms that online video calls drain your brain in ways physical meetings never did.

Here's what's really happening: [**78% of workers say they attend so many meetings that it's hard to do actual work**](https://fortune.com/2024/03/21/meetings-productivity-ineffective-atlassian-report/), according to 2024 research from Atlassian's survey of 5,000 knowledge workers. Even more alarming? [**95% of workers experience video meeting fatigue**](https://www.webex.com/gp/video-meeting-fatigue-research.html), with symptoms ranging from mental exhaustion to physical pain, according to Dimensional Research's 2022 study.

This isn't just about "too many meetings." Remote work has fundamentally changed how meetings work — and it's breaking our brains. Let's explore why meeting fatigue happens, why back-to-back meetings are neurologically draining, and what you can do about it.

The Neuroscience of Meeting Fatigue: Why Video Calls Drain Your Brain

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-673-1764529382641-compressed.png)

Online video calls are not similar to what we had in physical offices. They're neurologically draining in ways we're only beginning to understand.

### Unnatural Eye Contact Creates Cognitive Overload

In a video call, everyone is visible in a grid of videos. You're having unnatural close-up eye contact with multiple people simultaneously, which feels highly intense. Your brain interprets sustained direct eye contact as either a threat or an intimate interaction — neither of which is appropriate for a casual work discussion.

### Self-Monitoring Exhaustion

You're constantly monitoring yourself — how you're visible on camera, how you appear on video, how other people perceive you. This self-consciousness creates what researchers call "mirror anxiety." [**49% of individuals report being exhausted due to being on webcam**](https://workplaceinsight.net/the-workforce-is-exhausted-from-meeting-on-camera/), according to research from the University of Georgia published in 2021.

In a physical meeting, you're not watching yourself. Your focus is directly on what the speaker is saying.

### Processing Delays Drain Cognitive Resources

The delays in audio, bad audio quality, poor video connections, and network issues all cause you to process more data during online meetings. Your brain is working overtime to:

*   Compensate for missing nonverbal cues
    
*   Decode emotion without seeing full body language
    
*   Fill in gaps from audio delays
    
*   Interpret communication through screen fatigue
    

[**Functional MRI data reveals**](https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/psychological-exploration-zoom-fatigue) that live face-to-face interactions activate brain regions involved in reward (the anterior cingulate cortex, ventral striatum, and amygdala) far more than video recordings or calls. Without these unconscious neurological rewards, video calls require compensatory cognitive and emotional effort just to stay engaged.

### The Performance Trap

Instead of focusing on the actual conversation, you feel like you're performing. You're doing exaggerated nodding, maintaining "authentic" facial expressions, asking questions to show attention, and managing your on-screen presence.

This constant performance creates emotional and cognitive drain that's invisible but measurable. It's why you finish a two-hour Zoom call feeling like you've given an exam.

Why Remote Work Creates More Meetings (And Why They're Back-to-Back)
--------------------------------------------------------------------

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-678-1764529442340-compressed.png)

The meeting explosion in remote work isn't random. There are structural reasons why remote teams end up with calendar Tetris.

### 1\. Zero Recovery Time Between Meetings

In offices, if you have a meeting at 10AM that ends at 11AM, the next meeting won't start at 11AM. You get a natural buffer — walking to another room takes 5-10 minutes, and the next meeting starts at 11:15 or 11:30.

In remote work? **Zoom meeting ends at 10:30AM, next starts at 10:30AM** — instant transition without any recovery. You sit in one, close the window, and immediately open another. There's no break between them.

Research from [Microsoft's 2024 Work Trend Index](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/brain-research#:~:text=1.,words%2C%20the%20stress%20kept%20accumulating.) shows that **brief breaks between meetings are crucial for reducing stress accumulation**. Without them, stress compounds exponentially throughout the day.

### 2\. Every Interaction Becomes a Scheduled Event

In offices, if you have a question, you ask someone in 30 seconds and get an answer. Problem solved.

In remote work, every interaction requires scheduling. That 30-second question becomes a 30-minute calendar event. What used to be a quick shoulder tap now requires:

*   Finding a mutual time slot
    
*   Sending a calendar invite
    
*   Waiting for the scheduled time
    
*   Joining a video call
    
*   Having the conversation
    
*   Ending the call formally
    

The friction of scheduling transforms micro-interactions into macro-meetings.

### 3\. Leadership Anxiety Creates Visibility Meetings

Remote work introduces a new type of meeting that rarely happened in offices: **meetings scheduled to manage management anxiety about visibility**.

When managers don't see people working, they compensate by scheduling regular meetings to catch up with people and see what everyone is working on. In offices, they see people working around them even without interaction. They know work is happening.

In remote settings, these meetings get set up as:

*   Weekly one-on-ones
    
*   Daily stand-ups
    
*   Team syncs
    
*   Project check-ins
    

These meetings aren't about collaboration — they're about creating visibility for managers feeling anxious about what their team is doing.

### 4\. Meetings Feel "Free" in Remote Work

Somehow, setting up a 30-minute call with someone in remote work feels free. There's no perceived cost.

In the office, if you want a meeting with someone, you think: "Do I really need a meeting? Is it OK to ask for their time?" There's social friction that makes you consider whether it's necessary.

In remote work, you just set up the call and expect them to join. Because it feels free, people book calendars whenever they see slots are open.

There's also no alternative for quick conversations — it's either slow async communication or an expensive 30-minute meeting for a 30-second question.

The Productivity Crisis: How Back-to-Back Meetings Destroy Deep Work
--------------------------------------------------------------------

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-671-1-1764529863462-compressed.png)

The challenge isn't just that meetings are tiring. **It's that they make meaningful work impossible.**

### Deep Work Requires 90+ Minutes of Uninterrupted Focus

Research by Cal Newport and confirmed by cognitive science shows that deep work — the strategic, creative, complex thinking that actually produces value — requires at least **90 minutes of uninterrupted concentration** to achieve flow state.

Back-to-back 30-minute meetings fragment attention cycles into useless chunks. [**83% of employees spend up to one third of their workweek in meetings**](https://www.flowtrace.co/collaboration-blog/50-meeting-statistics), leaving only fragmented time for actual work, according to meeting statistics research.

### Context Switching Consumes 40% of Productivity

When you switch between a meeting, a task, another meeting, and another task, you're not just losing time. You're losing cognitive capacity.

Research from the American Psychological Association found that [**task-switching can reduce productivity by up to 40%**](https://www.apa.org/topics/research/multitasking). Every time you switch contexts, your brain needs time to:

*   Offload the previous context
    
*   Reload the new context
    
*   Retrieve relevant information
    
*   Rebuild mental models
    

By the time you're in flow, another meeting notification pops up.

### The Afternoon Productivity Void

More than half your day is spent in meetings. Less than one-third is spent on tasks that actually produce output.

And by the time you're free from back-to-back meetings and sit down for actual work, **your brain is fried**. You can't focus. Creative ideas won't come. You're stuck in a void, unable to finish the work.

This creates a vicious cycle:

*   Morning: Meetings
    
*   Afternoon: Too exhausted for deep work
    
*   Evening: Force yourself to work overtime
    
*   Next day: Repeat
    

[**51% of workers have to work overtime at least a few days a week due to meeting overload**](https://www.atlassian.com/blog/workplace-woes-meetings), and for those at director level and up, that number rises to **67%**, according to Atlassian's 2024 research.

The Hidden Costs of Meeting Fatigue
-----------------------------------

Meeting fatigue doesn't just make you tired. It erodes everything that makes work sustainable and meaningful.

### 1\. Creative Thinking Disappears

When your cognitive resources are depleted by meeting marathons, creative thinking is the first casualty. You can't solve complex problems in 20-minute gaps. You can't think strategically when you're mentally exhausted.

[**45% of employees feel overwhelmed by the number of meetings they attend**](https://www.flowtrace.co/collaboration-blog/50-meeting-statistics), resulting in reduced engagement and frustration, according to meeting fatigue research.

### 2\. Decision Quality Declines

Fatigued brains make poor decisions. When you're drained from back-to-back calls, you default to:

*   Taking the easiest path (not the best one)
    
*   Agreeing to avoid conflict
    
*   Postponing decisions entirely
    

### 3\. Burnout Accelerates

The combination of meeting fatigue, overtime work, and constant performance anxiety creates the perfect storm for burnout. You feel like you're always "on," always visible, always performing — with no space to recover.

### 4\. Team Connection Suffers

Ironically, excessive meetings destroy the very connection they're meant to create. When every interaction is formal, scheduled, and exhausting, spontaneous relationship-building disappears.

What Actually Works: Escaping the Meeting Marathon
--------------------------------------------------

The solution isn't just "schedule fewer meetings" (though that helps). You need structural changes to how remote teams collaborate.

### 1\. Create Meeting-Free Zones

Designate specific time blocks as meeting-free zones. Many companies are adopting:

*   **No-Meeting Wednesdays**
    
*   **Focus Fridays** (no meetings after 2PM)
    
*   **Morning deep work blocks** (9-11AM protected time)
    

Treat these blocks as non-negotiable.

### 2\. Default to Async First, Meetings as Last Resort

Before scheduling a meeting, ask:

*   Could this be a message?
    
*   Could this be a voice note?
    
*   Could this be a shared document with comments?
    

**Reserve meetings for collaboration that genuinely requires synchronous discussion**: brainstorming, problem-solving, decision-making that benefits from real-time dialogue.

### 3\. Build in Recovery Time

Microsoft's research found that [**taking just 5-10 minute breaks between meetings significantly reduces stress accumulation**](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/brain-research). Instead of scheduling hour-long meetings from 10-11 and 11-12, schedule:

*   10:00-10:45AM (15-minute buffer)
    
*   11:00-11:45AM (15-minute buffer)
    

Those 15 minutes give your brain time to reset.

### 4\. Enable [Spontaneous Collaboration](https://cosmos.video/product/features/personal-rooms-for-instant-collaboration) Without Scheduling

The most powerful shift? **Replacing scheduled meetings with instant access to teammates when you both need it.**

Virtual office platforms like Cosmos enable what physical offices had naturally: the ability to see who's [available](https://cosmos.video/product/features/true-statuses), walk over, and start a conversation in seconds — without scheduling, without links, without ceremony.

This is how [**Frontier's team saved 45 minutes per employee daily**](https://cosmos.video/case-studies/frontier): by replacing scheduled meetings with quick, spontaneous conversations that happen when both people are available.

> "Cosmos has dramatically enhanced our productivity, culture, and engagement. Our employee NPS increased by 20% as a result. It helped create a stronger sense of belonging."  
> — **Mike Williams, Production Manager, Frontier**

### 5\. Protect Deep Work Time

If calendar fragmentation is destroying your focus time, you need to proactively block deep work time and defend it aggressively. Use tools like:

*   [**Focus Rooms for body doubling**](https://cosmos.video/product/features/focus-rooms-for-online-body-doubling) — work silently alongside teammates for accountability without interruption
    
*   **Time blocking apps** that physically block meeting invites during focus hours
    
*   **Themed days** that aggregate similar work to reduce context switching
    

The Future: Rethinking How Remote Teams Communicate
---------------------------------------------------

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-680-1764529686321-compressed.png)

Meeting fatigue isn't a personal failing. It's a structural problem that requires structural solutions.

The best remote teams are moving away from scheduled-meeting-default culture toward a hybrid model:

✅ **Async for information sharing**  
✅ **Spontaneous conversations for quick questions**  
✅ [**Scheduled meetings**](https://cosmos.video/blog/escape-the-meeting-marathon-collaborate-better-with-cosmos-cmaz6zx8v0003mjql2487mni4) **only for collaborative decision-making**

This isn't about having fewer connections with your team. It's about having better, more natural connections that don't drain your brain.

It's about reclaiming your calendar, your focus, and your sanity.

Because **meeting fatigue is real** — and you don't have to live with it.

Key Takeaways
-------------

*   **Meeting fatigue is neurologically real**: Video calls cause cognitive overload through unnatural eye contact, self-monitoring, and processing delays
    
*   **Remote work creates 50% more meetings** due to zero recovery time, scheduled micro-interactions, and visibility anxiety
    
*   **Back-to-back meetings destroy deep work**: Context switching consumes 40% of productivity, and fragmented time makes 90-minute focus blocks impossible
    
*   **78% of workers say meetings prevent actual work**, and 51% work overtime to compensate
    
*   **Solutions exist**: Meeting-free zones, async-first communication, recovery time between calls, and spontaneous collaboration models can restore productivity
    

The future of remote work isn't more meetings. It's smarter collaboration.

**Ready to escape the meeting marathon?** Discover how virtual office solutions enable [spontaneous collaboration](https://cosmos.video/solutions/virtual-office) without the calendar chaos.


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## How to Increase Team Morale in Your Disengaged Team
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-11-29
Category: Future of Work
Tags: morale, visible presence, engagement
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/how-to-increase-team-morale-in-your-disengaged-team

_Your team isn't unmotivated. They're structurally disconnected._

You notice it in the delayed Slack responses, the cameras-off meetings, the lack of energy in standups. Your team feels like strangers working in parallel, not colleagues working together. Morale is down, engagement is non-existent, and you're wondering what went wrong.

Here's what's really happening: [**Only 31% of employees are engaged at work in 2024**](https://www.gallup.com/workplace/654911/employee-engagement-sinks-year-low.aspx), the lowest level in a decade according to Gallup. Even more alarming? [**Disengaged employees cost the global economy $8.8 trillion annually**](https://www.wellsteps.com/blog/2024/05/30/employee-engagement-statistics/) in lost productivity.

But the problem isn't your team. It's how remote work structures connection — or rather, how it doesn't. Let's explore why team morale collapses in remote settings, and what actually works to rebuild it.  

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/c680ff86-4fc2-4119-9801-8649538a5191-1764585285998-compressed.png)

What Is Team Morale (And Why It Matters)

**Team morale** is the collective mood, attitude, and satisfaction level of a team. It reflects how employees feel about their work, their teammates, and their sense of belonging. High team morale leads to productivity, collaboration, and retention. Low morale leads to disengagement, quiet quitting, and turnover.

The data is clear: [**Turnover rates are 43% higher for disengaged teams**](https://peopleelement.com/2025-employee-engagement-report-trends-takeaways/) compared to engaged ones.

For remote teams, morale isn't just about productivity. It's about survival. When your team works in isolation, morale is the invisible glue holding everything together.

The Root Cause: Why Remote Work Kills Team Morale
-------------------------------------------------

Let's be real: remote work has massive benefits, but the main con is that you don't get any real human interaction. It's like talking to virtual people online. There's no human interaction. You're looking through one window.

### 1\. Invisible Work = No Social Feedback

Your team might feel their morale is down because their work feels invisible and meaningless. Because in remote work, **there is no immediate social feedback**.

People finish projects and get delayed thumbs-up emojis instead of genuine reactions. It feels like presenting your work to a grid of black boxes with muted microphones. Contributions disappear into the void. They don't matter because there's no social feedback.

The research confirms this: [**67% of workers feel lonely at work some or all of the time**](https://www.ringover.com/blog/loneliness-at-work-survey), according to a 2024 Ringover survey. [**Fully remote employees report 25% higher loneliness**](https://www.gallup.com/workplace/645566/employees-worldwide-feel-lonely.aspx) than on-site workers, according to Gallup.

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-659-1-1764437539650-compressed.png)

### 2\. Every Interaction Is Scheduled and Work-Focused

Because every interaction you're doing is scheduled and work-focused, you don't have any opportunity for casual human connections. Working with usernames and profile pictures doesn't make you feel connected. They feel like texts instead of real people.

You're missing watercooler moments that used to happen in offices where you bumped into each other, got to know new people, had quick short chit-chats that gave you a mood boost. A lot of people start to feel isolated and disconnected. They feel like they're sitting there alone. They're not part of a team. Others are on the other side of the wall.

### 3\. Lack of Recognition Feels Hollow

There's another reason: **lack of recognition that feels personal**. In remote settings, all recognition feels formal and delayed. By the time a manager mentions work, it's been a few days, and the employee has already mentally moved on.

Recognition feels hollow — like a box being checked, rather than genuine appreciation. [**58% of workers in health and medicine feel under-recognized**](https://hrnews.co.uk/thankless-jobs-how-neglecting-recognition-hurts-key-industries/), and this extends across industries in 2024.

There's no feeling of shared win or collective celebration. Wins get announced in Slack with emoji reactions. There's no collective experience. No feeling of, "Oh, we did this together" or "We achieved something." It's more like, "Oh, we did this. It's done. Now let's move to the next task."

In a setting like this, would you have your morale up or down? That's a simple question.

Why Traditional Tools Make Disengagement Worse
----------------------------------------------

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-660-1764438234510-compressed.png)

The tools we're using are created to increase disengagement **by design**. Zoom and Slack make engagement nearly impossible.

### The Zoom Problem: Scheduled-Only Connection

In Zoom, if you want to connect with someone, **you have to schedule a meeting**. That quick 2-minute question becomes a 30-minute calendar event three days from now. By the time the meeting happens, the context is gone, the energy is gone, and both people are exhausted from back-to-back calls.

[**Remote employees attend 50% more meetings than in-office staff**](https://archieapp.co/blog/meeting-statistics/) according to Flowtrace research, yet feel more isolated than ever.

### The Slack Problem: Async Creates Friction

If you want to connect with someone on Slack, you do async threads. You send a message, wait hours, schedule calls, get answers 24+ hours later. There's no persistent presence or spontaneous interaction — everything feels formal.

[**People stop asking for help; they just struggle alone**](https://www.culturemonkey.io/employee-engagement/disengaged-employees/). Work becomes solitary. Collaboration friction means every 2-minute question becomes a multi-day ordeal.

### The Invisibility Problem

These tools have eliminated every casual interaction that used to happen in offices — coffee chats, hallway conversations, overhearing funny moments. **Every conversation is scheduled and work-focused**. You don't get time to interact with teammates as humans, only as functions and roles.

Remote work strips away immediate feedback. You're not seeing faces react to your work. There's no immediate "thank you" when you help someone. There are no social signals that tell your brain, "Hey, what you did mattered."

The Hidden Costs of Low Team Morale
-----------------------------------

Low team morale doesn't just make people unhappy. It destroys everything.

### 1\. Productivity Collapses

[**Engaged employees outperform disengaged peers by more than 40%**](https://www.achievers.com/blog/employee-engagement-statistics/). When morale is low, people do the minimum. They don't go above and beyond. They don't care.

### 2\. Turnover Skyrockets

[**Turnover rates are 18-43% higher for disengaged teams**.](https://www.applauz.me/resources/employee-engagement-statistics) Your best people leave first. They find companies where they feel valued, seen, and connected.

### 3\. Innovation Dies

When people feel disconnected, they don't share ideas. They don't take risks. They don't collaborate. Innovation requires psychological safety and connection — both of which disappear when morale is low.

### 4\. Culture Erodes

Low morale is contagious. One disengaged person affects the whole team. Soon, everyone is going through the motions, counting hours, dreading meetings.

What Actually Works: How to Increase Team Morale
------------------------------------------------

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-662-1764438400176-compressed.png)

The solution isn't surface-level morale boosters. You can't motivate people into engagement when your infrastructure creates disengagement. You need **structural changes** to how remote teams connect.

### 1\. Create Opportunities for Spontaneous Connection

The most powerful shift? **Replace scheduled-only interactions with instant access when you both need it.**

[Virtual office platforms](https://cosmos.video/solutions/virtual-office) enable what physical offices had naturally: the ability to see who's available, walk over, and start a conversation in seconds — without scheduling, without links, without ceremony.

This is how [**Frontier's team increased employee NPS by 20%**](https://cosmos.video/case-studies/frontier): by replacing formal, scheduled meetings with quick, spontaneous conversations that happen when both people are available.

> "Cosmos has dramatically enhanced our productivity, culture, and engagement. Our employee NPS increased by 20% as a result. It helped create a stronger sense of belonging."  
> — **Mike Williams, Production Manager, Frontier**

When teammates can have quick 2-minute conversations instead of scheduling 30-minute meetings, work feels collaborative again. Connection feels natural, not forced.

### 2\. Make Recognition Immediate and Personal

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-663-1764438470766-compressed.png)

Recognition works when it's **immediate, specific, and public**.

Don't wait for formal reviews. Recognize wins in the moment. When someone solves a problem, delivers great work, or helps a teammate — **say something immediately**.

In [digital spaces where teams can see each other](https://cosmos.video/product/features/visibility--spatial-video), recognition becomes visible and collective. When you publicly thank someone in a shared space where others can see it happen, it creates the social validation that remote work strips away.

Employees say they'd be more productive if recognized more frequently. Make recognition a daily habit, not a quarterly checkbox.

### 3\. Build Connection Beyond Work Transactions

Every interaction your team has shouldn't be work-focused. You need **casual, human moments**.

Create spaces for:

*   Morning coffee chats where work talk is off-limits
    
*   [Focus rooms for body doubling](https://cosmos.video/product/features/focus-rooms-for-online-body-doubling) where people work silently together for accountability
    
*   [Spatial areas for networking](https://cosmos.video/product/features/spatial-areas-for-networking) where spontaneous conversations happen
    
*   [Team games](https://cosmos.video/product/team-building-games), trivia, or social hours
    

The key is making these **low-effort and spontaneous**, not mandatory scheduled events. When social connection requires scheduling, it becomes work. When it happens naturally because you see teammates online, it feels authentic.

### 4\. Address the Root Cause: Tools That Enable, Not Restrict

You can't fix morale with pizza parties when your tools create isolation. [**24% of businesses identify lack of connection as a big challenge**](https://www.ringover.com/blog/loneliness-at-work-survey) according to Ringover.

Invest in infrastructure that enables connection:

*   **Persistent presence** - See who's online and available throughout the day
    
*   [**True Statuses**](https://cosmos.video/product/features/true-statuses) - Control your availability (Available, Listening, Focus, Away) so you can collaborate when ready without feeling "always on"
    
*   **Instant communication** - Start conversations in seconds, not schedule them for days later
    
*   **Visual connection** - See teammates, not just green dots or usernames
    

When [Reconciled's 60-person accounting firm](https://cosmos.video/case-studies/reconciled) implemented a virtual office, the impact was immediate:

> "Everyone being available in our Cosmos space created a real sense of community. We go through crunch times much faster compared to back-and-forth messaging. For people who need community and quick support, Cosmos is a game-changer."  
> — **Keama, Accounting, Reconciled**

### 5\. Foster Transparency and Trust

Be transparent about:

*   Company goals and challenges
    
*   Decision-making processes
    
*   Individual contributions and impact
    
*   What's working and what isn't
    

When people understand the "why" behind their work and see their impact, morale improves. When they feel like mushrooms (kept in the dark), disengagement grows.

### 6\. Invest in Professional Growth

[**Employees who see opportunities for advancement stay engaged**](https://www.goco.io/blog/boost-employee-morale-remote-teams). Disengagement often comes from feeling stuck.

Provide:

*   Clear career paths
    
*   Skill development opportunities
    
*   Mentorship and coaching
    
*   Challenging work that stretches abilities
    

People don't disengage when they're growing. They disengage when they feel stagnant.

Team Morale Boosters That Actually Work
---------------------------------------

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-667-1764438550645-compressed.png)

Beyond structural changes, here are specific morale boosters to implement:

### Quick Wins (Implement This Week)

1.  **Start meetings with personal check-ins** - "What's one good thing that happened this week?"
    
2.  **Create a wins channel** - Public recognition for any wins, big or small
    
3.  **Have 1-on-1s focused on people, not just tasks** - Ask how they're doing, what they need, what's frustrating them
    
4.  **Enable** [**personal rooms**](https://cosmos.video/product/features/personal-rooms-for-instant-collaboration) - Give people instant collaboration spaces without scheduling overhead
    

### Medium-Term Changes (Implement This Month)

1.  **Establish team rituals** - Weekly all-hands, monthly celebrations, quarterly offsites
    
2.  **Create async + sync balance** - Not everything needs a meeting, but some things need real-time collaboration
    
3.  **Measure and address isolation** - Survey team on connection, loneliness, sense of belonging
    
4.  **Invest in** [**virtual office infrastructure**](https://cosmos.video/blog/how-to-choose-the-best-virtual-office-solution) - Replace disconnection-by-design tools with connection-by-design spaces
    

### Long-Term Strategy (Implement This Quarter)

1.  **Build culture intentionally** - Don't let culture happen by default; design it deliberately
    
2.  **Train managers on remote leadership** - Managing remote teams requires different skills than in-person
    
3.  **Create career development programs** - Mentorship, skill-building, advancement opportunities
    
4.  **Measure what matters** - Track engagement, belonging, morale — not just productivity metrics
    

What Not to Do: Common Morale Mistakes
--------------------------------------

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-665-1764438625366-compressed.png)

### Mistake 1: Forced Fun

Mandatory team-building events where attendance is tracked feel like work, not connection. Make social activities optional and low-pressure.

### Mistake 2: Surface-Level Recognition

"Great job, team!" doesn't work. Recognition must be specific, personal, and timely. Say **what** they did well and **why** it mattered.

### Mistake 3: Ignoring the Root Cause

You can't fix disengagement caused by structural disconnection with pizza parties. Address the tools and systems that create isolation.

### Mistake 4: Monitoring, Not Trusting

Surveillance tools and activity tracking destroy morale. Trust-based flexibility beats micromanagement. [True Statuses show availability, not activity](https://cosmos.video/product/features/true-statuses) — big difference.

### Mistake 5: Treating Symptoms, Not Disease

If morale is low, ask **why**. Don't throw solutions at symptoms without understanding root causes. Survey your team. Have honest conversations.

The Future: Rethinking Remote Team Connection
---------------------------------------------

Team morale in remote settings isn't about working harder to stay connected. It's about **designing systems that make connection natural, not forced**.

The best remote teams are moving away from disconnection-by-design tools (scheduled-only Zoom, async-only Slack) toward environments that enable:

✅ **Spontaneous conversations** when both people are available  
✅ **Visible presence** so people feel less isolated  
✅ **Human moments** beyond work transactions  
✅ **Immediate recognition** that feels authentic  
✅ **Cultural rituals** that build belonging

This isn't about replacing async work. It's about **balancing async efficiency with sync connection** — the best of both worlds.

[**Gallup research shows**](https://www.gallup.com/workplace/654911/employee-engagement-sinks-year-low.aspx) that engagement is at a 10-year low. Disengagement costs $8.8 trillion annually. Your team's morale matters — not just for them, but for your bottom line.

Key Takeaways
-------------

*   **Team morale is collapsing in remote work**: Only 31% of employees are engaged in 2024, the lowest in a decade
    
*   **The root cause is structural disconnection**: Remote tools eliminate spontaneous interaction and social feedback
    
*   **Invisible work kills morale**: 67% of workers feel lonely; lack of recognition makes contributions feel meaningless
    
*   **Traditional tools make it worse**: Zoom creates scheduling overhead; Slack creates async friction; both eliminate casual human moments
    
*   **What actually works**: Spontaneous connection, immediate recognition, human moments beyond work, trust-based flexibility
    
*   **Structural solutions beat surface fixes**: Virtual offices enable natural connection that scheduled-only tools can't replicate
    
*   **Real results**: Teams using connection-by-design tools see 20% NPS increases and stronger cultures
    

The future of remote work isn't more meetings or better Slack etiquette. It's infrastructure that makes human connection natural again.

**Ready to rebuild team morale?** Discover how [virtual office solutions create connection](https://cosmos.video/solutions/virtual-office) that scheduled meetings and async tools can't replicate.


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## How to build a strong culture in your remote team?
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-11-28
Category: Future of Work
Tags: isolation, culture, core working hours, recognition
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/how-to-build-a-strong-culture-in-your-remote-team

Remote work follows a predictable pattern that most leaders don't see coming: the Year 3 crisis. Years 1-2 feel glorious—the freedom, flexibility, and productivity gains are real. But by year 3-5, that freedom often transforms into isolation. And the team that once thrived starts slowly falling apart.

Building a strong culture in a remote team requires moving away from forced virtual happy hours and vague "transparency" value statements. It demands intentional systems that recreate the hallway conversations, the visible collaboration, and the spontaneous connections that happen naturally in physical offices.

This guide shows you what actually works—and what's a waste of time—based on real company experiences, research from 50+ sources, and authentic struggles from remote workers who've lived through the Year 3 crisis.

![Before and after changes with your remote team culture](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/group-3469240-1764340061183-compressed.png)

Why Remote Culture Falls Apart (And Why Most Teams Don't See It Coming)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

**Year 1-2: The Honeymoon Period**  
Remote work feels liberating. No commute. Flexible schedule. Deep focus time. Productivity soars.

**Year 3+: The Slow Decline**  
The side conversations vanish. Teammates become Slack avatars. "Out of sight, out of mind" becomes the reality. One remote worker described it: "Within two weeks I was deep into anxiety and depression...I was incredibly isolated...I ended up in a hole."

The decline isn't dramatic. It's gradual. That's why it's dangerous.

**The Real Cost of Weak Remote Culture:**

*   [70% of remote workers](https://www.zippia.com/advice/remote-work-statistics/) feel left out of their workplace
    

This isn't about personality types or "introverts vs extroverts." One remote worker explained: "I went for days when the only speaking I did was 'just these please ... thank you' at the store." Another added: "I had to get out in the end...Saved my life I think."

Strong culture isn't a "nice to have." It's infrastructure that prevents your team from slowly sliding into depression with no one noticing.

![year 1 vs year 3](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/group-3469241-1764340360431-compressed.png)

### What NOT to Do: Failed Culture-Building Attempts (Save Your Time and Budget)

Before we get to solutions, let's eliminate the approaches that waste time, drain budgets, and make your team resent "culture building."

#### 1\. Forced Virtual Social Events

"Team-bonding activities ultimately take people away from important work, family, friends, and personal interests," notes Collective Campus.

Virtual happy hours. Mandatory fun Fridays. Online game sessions that feel like "going through the motions."

**Why they fail:** Screen fatigue. Forced interaction. Lack of authentic connection. As one remote worker put it: "electronic interaction is like eating tofu when you really just want red meat."

**Cost:** 1-2 hours per person per event × team size = massive productivity loss with minimal culture gain.

#### 2\. Creating a "Fun" Slack Channel That Nobody Uses

You've seen it. #random. #watercooler. #fun. Created with good intentions. Dead within two weeks.

**Why it fails:** No conversation catalyst. No reason to check it. Becomes a graveyard of cricket sounds and forced memes.

**The reality:** "The side conversations have just vanished," described one remote manager. Slack channels don't recreate spontaneity—they require deliberate effort that most people won't sustain.

#### 3\. Replacing In-Person Activities with Virtual Equivalents

Virtual escape rooms. Online trivia nights. Digital cooking classes.

**Why they fail:** They're poor replacements for normal human interaction. They try to copy in-person experiences instead of designing for the virtual medium.

**Better approach:** Create experiences designed FOR virtual environments, not adapted FROM physical ones.

#### 4\. Publishing Values Documents Without Systems to Live Them

"We value collaboration, transparency, and innovation."

Great. How? Where? When?

**Why it fails:** Most companies have clearly stated values. But values without systems are just words. Culture is how you treat people, communicate, solve conflicts, and celebrate wins together—not what you write in a Google Doc.

#### 5\. One-Size-Fits-All Culture Initiatives

The same activity for introverts and extroverts. The same recognition system for all personality types. The same collaboration style for neurodivergent and neurotypical team members.

**Why it fails:** "I wish someone would have told me that it would happen in the first place. Everyone talks about the freedom and positives of remote work, so when the loneliness hits for the first time it's a bit overwhelming!" shared a Buffer community member.

Different people need different types of connection.

### 8 Proven Strategies to Build Authentic Remote Team Culture

Culture means how you treat people, communicate, solve conflicts, and celebrate wins together. Here's what actually works.

#### 1\. Create Persistent Presence (Not Just Scheduled Meetings)

**The Problem:** "I wasn't accessible. My team didn't feel like they could come to me and talk."

Scheduled meetings create barriers. Questions wait for the next Zoom call. Quick conversations become hour-long calendar blocks.

**What Works:** Always-on virtual offices where team members can see who's available and walk over for spontaneous conversations—just like tapping someone's shoulder in a physical office.

Tools like Cosmos Video enable this through spatial presence: your avatar exists in a shared virtual space, and audio/video connects instantly when you walk close to others. No "start call" ceremony. No scheduling overhead.

**The Impact:** Teams using virtual offices report:

*   60 quick interactions daily (30-person teams)
    
*   45 minutes saved per employee from reduced scheduling overhead
    
*   [20% increase in employee NPS](https://cosmos.video/case-studies/frontier) (Frontier VFX case study)
    

"Feels like having a place all can join and be there. We can drop in, ask a question spontaneously, we do all our meetings here. Feels like a home base," described one Cosmos user.

**How to Implement:**

![Different cosmos statuses](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/group-3469244-1764341013085-compressed.png)

*   Set designated "office hours" when teams are in the virtual space together
    
*   Use status systems that show availability (Available, Focusing, Away) to respect boundaries
    
*   Start with 2-hour co-working blocks, not full-day requirements
    
*   Make it opt-in initially to build trust
    

#### 2\. Enable Collaboration Without Communication Overhead

**The Problem:** "Inviting people to meetings for quick collaboration is painful. One needs to message, wait for a reply, send meeting links which is a pain."

The lag time between "I have a question" and "here's the answer" kills momentum. Async communication creates productivity loss when you need back-and-forth brainstorming.

**What Works:** Reduce the friction to near-zero.

When team members can see who's available and walk over to them in a virtual office, a 30-second question doesn't become a 2-hour scheduled meeting or a 20-message Slack thread.

"We talk to each other, ask for opinions, and reach solutions much faster. Our feedback cycles and team discussions are faster, and we don't have bottlenecks in our process. It is even helping us deliver the same amount of work in less time," shared a Cosmos user.

**The Transformation:**

*   Before: "Waiting for replies causes time wastage and it's very frustrating"
    
*   After: "We can reach our team members in just a couple of seconds and solve matters in that moment"
    

**Budget Reality:** Virtual office tools range from free (for small teams) to $149/month for 25 concurrent users (Cosmos Premium tier). ROI: 45 minutes saved × 25 people × ~20 working days = 375 hours monthly saved.

#### 3\. Make Work Visible (Visibility Creates Motivation and Connection)

**The Problem:** "Out of sight, out of mind." Remote workers feel invisible. Managers have no sense of what's happening without micromanaging.

**What Works:** Transparency systems that show what people are working on without surveillance.

**NOT surveillance:** Time tracking, keystroke monitoring, screenshot tools create anxiety and resentment.

**YES visibility:** Seeing which room teammates are in ("Stas is working on mockups in the design room"), what conversations are happening, who's collaborating with whom.

"Cosmos helps me see who is doing what. I don't want to control the team, but I want to help them naturally be focused. Visually seeing who is in a meeting, available, listening, or away helps me check in with people, unlike other messaging tools, where you're always available," explained one manager.

**The Balance:**

*   Show availability, not activity
    
*   Make presence visible, but give control over interruption
    
*   Use "True Statuses" (Available/Listening/Focus/Away) that auto-switch based on behaviour
    
*   Enable Focus mode that prevents interruptions while maintaining presence
    

**Impact:** Creates accountability without control. Reduces isolation without surveillance.

#### 4\. Celebrate Wins Publicly and Instantly (Don't Wait for Quarterly Meetings)

![celebrating success together](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/group-3469242-1764340705428-compressed.png)

**The Problem:** Recognition delayed is recognition diluted.

**What Works:** Real-time, peer-to-peer, public celebrations.

**How to Implement:**

*   Create a #wins channel for immediate shoutouts (unlike #fun, this has a clear purpose)
    
*   Use visual recognition: Decorate virtual spaces with achievements, team milestones, project wins
    
*   Enable peer-to-peer recognition, not just top-down praise
    
*   Celebrate small wins (bug fixed, client email, milestone hit) not just big launches
    

"Created a sense of community around my remote workers. It has improved our culture in a way that employees are able to express themselves, care for each other, be productive and feel like they belong somewhere," shared one team lead.

#### 5\. Create Structured Flexibility (Not Rigid Hours, Not Complete Chaos)

![Working together in core hours](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/group-3469243-1764340869651-compressed.png)

**The Problem:** "Team feels all over the place, we need to help them focus with collaboration. It is easy to get distracted by phones easily."

Complete flexibility sounds ideal but creates coordination chaos. Rigid 9-5 schedules destroy the remote work value proposition.

**What Works:** Structured flexibility—defined core hours with complete autonomy outside them.

**Framework:**

*   **Core hours:** 10am-2pm (team timezone) when everyone's available for collaboration
    
*   **Flex hours:** Early birds start at 6am, night owls at noon—their choice
    
*   **Deep work blocks:** 2-hour protected Focus time with status showing "unavailable"
    
*   **Office hours:** Designated times in virtual space for spontaneous connection
    

**The Balance:** "I can see when people are online, and others can see what's happening within the team to create visibility," while respecting individual work styles and energy patterns.

Gen Z workers want to feel connected to company purpose while maintaining work-life boundaries. Structured flexibility enables both.

#### 6\. Build Connections Through Shared Challenges (Not Forced Fun)

**The Problem:** Virtual team building often feels disconnected from actual work.

**What Works:** Culture forms around shared meaningful challenges, not artificial bonding exercises.

"People who became my best friends" happens when teams "share a meaningful and challenging journey," explained one remote worker.

**How to Implement:**

*   Hackathons with real business impact
    
*   Cross-functional problem-solving sessions
    
*   Knowledge-sharing sessions where people teach skills
    
*   Collaborative goal-setting with team ownership
    

**Why It Works:** Creates organic relationships through purpose, not forced interaction. Introverts connect through shared goals without small talk pressure.

#### 7\. Create Psychological Safety for Async and Sync Preferences

**The Problem:** Some people thrive in spontaneous conversations. Others need time to process. One-size-fits-all communication kills culture for half your team.

**What Works:** Honour both preferences with clear systems.

**Framework:**

*   **Async-first decisions:** Important discussions documented in writing first
    
*   **Sync brainstorming:** Creative ideation happens live with optional async contribution
    
*   **Status transparency:** "Focusing" status means async-only until they switch back
    
*   **Response expectations:** Async messages get 24-hour SLA, urgent needs use different channels
    

"Be accessible to your team. Make them feel like they could come to you and talk. Show your availability and lower the barrier to talk. With Cosmos you can control your availability with Status that are true, unlike slack: available to talk, focusing or away," noted one team lead.

**Personality Inclusion:**

*   **If you're an introvert:** Async channels + optional sync moments
    
*   **If you're an extrovert:** Sync opportunities + async documentation
    
*   **If you're neurodivergent:** Clarity on when/how to engage + sensory consideration
    

#### 8\. Measure and Iterate (Culture Metrics That Actually Matter)

**The Problem:** "We tried culture building" with no way to know if it's working.

**What Works:** Specific, measurable culture KPIs tracked monthly.

**Measurement Framework:**

**Pulse Survey Questions (Monthly, 5-minute survey):**

1.  "I feel connected to my teammates" (1-5 scale)
    
2.  "I can easily get help when I need it" (1-5 scale)
    
3.  "I feel like my work is visible and valued" (1-5 scale)
    
4.  "The team collaboration tools help vs. hinder" (1-5 scale)
    
5.  "In the past week, how many spontaneous conversations did you have with teammates?" (Number)
    

**Behavioural Metrics:**

*   Number of spontaneous interactions per week (track in virtual office)
    
*   Time from question asked to answer received (collaboration speed)
    
*   Participation in optional culture moments (engagement indicator)
    
*   Employee NPS score quarterly
    

**Leading Indicators:**

*   Response time to messages dropping = good culture health
    
*   Number of cross-team collaborations increasing = culture strengthening
    
*   Voluntary attendance at optional sessions rising = engagement growing
    

**Timeline Expectations:**

*   **Month 1-2:** Team learning new systems, metrics may dip
    
*   **Month 3-4:** Adoption increases, small culture improvements visible
    
*   **Month 6:** Clear trends emerge, interventions show impact
    
*   **Month 8:** Culture becomes self-sustaining, compound effects visible
    

### How Cosmos Fits In: The Culture Infrastructure Layer

Notice a pattern? The strategies that work all require one thing: **making digital interaction feel more human**.

That's where virtual office infrastructure like Cosmos becomes essential.

Cosmos isn't a team-building activity. It's the persistent space where culture lives.

**How It Solves Core Culture Problems:**

![Cosmos has higher audio quality at 96kbps](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/group-3469245-1764341084317-compressed.png)

**Problem:** "electronic interaction is like eating tofu when you really just want red meat"  
**Solution:** 96kbps audio quality (4x better than typical 24kbps) makes voices sound natural, preserves emotion and tone, reduces fatigue in long sessions

**Problem:** "miss the small everyday interactions"  
**Solution:** Spatial presence lets you see teammates and walk over for 30-second conversations—no scheduling, no "start call" ceremony

**Problem:** "separation prevented effective coordination"  
**Solution:** Live-view of who's in which rooms, what conversations are happening, ability to join with 1-click

**Problem:** "went for days without speaking"  
**Solution:** Always-on presence prevents invisible [isolation](https://cosmos.video/blog/how-to-overcome-isolation-and-low-motivation-in-your-remote-team/)—you see people, they see you, even in Focus mode

**Problem:** "Big Brother surveillance fear"  
**Solution:** True Statuses (Available/Listening/Focus/Away) give YOU control over interruptions. Shows availability, not activity. No keystroke tracking.

**Real Results:**

"Cosmos has dramatically enhanced our productivity, culture and engagement. Our employee NPS increased by 20% as a result of using Cosmos. It also helped create a stronger sense of belonging. We use it daily for meetings, review sessions, and weekly all-hands." — Mike Williams, Production Manager, Frontier VFX

"Everyone being available in our Cosmos space created a real sense of community. We go through crunch times much faster compared to back-and-forth messaging. For people who need community and quick support, Cosmos is a game-changer." — Keama, Accounting, [Reconciled](https://cosmos.video/case-studies/reconciled) (60-person team)

**Practical Implementation:**

1.  **Start Small:** Free tier for ≤4 concurrent users to test concept
    
2.  **Core Hours Pilot:** 2-hour daily co-working blocks in virtual office
    
3.  **Clear Expectations:** Availability statuses explained, interruption norms established
    
4.  **Measure Impact:** Track spontaneous interactions, meeting reduction, NPS change
    
5.  **Scale Gradually:** Premium tier ($149 for 25 concurrent users) when adoption proves value
    

**Not a Replacement For:**

*   Slack (keep for async messaging)
    
*   Zoom (keep for large all-hands)
    
*   Project management tools
    

**Replaces:**

*   Excessive scheduled "quick sync" meetings
    
*   Anxiety about when someone's available
    
*   Forced virtual social events to combat isolation
    

### Common Objections (And How to Handle Them)

**"My team might not see the benefit and won't adopt it"**

Start with pain acknowledgment: "Who here has spent 20 minutes scheduling a 5-minute conversation?" Then pilot with champions first, let success spread organically.

**"It feels like surveillance/Big Brother"**

Address directly: "This shows availability, not activity. You control your status. We can see when you're in Focus mode, but not what you're typing. It's like seeing someone at their desk with headphones on—you don't interrupt."

**"We already have too many tools"**

Position as consolidation: "This replaces 10 Slack 'quick sync?' messages and 5 calendar invites per week. Less tool switching, not more."

**"Working remotely can't create the same environment as in person"**

Reframe: "You're right—it creates a different environment. Some parts are better (no commute, deep focus), some are harder (spontaneity). This solves the spontaneity gap."

**"Won't this create constant interruptions?"**

Explain statuses: "Focus mode prevents interruptions while keeping you visible. Available mode means you're open to conversations. You choose, moment by moment."

### Frequently Asked Questions

**How do I get leadership buy-in for culture investment?**

Show cost of inaction: "We've had 3 departures this year at $100,000 replacement cost each = $300,000. Culture investment is barely $149/month for 25 concurrent users (Cosmos Premium tier). Which is the business risk?"

**What if only half the team adopts the virtual office?**

Start with core hours: "10am-2pm, everyone's in the space. Outside that, your choice." Network effects take over—as more people join, FOMO drives adoption.

**How do I balance async and sync communication?**

Default async for decisions (documented, inclusive). Use sync for brainstorming, unblocking, relationship building. Clear guidelines on which is which.

**What about timezones?**

Structured flexibility: Each timezone has 2-hour overlap core hours. Virtual office shows global presence—see who's around regardless of timezone.

**How do I measure culture change?**

Monthly 5-minute pulse survey + behavioural metrics (spontaneous interactions, response times, NPS). Leading indicators show impact before lagging indicators like retention.

**What if people abuse flexible hours?**

Output-based accountability: Measure deliverables, not hours. If work quality drops, it's a performance issue, not a culture system issue.

**How do I handle introverts who resist synchronous culture?**

Honour preferences: "You don't have to be in office hours. Async channels remain primary. Virtual office is for those who want spontaneity." Make it additive, not replacement.

**What's the minimum viable culture system?**

Virtual office with 2-hour core hours + weekly recognition ritual + monthly pulse survey. Start there, layer complexity as adoption grows.

**How long before I see results?**

Quick wins (spontaneous interactions) in weeks. Culture shifts (NPS, retention) in months. Full transformation in 12 months.

**What if my team is distributed across 8+ timezones?**

Create regional hubs: Americas hours, EMEA hours, APAC hours with rotating overlap windows. Full-team moments quarterly, not daily.

The Real Risk: Doing Nothing
----------------------------

![Weak culture breaks your team](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-651-1764341173086-compressed.png)

"I am tremendously comfortable with my current remote work and decent salary but I am not at all happy in a general sense."

That's the cost of weak culture. Comfortable but not happy. Productive but isolated. Employed but disconnected.

The Year 3 crisis is real. The decline is gradual. And most teams don't realise what's happening until top performers start leaving.

Strong remote culture isn't built through forced virtual happy hours or motivational value statements. It's built through systems that enable the small, spontaneous, human interactions that create belonging.

Culture is how you treat people, communicate, solve conflicts, and celebrate wins together. With intentional infrastructure like Cosmos, you create the space where those moments happen naturally—without forcing them, without surveillance, without burning people out.

Start small. Measure consistently. Iterate quickly. And prevent your team from slowly sliding into the Year 3 crisis.

**Ready to see what persistent presence feels like?** Try Cosmos free for teams ≤4 users. No credit card. No forced commitment. Just see if walk-to-talk conversations feel different than scheduled Zoom calls.

The culture you want is possible. It just requires infrastructure designed for humans, not for remote management theatre.


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## How  to overcome Isolation and Low Motivation in your Remote team
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-11-11
Category: Future of Work
Tags: isolation, low motivation, stuck moments
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/how-to-overcome-isolation-and-low-motivation-in-your-remote-team

### "Fully remote work is lonely as hell. The office culture has numerous problems, but being able to socialise easier was something I miss."

That quote from freelance writer [Nylah Burton](https://thepioneermedia.blogspot.com/2023/04/some-remote-workers-struggle-with.html) captures a reality [50% of remote workers face weekly](https://www.zippia.com/advice/remote-work-statistics/): isolation. Not the productive kind of alone time that enables deep work. The draining, demotivating kind that makes even simple tasks feel impossible.

If you're leading a remote team, you've probably noticed the signs. People seem slower to respond. Energy in meetings feels flat. Productivity is down, but calendars are full. You've tried the standard playbook—more one-on-ones, virtual coffee chats, team-building activities—yet somehow, your team feels more isolated than ever.

Here's why: the traditional solutions are treating the wrong problem. And worse, they're often making isolation worse.

The Real Problem: Isolation Happens at "Stuck Moments"
------------------------------------------------------

![Illustrated remote team members in peaceful ambient co-working environment](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/group-3469230-1763372117526-compressed.png)

Most advice about remote work loneliness misses a crucial insight: **isolation doesn't happen because people work alone. It happens when they're stuck and have no one readily available to help.**

Think about it. When was the last time one of your team members:

*   Got blocked on a problem and waited hours (or days) for a Slack response?
*   Had a breakthrough they wanted to share but had no one around to celebrate with?
*   Felt uncertain about a decision but didn't want to "bother" anyone with a meeting request?

These are the moments isolation takes root.

In an office, these stuck moments resolve naturally. You overhear someone struggling. You notice when a teammate looks frustrated. You spontaneously grab coffee and talk through the problem. The solution might take 5 minutes, but the isolation never has time to grow.

In remote work, that stuck moment sits. The message goes unanswered in Slack. The calendar shows no free slots for three days. The isolation compounds. And eventually, it transforms from "I need help on this task" to "I'm completely alone in this work."

### The Data Backs This Up

*   **[70% of remote workers](https://www.zippia.com/advice/remote-work-statistics/)** feel left out of their workplace (not because they're antisocial, but because they lack access to spontaneous interaction)
*   **[19% identify isolation as their #1 work problem](https://www.zippia.com/advice/remote-work-statistics/)** (ahead of distractions, tech issues, or time zones)

But here's what most articles won't tell you: the cost isn't just emotional.

The Real Impact on Your Team (And Your Business)
------------------------------------------------

![Illustrated visualization of remote work isolation costs affecting productivity](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/group-3469234-1763372525862-compressed.png)

When isolation lingers, it doesn't just affect individual mood. It creates a cascading energy drain across your entire team.

**Productivity drops.** Not because people aren't trying, but because stuck moments now take hours instead of minutes. A question that would have been a 30-second tap on the shoulder becomes a Slack thread that spans two days.

**Motivation disappears.** When you're stuck and invisible, it's hard to care about the work. As one remote worker put it: "I used to be a social butterfly and outgoing, but now I'm antisocial and a shut-in. I lack the motivation to go places like I used to."

**People start looking for other jobs.** At [10Adventures](https://www.worklife.news/talent/loneliness-remote-workers/), two employees **actually quit** because "they just couldn't stand the isolation of being in their apartment all day, completely alone, without social connection."

The business cost? Isolation and related stress cost US employers **[$154 billion annually](https://hbr.org/2024/03/fighting-loneliness-on-remote-teams)** (Source: Harvard Business Review, citing Cigna's 2019 Loneliness Index).

Why the Standard "Solutions" Make It Worse
------------------------------------------

If you've been managing remote teams for more than six months, you've probably tried these:

### 1\. More One-on-Ones

**The Logic:** If people feel isolated, let's talk to them more regularly.

**Why It Fails:** This solves for scheduled connection, not spontaneous support. The person stuck at 2pm on Tuesday doesn't need a 1:1 scheduled for Thursday. They need help now. Plus, adding more meetings to already-full calendars creates a new problem: meeting overload.

**The Result:** People now feel isolated AND drained from "endless, pointless, back-to-back Zoom meetings."

### 2\. Coworking Spaces

**The Logic:** Physical proximity will recreate office dynamics.

**Why It Fails:** One remote worker, [Benjamin Schwartz](https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/battling-the-loneliness-ogre-one-mans-journey-in-the-remote-work-era/), tried coworking spaces and found that "even though he was surrounded by people, he still felt alone." Physical proximity without actual connection doesn't solve emotional isolation.

**The Cost:** $200-400/month per person. That's $2,400-4,800 annually for a solution that often doesn't work.

### 3\. Virtual Coffee Chats and Social Hours

**The Logic:** Scheduled social time will build relationships.

**Why It Fails:** Everything in remote work becomes scheduled and intentional. That 15-minute "casual" coffee chat still requires a calendar invite, a Zoom link, and mental energy. It's not organic. It feels like work.

**The Irony:** You're trying to solve isolation by adding more structured interactions, which is what causes isolation in the first place.

### 4\. More Communication Channels

**The Logic:** More Slack channels, more ways to connect.

**Why It Fails:** When someone posts "anyone available to help with X?" in a channel and waits hours for a response, they're not feeling less isolated. They're feeling invisible.

As one team member explained: "When that message sits on that channel and doesn't get resolved, that's how long the feeling of isolation is going to grow."

What Actually Works: 7 Strategies That Solve the Real Problem
-------------------------------------------------------------

The solution isn't more scheduled interaction. It's creating conditions for **spontaneous, organic connection** combined with **visible availability**.

### Strategy 1: Create a Virtual Space with Persistent Presence

![Illustration of people being available in Cosmos](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/minimalnew-4-1763372867427-compressed.png)

  

**What it means:** Instead of everyone working in private Zoom rooms they invite people into, create a shared [virtual office space](https://cosmos.video/product/features/digital-space--presence) where team members can see who's around and available.

**Why it works:** Just like a physical office, seeing others around you creates the feeling of belonging to a team. You can glance at who's available, notice when someone looks stuck, and have quick interactions without scheduling.

**How to implement:**

*   Use tools like Cosmos Video, Gather, or similar virtual office platforms
*   Establish "core hours" when the team is in the shared space (not necessarily working synchronously, just present)
*   Allow personalisation—let people claim desks, add photos, customise their space
*   Enable "shoulder tap" functionality so people can signal availability

**Expected outcome:** Isolation at stuck moments reduces by 60-70% because support is visible and immediately accessible.

### Strategy 2: Make Availability Visible, Not Assumed

**What it means:** Slack status and calendar blocks aren't enough. People need to see actual human presence and availability signals.

**Why it works:** In an office, you can see if someone's in the zone or open to chat. Remote work obscures this. Making availability explicitly visible removes the "am I bothering them?" anxiety that prevents people from reaching out.

**How to implement:**

*   Use presence indicators that show: focused/available/away
*   Encourage "working out loud" in shared spaces—share what you're working on
*   Create lightweight check-in rituals (not meetings): "Today I'm focusing on X, available for quick questions about Y"

**Expected outcome:** Team members reach out 3x more often for help when they're stuck, preventing isolation spiral.

### Strategy 3: Design for Watercooler Moments, Not Just Scheduled Meetings

**What it means:** Create spaces and opportunities for unplanned, casual interaction—the remote equivalent of bumping into someone at the coffee machine.

**Why it works:** As one manager noted: "You're more connected than ever, but feel more isolated." Scheduled meetings create connections, but they're exhausting. Watercooler moments create energy. They're short, spontaneous, and low-stakes.

**How to implement:**

*   Start/end meetings 5 minutes early/late to allow casual chat before the "official" agenda
*   Create topic-based lounges in your virtual space (not Slack channels—actual spaces people can pop into)
*   Have a "curiosity hour" where anyone can drop in with random questions or share interesting findings
*   Enable voice/video "open door" times where leaders are visibly available

**Expected outcome:** Team reports feeling "part of something" rather than isolated contributors.

### Strategy 4: Reduce Meetings, Increase Presence

**What it means:** Counterintuitively, being in a shared space together requires fewer scheduled meetings because quick questions get answered in real-time.

**Why it works:** The meeting overload that's draining your team often exists because there's no other way to connect. A shared presence model allows async work with sync support available.

**How to implement:**

*   Audit current meetings: which ones exist only because there's no other way to connect?
*   Replace status update meetings with shared space check-ins
*   Reserve meetings for decision-making and deep collaboration, not information sharing
*   Track meeting reduction as a KPI alongside engagement

**Expected outcome:** Calendar time freed up by 20-30% while connection quality improves.

### Strategy 5: Celebrate Wins Publicly and Immediately

**What it means:** Create mechanisms for instant recognition when someone achieves something, no matter how small.

**Why it works:** Isolation intensifies during highs as much as lows. When you're excited about solving a problem but have no one to share it with, you feel invisible. Immediate, public celebration counters this.

**How to implement:**

*   Ring a virtual bell/sound when someone completes something
*   Create a #wins channel where people share small victories in real-time
*   In shared virtual spaces, enable celebrations (emojis, reactions, brief verbal shout-outs)
*   Leaders should model this: share their own small wins to normalise the practice

**Expected outcome:** Positive energy spreads across team, creating upward motivation spiral.

### Strategy 6: Create Belonging Through Shared Rituals

**What it means:** Establish team rituals that happen in the shared space, not just on calendars—things people participate in casually, not formally.

**Why it works:** Rituals create predictability and belonging. Knowing "every Thursday at 3pm, people gather for show-and-tell" gives structure without rigidity.

**How to implement:**

*   Weekly "demo Friday" where anyone can show something they learned/built
*   Daily "start together" where people show up in the space and casually chat while settling in
*   Monthly "team lunch" in the virtual space (everyone eats lunch together, no agenda)
*   Interest groups that meet in designated virtual spaces (book club, fitness, gaming)

**Expected outcome:** People report having "team moments to look forward to" rather than "just another meeting."

### Strategy 7: Provide "Stuck Moment" Support Systems

**What it means:** Make it radically easy to get unstuck without waiting for scheduled check-ins.

**Why it works:** This directly solves the core problem: isolation at stuck moments. If stuck moments resolve in minutes, isolation never takes root.

**How to implement:**

*   Implement "expert office hours" where specialists are visibly available in a shared space
*   Pair junior team members with "unstuck buddies" they can reach out to anytime

**Expected outcome:** Time-to-resolution for blocked work drops from hours to minutes; isolation reports decrease 50%+.

How to Know If Isolation Is Actually Improving
----------------------------------------------

![Illustrated team members showing persistent presence and immediate availability](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/group-3469235-1763372732074-compressed.png)

Measuring isolation isn't straightforward, but here are leading indicators:

### Quantitative Metrics:

*   **Time-to-first-response on Slack/channels:** Should decrease
*   **"Stuck time" (time between question and resolution):** Track and aim to reduce
*   **Meeting load:** Should decrease as shared presence increases
*   **Voluntary presence in shared spaces:** Should increase over time

### Qualitative Signals:

*   Team members proactively helping each other without prompting
*   People sharing personal updates and wins spontaneously
*   Energy level in meetings feels higher
*   Fewer complaints about "feeling out of the loop"
*   Exit interviews stop citing isolation/loneliness

### The Comparison Test:

Notice how the team feels after an in-person offsite or gathering. If there's a dramatic energy spike, that gap represents your isolation baseline. The goal is to narrow that gap during normal remote work.

For Different Team Types
------------------------

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/group-3469233-1763372352995-compressed.png)

### For Managers Leading Remote Teams

You face 6x worse retention and deal with your own isolation while supporting others. Remember:

*   **You need support too.** Don't just facilitate connection; participate in shared spaces.
*   **85% of managers distrust remote employees to be productive.** Shared presence spaces provide visibility that builds trust naturally.
*   **Model availability.** When you're visibly available in shared spaces, your team follows.

### For Digital Nomads and Distributed Teams

You face additional challenges: time zones, language barriers, transient relationships. Solutions:

*   Create "follow the sun" presence—always someone available in shared spaces across time zones
*   Use async video updates combined with sync "global standup" where at least some people are always present
*   Build in regular regional gatherings (quarterly) to deepen relationships

### For Introverts vs. Extroverts

**Introverts:** You might think you're fine alone, but task-related isolation still affects you. Shared presence doesn't mean constant interaction—it means available support when you're stuck.

**Extroverts:** You're more vulnerable to isolation and may be loudly advocating for more meetings. Push for shared presence instead—it gives you connection without draining your calendar.

The Bottom Line
---------------

![Illustrated remote team members in peaceful ambient co-working environment](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/group-3469232-1763372911755-compressed.png)

Remote work isolation isn't a personal failing. It's not fixed by "trying harder" to be social or scheduling more Zoom calls. It's a structural problem that requires structural solutions.

The core insight: **Isolation happens at stuck moments when no one is available to help.** Traditional solutions add scheduled interaction, which paradoxically increases isolation by filling calendars and preventing spontaneous connection.

What actually works:

1.  Shared virtual spaces with persistent presence
2.  Visible availability signals
3.  Watercooler moments, not just meetings
4.  Reduced meetings, increased presence
5.  Immediate public celebration
6.  Shared rituals
7.  "Stuck moment" support systems

These strategies don't add to your team's meeting load. They create the conditions for organic connection that offices provided by default but remote work obscures.

**The transformation:** From isolated individuals waiting for scheduled check-ins → to a connected team with immediate support available → to sustained motivation and productivity.

Implement even 2-3 of these strategies, and within 30 days, you'll notice the shift. People respond faster. Energy improves. That low-grade anxiety that something's wrong starts to lift.

Your team doesn't need more meetings. They need to feel less alone when they're stuck.

* * *

FAQ: Remote Team Isolation and Motivation
-----------------------------------------

### Is remote work loneliness normal?

Yes. 50% of remote workers experience loneliness at least once per week. Moving from full-time office to full-time remote increases loneliness by 67%. This isn't a personal failing—it's a predictable outcome of removing spontaneous human interaction.

### How long does it take to adjust to remote work?

Most research suggests 3-6 months for basic adjustment. However, "adjustment" doesn't mean isolation disappears—it means you've adapted to the new normal. Without structural changes (like shared virtual spaces), isolation often persists indefinitely.

### Should I quit my remote job if I feel isolated?

Not necessarily. First, try the strategies in this guide for 30-60 days. If your company supports creating shared spaces and implementing these solutions, isolation can dramatically improve. Only if structural changes aren't possible and isolation is affecting your mental health should you consider other options.

### Can introverts be lonely working remotely?

Yes. Introversion isn't about disliking people—it's about how you recharge energy. Introverts still need human connection and support, especially when stuck on tasks. The difference: introverts may prefer fewer, deeper interactions rather than constant socialising.

### What's the difference between isolation and loneliness?

**Isolation** is structural: lack of access to interaction (you're alone even when you want connection).

**Loneliness** is emotional: feeling disconnected even when surrounded by people.

Remote work creates both. The solutions in this guide address structural isolation, which often reduces emotional loneliness as a byproduct.

### How do I convince leadership to invest in solutions?

Frame it as a retention and productivity issue, not just a "nice to have." Present the data:

*   Isolation costs US employers $154 billion annually
*   Remote managers face 6x worse retention
*   70% of remote workers feel left out
*   Two real examples of employees quitting solely due to isolation

Then propose a 60-day pilot with metrics: measure stuck-time, meeting load, and team pulse scores before and after.

### What if my team is resistant to virtual office spaces?

Common concern: "I don't want to be watched all day." Address it head-on:

*   Presence ≠ surveillance (you're not monitoring, you're available)
*   Start with core hours only (3-4 hours/day)
*   Make it opt-in initially to build comfort
*   Emphasise: goal is to reduce meetings, not add obligations
*   Run a 2-week trial and measure calendar time freed up

Most resistance comes from imagining the worst-case scenario. Once people experience the benefits (fewer meetings, faster support), adoption increases naturally.

### How much does solving isolation cost?

**Traditional solutions:**

*   Coworking spaces: $200-400/month per person ($2,400-4,800/year)
*   Team offsites: $1,500-3,000 per person quarterly
*   Total: $8,400-16,800 per person annually

**Shared virtual space solutions:**

*   Virtual office platforms: $10-30/month per person ($120-360/year)
*   Team training: One-time investment
*   Total: $120-360 per person annually

ROI: If it prevents even one employee from leaving (avg. replacement cost: 50-200% of salary), it pays for itself immediately.

### What if we're fully async and don't want to require presence?

You can still implement these strategies:

*   Make presence optional but provide the space for those who want it
*   Focus on availability signals and async watercooler moments (voice notes, casual channels)
*   Implement "stuck moment" support with recorded office hours and async help requests
*   Create belonging through async rituals (weekly threads, show-and-tell channels)

Fully async works, but it requires intentional design to prevent isolation. The same principles apply—just adapted to async context.

### How do we measure success?

Track these metrics monthly:

**Quantitative:**

*   Average time-to-first-response on help requests
*   Time from "stuck" to "resolved"
*   Meeting hours per person per week
*   Voluntary participation in shared spaces
*   Pulse survey scores on "feeling connected"

**Qualitative:**

*   Energy level in team meetings
*   Frequency of spontaneous helping behaviour
*   Exit interview themes (isolation mentioned or not)
*   Manager observation: "Does the team feel alive or flat?"

Set a baseline, implement strategies, and measure again after 30 and 60 days.​


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## How to choose the Best Virtual Office Solution?
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-09-29
Category: Future of Work
Tags: virtual office solution, best virtual office
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/how-to-choose-the-best-virtual-office-solution

We've watched **1,000+ teams** evaluate [virtual office](https://cosmos.video/product/features/digital-space--presence) software. Here's what separates successful deployments from expensive mistakes.  
  
**Virtual offices** are a new category. Most decision makers figure out evaluation as they go - comparing features, running half-hearted trials.

### Here's the framework that actually works:

**1\. Get brutal consensus on the problem first:**  
  
80% of trials fail here. A leader gets excited, rolls it out, watches it die. Why? The team never agreed there was a problem.  
  
Virtual offices work when teams collectively feel:  
  
• Isolation despite being "connected" on Slack  
• Overhead of scheduling every interaction  
• Not knowing who's available  
  
Need better video? Upgrade Zoom. Chat's fine? Keep Slack. Miss the energy and speed of being together? That's virtual office territory.  
  
**2\. Test performance on your worst machine:**  
  
Beautiful 3D environments? Worthless if half your team can't run them alongside work tools.  
  
Teams abandon platforms in hours because no one tested if developers could run them with IDEs. Test lowest-spec machine first - if it works there, it works everywhere.  
  
**3\. Your use case beats the feature list:**  
  
Stop asking "what features?" Ask "Does it solve MY problem?"  
  
• Consultancy? One-click guest access beats 50 features.  
• [Creative agency?](https://cosmos.video/case-studies/divi) Pixel-perfect screen sharing matters most.  
• Sales team? Mobile performance from airports.  
  
Choose for YOUR team's needs.  
  
**4\. Run a proper 2-week pilot:**  
  
Not three volunteers. Your actual team, actual work, 14 days.  
Week 1: Resistance kicks in  
Week 2: Natural patterns emerge  
Watch for behaviour change: Are meetings decreasing? Calendars opening up? Dropping by desks feeling natural?  
  
Different roles, different benefits:  
  
• Leaders: visibility without micromanaging  
• ICs: more done, fewer distractions  
• Juniors: actually ask questions  
  
Track drop-in conversations vs [scheduled meetings](https://cosmos.video/product/features/meeting-rooms-for-video-calls).  
  
**5\. Set engagement expectations day one:**  
  
Biggest fear? "Am I being watched?" This isn't surveillance, it's [availability](https://cosmos.video/product/features/true-statuses).  
  
Define core hours (10am-3pm). Outside that? Personal choice.  
Success is when teams stop scheduling "quick chats" - they're already happening. When someone thinks "I'll pop over" instead of "I'll schedule next week."  
  
Reality: Without two full weeks, you won't see behaviour change that justifies investment.  
  
We've documented everything - evaluation template, comparison data.

Framework: [https://cosmos.video/how-to-find-best-virtual-office](https://cosmos.video/how-to-find-best-virtual-office)​

What's your biggest remote team challenge?


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## The Economics of Virtual Spaces: Why Pricing Models Define Digital Culture
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-09-12
Category: Future of Work
Tags: virtual space pricing, concurrent capacity pricing, community, growth, per seat pricing, education
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/the-economics-of-virtual-spaces-why-pricing-models-define-digital-culture

**The $114,000 Question**
-------------------------

A 1,000-person professional community using traditional [virtual office](https://cosmos.video/product/features/digital-space--presence) software pays $120,000 annually. The same community on [Cosmos](https://cosmos.video) pays $6,000. The difference isn't a pricing trick—it's a fundamental rethinking of how virtual spaces should work.

This isn't about discounts. It's about aligning costs with reality.

**Three Pricing Models in Virtual Spaces**
------------------------------------------

**1\. Per-Member Pricing (The Enterprise Legacy)** Gather.town, Kumospace, Tandem, and others inherited their pricing from enterprise SaaS. You pay per registered member, monthly, forever. This made sense for Salesforce in 2005—every salesperson needed a CRM seat. It makes less sense for virtual spaces where attendance varies dramatically.

**2\. Tiered Flat Pricing (The Compromise)** Spatial.chat offers brackets: pay $588 for up to 10 users, $1,188 for up to 50. It's simpler than per-member but creates cliff effects. Your 51st member doubles your bill overnight.

**3\. Concurrent Capacity Pricing (The Reality Model)** Cosmos charges for peak simultaneous users. Not registrations. Not potential. Actual usage. This isn't a discount strategy—it's acknowledging that virtual spaces aren't like traditional software.

**The Behavioural Economics of Inclusion**
------------------------------------------

Per-member pricing creates invisible barriers. Every addition becomes a financial decision:

*   Marketing wants to invite 50 clients to a product demo? That's $500/month.
    
*   HR wants to add 10 summer interns? That's $1,200 for the summer.
    
*   Sales wants to give prospects trial access? Impossible.
    

These micro-decisions compound. Teams shrink their virtual spaces to fit budgets, not needs. The virtual office becomes exclusive by economics, not intention.

With concurrent pricing, these decisions vanish. Add the interns. Invite the clients. Include the alumni network. The cost remains unchanged if they don't increase peak usage.

**Use Cases That Only Work with Concurrent Pricing**
----------------------------------------------------

**1\. Education at Scale:** Universities can add all 10,000 students to their virtual campus. With 200 peak concurrent users, they pay for 200, not 10,000. Office hours, study groups, and social spaces become financially viable.

**2\. Customer Communities:** SaaS companies can create customer spaces without calculating ROI per user. A 5,000-person customer community with 100 concurrent users costs the same as a 100-person private workspace.

**3\. Event Platforms:** Conference organisers can sell unlimited tickets without software costs scaling. A 2,000-attendee virtual conference with 300 peak concurrent viewers pays for 300 seats.

**4\. Hybrid Work Experiments:** Companies can add contractors, partners, and clients without budget meetings. Collaboration happens based on value, not accounting.

**Our Vision: Virtual Spaces as Public Infrastructure**
-------------------------------------------------------

We believe virtual spaces will become as fundamental as websites. Every organisation, community, and group will have one. But this only works if the economics support inclusion, not exclusion.

Imagine if websites charged per visitor. Most of the internet wouldn't exist. The same principle applies to virtual spaces. Charging per member limits what's possible.

**The Standard We're Building**
-------------------------------

Cosmos isn't trying to be cheaper. We're trying to make virtual spaces work like real spaces:

*   Unlimited capacity for members
    
*   Costs based on actual usage
    
*   No penalties for growth
    
*   Natural, friction-free inclusion
    

As virtual spaces evolve from "video calling rooms" to "digital spaces", pricing must evolve too.

It's about enabling use cases that don't work under traditional models. The professional communities, educational institutions, and event platforms using Cosmos aren't choosing us because we're cheaper—they're choosing us because we're the only option that makes their vision financially viable.

We're building for a future where every community has a virtual space, every classroom extends online, and every event has a digital venue. This future only works if the economics support abundance, not scarcity.

* * *

_Join 500+ organisations building inclusive virtual spaces. Try [Cosmos](https://cosmos.video/signin) free for 14 days._


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Transform your Cosmos sessions with embedded apps & crystal-clear audio
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-07-24
Category: Product Update
Tags: custom background, Embedded apps, ai noise cancellation
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/transform-your-cosmos-sessions-with-embedded-apps-and-crystal-clear-audio

Imagine running a workshop where everyone's working on the same Miro board without screen sharing. That's exactly what you can do in Cosmos now.

### **🔗 [Embed apps](https://cosmos.video/product/features/embedded-apps) for seamless collaboration**

Launch collaborative apps like Figma, Miro, Google Docs or any tool directly inside your call. Everyone sees and interacts with the same content in real-time—no more "can you see my screen?" moments.

*   Launch apps with one click and they open for everyone instantly
    
*   Co-edit documents, whiteboards and designs together in real-time
    
*   Watch YouTube videos with perfectly synchronised playback
    
*   Bookmark your most-used apps for instant access
    
*   Set apps to auto-launch when anyone enters a room—perfect for onboarding videos or essential documents
    

**To get started:** Click the Apps icon in your toolbar, add any publicly accessible link, and select "Open for all".

### **🎤 AI noise cancellation**

We've completely rebuilt our noise cancellation from the ground up. Your voice comes through with remarkable clarity whilst keyboard clicks, background chatter and ambient noise simply vanish. No more apologising for background noise or asking people to repeat themselves.

**Turn it on:** Click the arrow next to your mic icon and toggle Active Noise Cancellation. Pro tip: For best quality with Bluetooth headphones, set your mic to laptop and speaker to headphones.

### **🎨 Custom video backgrounds**

Stay professional on every call whilst keeping your [privacy](https://cosmos.video/product/features/security-and-access). Choose from our curated backgrounds or upload your own. Team admins can even share branded backgrounds across the workspace for polished client presentations.

**Set it up:** Go to User Preferences > Audio & Video > Upload your image. Choose whether to keep it personal or share with your entire space.

[![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/frame-3469130-1-1753361005898-compressed.png)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOJbx2ZWrk0&ab_channel=CosmosVideo)

These features come directly from your feedback—thank you for helping us build a better Cosmos.

Give them a try and let us know what you think.

Cheers,  
The Cosmos Team


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Start Breakouts in Cosmos in just Two Clicks 
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-07-04
Category: Product Update
Tags: groups, workshops, breakout
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/start-breakouts-in-cosmos-in-just-two-clicks-cmcoulhl60000obwp4wohym65

The moment you've all been waiting for has arrived! Starting [breakouts](https://support.cosmos.video/article/130-breakout-people-into-multiple-focused-groups) during workshops, team sessions, and collaborative meetings has just got ridiculously easy in Cosmos.  
  
**Here's the magic:**

1.  Click Breakouts in your toolbar (visible for admins & members of space).
2.  Set your group size and duration.
3.  Hit Start and watch Cosmos do the rest.

No more herding participants into rooms. No more explaining how to navigate. No more coordination chaos. Cosmos automatically creates groups and whisks everyone off to the nearest available rooms.  
  
**Want more control? We've got you:**

*   **Manual assignment:** Handpick who goes where, or shuffle people mid-session
*   **Room selection:** Choose exactly which meeting rooms to use
*   **Live announcements:** Broadcast messages to specific groups or everyone at once
*   **One-click return:** Instantly bring the entire group back to the main room

​**You can now easily run [breakouts](https://support.cosmos.video/article/130-breakout-people-into-multiple-focused-groups) to spice up your workshops, meetings, and teaching sessions.**

​  

[![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/breakout-gif-1751636094435-compressed.gif)](https://cosmos.video/)


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Create Workshops Students Enjoy!
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-05-29
Category: Communication
Tags: Online education, workshops, breakout, learning
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/create-workshops-students-enjoy-cmb92jmg6001y4iygf9dvxwz5

When your virtual workshop ends, does the learning stop too?  
  
In traditional platforms, the moment a session concludes, everyone is automatically disconnected—cutting off those crucial after-class conversations where students solidify concepts, build relationships, and find personalised help.  
  
Cosmos keeps your learning space alive even after the formal workshop ends. Students can stay behind, approach peers they connected with, form organic discussion groups, or ask that question they were hesitant to bring up during class—just like in a physical classroom.  
  
This natural continuation of learning is where the magic happens, where concepts truly click, and where community forms.  
  
And during your structured workshop time? Cosmos elevates every aspect:  
  
🧑🏻‍🎓 Natural learning spaces - Connect your main classroom to breakout areas students can access intuitively  
  
👥 Student autonomy - Participants move freely between spaces, engaging on their terms instead of feeling trapped in rigid structures  
  
🙋🏻‍♂️ Hands-on interaction - Multiple simultaneous screen shares enable real-time collaboration and feedback  
  
😇 Personalised support - Teachers can help struggling students 1on1 with whisper mode without disrupting everyone else  
  
Transform your online teaching from a series of disconnected video calls into a continuous learning environment where students don't just attend—they participate, connect, and thrive.  
  
Host your workshops in Cosmos - Create free space → [https://cosmos.video/](https://cosmos.video/)

Your students won't just attend your workshops—they'll be present in them 🪄


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Escape the Meeting Marathon: Collaborate better with Cosmos
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-05-22
Category: Future of Work
Tags: meetings, collaboration, co-work
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/escape-the-meeting-marathon-collaborate-better-with-cosmos-cmaz6zx8v0003mjql2487mni4

"Death by Meeting Marathon" 🪦

How often have you finished an afternoon of back-to-back meetings and actually felt good?

The reality: nobody enjoys it, nobody finds it productive. But we still do it. Why?

Because there's no way to spontaneously ask for help and connect with colleagues, so people clog their calendars with recurring one-to-ones just to ensure they'll have some opportunity to give and get help when needed. It's inefficient by design—blocking time "just in case" because real-time collaboration isn't possible.

With Cosmos, you can flip the script—moving from scheduled synchronisation to natural collaboration. A shared virtual workspace where you don't need to book time to get support—just show up, claim your desk, and connect in the moment.

Here's how it works ✨

👥 Co-working session—Your team hops into Cosmos for a few focused hours together, replacing dozens of scattered meetings with organic conversations.

🖥️ [Personal desk](https://support.cosmos.video/article/134-set-up-your-personal-room-in-cosmos)—Team members claim and customise their spot, creating a sense of belonging

⏳ True [availability](https://cosmos.video/product/features/true-statuses)—No more false signals from calendar slots. Cosmos shows who's genuinely ready to talk, focused deeply, or stepped away.

💬 In-the-moment collaboration—When you need support, simply walk up to an available colleague or invite them to talk with 1 click. No scheduling, no Zoom links, no "got 15 minutes?" messages. Just instant, human connection.

Teams using Cosmos save an average of 8 hours per person weekly by replacing rigid meeting structures with fluid collaboration.

🚀 Set up your own space in minutes → [https://cosmos.video/](https://cosmos.video/)​

**#RemoteWork** **#Productivity** **#MeetingCulture** **#MeetingMarathon** **#Cowork** **#Collaboration**


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Make your OWN Cosmos with Space Builder

Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-05-16
Category: Product Update
Tags: space builder, space for team, space for learners
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/make-your-own-cosmos-with-space-builder-cmar16quh009fkwl4qrl590lt

We're thrilled to announce the launch of the **[Cosmos Space Builder!](https://cosmos.video/product/features/fully-customisable-spaces)** We've heard countless requests from users wanting to create a space that feels like their home from the very start, and finally, we've been able to deliver it. We feel you'd love it!  
  
🌟 **Create Spaces That Work for YOU**  
Cosmos spaces act as a glue for your sessions or workflows. Now you have complete control. Whether you're running team meetings, online co-working, hosting workshops, or delivering online lectures for students, you can now craft the right space for your needs.  
  
🔧 **To access the builder:**

1.  Go to your Cosmos space
    
2.  Click on "Floorplan" from the top left Space dropdown
    
3.  Choose "Build your own space"
    

🎨 **Bring Your Vision to Life**  
The builder lets you edit one of the spaces from our library or design a space right from the start. You'll be able to build colourful spaces with all our preloaded assets.  
  
Please note: Right now you can build colourful spaces; we will be adding the functionality to create minimal spaces later this week.  
  
📚 **Getting Started**

*   ​[How to Use the Space Builder](https://youtu.be/S-T-LSlxSdU?si=GDrR3IgHzDFT9Tep) – Learn the basics
    
*   ​[Creating the Perfect Space for Your Remote Team](https://youtu.be/c-NHC-7_5F0?si=h6f8GhABy39waVvb) – Ideal for online co-working
    
*   ​[Creating the Perfect Cosmos Space for Your Students](https://youtu.be/UoD-mszOEHQ?si=OUk5CkksYGSiF7qH) – Ideal for online learning or group tuition
    

💪 **Build with Confidence**

*   **Publish Spaces with 1-click:** Changes apply instantly—nobody needs to refresh
    
*   **Simple Interface:** Easy to understand and use, no design experience required
    
*   **Make It Your Own:** Reflect your personality and team culture through your space
    

[![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/cosmos-space-builder-blog-1747414444228-compressed.gif)](https://cosmos.video/)

Ready to create your own space? Do give Cosmos Space Builder a spin. Please share screenshots of your custom spaces with us and on social media!  
  
We welcome your feedback on the builder—we'll quickly iterate and improve as we always do.  

​


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Create a Cosmos Space for your Learners
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-05-09
Category: Communication
Tags: space builder, learners, education
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/create-a-cosmos-space-for-your-learners-cmah22p61000gohtldrroxkyy

Perfect for online group classes, tutoring sessions and co-studying for students.

​[Cosmos Space Builder](https://cosmos.video/product/features/fully-customisable-spaces) helps you create engaging, functional learning spaces tailored to your specific teaching needs.

In this guide, we'll walk you through how to design an effective educational space that supports various learning activities—from lectures and presentations to collaborative breakout discussions and focused study sessions. With the right layout and features, you can facilitate both structured instruction and spontaneous collaboration, creating a rich learning experience for your students.

This setup guide will show you how to build a Cosmos space for learning that can accommodate up to 50 learners, with dedicated spaces for classes, breakout rooms, group studying and tutoring sessions.

Getting Started
---------------

\[Video: 00:00 - 00:22\]

To begin creating your educational space:

1.  Open your Cosmos space
    
2.  Click on the Space dropdown
    
3.  Select Floor plan
    
4.  Choose "Customise your own floor plan"
    

Understand the Space Builder Interface
--------------------------------------

\[Video: 00:22 - 00:50\]

Space Builder presents you with a three-panel layout:

*   **Top Toolbar**: Contains all action buttons like Select, Areas, Object, Hand, and Undo
    
*   **Left Panel**: The object layer panel where you can see all areas and objects in a hierarchical structure
    
*   **Centre Panel**: The visual editor where you'll design your learning environment
    
*   **Right Panel**: The contextual panel that displays properties of selected rooms or furniture
    

**Pro Tip**: Familiarise yourself with the object layers panel (left panel) before you begin. This hierarchical view helps you organise your space logically.

Understanding Area Types
------------------------

\[Video: 00:50 - 03:13\]

Before designing your learning space, it's crucial to understand the three types of areas in Cosmos and how they support different educational scenarios:

### Spatial Areas

\[Video: 01:01 - 01:29\]

​[Spatial areas](https://cosmos.video/product/features/spatial-areas-for-networking) are open spaces where proximity-based calling works. Each person has a coverage area (represented by a box around their avatar), and when these coverage areas overlap, people can see and hear each other.

**Learning Application**: Perfect for informal discussions, collaborative work, and social learning activities where students need to move freely between conversations.

### Meeting Rooms

\[Video: 01:29 - 01:56\]

Think of [meeting rooms](https://cosmos.video/product/features/meeting-rooms-for-video-calls) as traditional classrooms where everyone in the room can hear and see each other, regardless of where they're positioned. The entire room "lights up" when active.

**Learning Application**: Ideal for lectures, presentations, seminars, and structured discussions where all participants need to engage with the same content simultaneously.

### Entrance Areas

\[Video: 01:56 - 02:02\]

This is where people enter when they use a link to your space.

**Learning Application**: Design your entrance thoughtfully as it creates the first impression for your learners. Consider adding welcome signage and clear navigational cues.

**Pro Tip**: Strategic use of different area types transforms the digital learning experience. Use meeting rooms for formal instruction, spatial areas for collaborative activities, and define clear pathways between learning zones to create intuitive navigation through your educational environment.

### **Planning Your Educational Space**

\[Video: 02:02 - 02:40\]

We'll create:

*   Two classrooms (each with supporting breakout rooms)
    
*   One webinar room for larger presentations
    
*   A large hangout area for informal discussions
    
*   Two mentor rooms for one-on-one support
    
*   ​[Focus rooms](https://cosmos.video/product/features/focus-rooms-for-online-body-doubling) and solo desks for independent study
    

**Pro Tip**: Before building, sketch your educational space layout to ensure a logical flow between different learning activities. Consider how students will transition between direct instruction, collaborative work, and independent study.

### Classrooms and Breakout Rooms

\[Video: 02:40 - 05:12\]

1.  **Create the Classroom**:
    
    *   Select the Meeting Room tool from the top toolbar
        
    *   Draw a rectangular room
        
    *   In the right panel, name it "Classroom A"
        
    *   Remove walls if desired
        
    *   Choose an appropriate floor design
        
    *   Add tables and chairs in a layout that supports your teaching style
        
2.  **Add [Breakout Rooms](https://support.cosmos.video/article/130-breakout-people-into-multiple-focused-groups)**:
    
    *   Create smaller meeting rooms adjacent to the classroom
        
    *   Remove walls for an open feel
        
    *   Select floor designs that visually differentiate these spaces
        
    *   Add appropriate furniture (tables and chairs)
        
    *   Add borders to clearly define the space
        
    *   Create multiple breakout rooms by copying (Ctrl+C) and pasting (Ctrl+V)
        
3.  **Create a Second Classroom**:
    
    *   Select all elements of your first classroom (with its breakout rooms)
        
    *   Copy (Ctrl+C) and paste (Ctrl+V) to create a duplicate set
        
    *   Rename to "Classroom B"
        

**Pro Tip**: The visual design of breakout rooms should signal their purpose. Use consistent colour schemes and furniture arrangements to help learners quickly understand which spaces are meant for collaborative discussions versus those designed for quiet focus work.

### Webinar Room

\[Video: 05:12 - 06:07\]

1.  Create a large meeting room
    
2.  Select an appropriate wall and floor design (grass texture works well for a natural amphitheatre feel)
    
3.  Add a stage area at the front
    
4.  Arrange seating in rows facing the stage
    
5.  Adjust the room size to accommodate all your learners
    

**Pro Tip**: For webinar rooms, create a clear visual hierarchy with a distinct presentation area. This mirrors physical lecture halls where attention is naturally directed toward the instructor, helping maintain focus during presentations.

### Social Learning Spaces

\[Video: 06:07 - 06:32\]

1.  Create a spatial area between your classrooms
    
2.  Remove walls for an open feel
    
3.  Choose a light-coloured floor to differentiate it from formal learning spaces
    
4.  Add comfortable seating arrangements that encourage conversation
    

**Pro Tip**: Social learning spaces should be highly visible and centrally located. Position them as "connective tissue" between more formal learning areas to encourage spontaneous knowledge sharing and community building.

### Mentor Rooms

\[Video: 06:32 - 07:45\]

1.  Create meeting rooms designated for one-on-one support
    
2.  Add walls for privacy
    
3.  Choose distinctive floor designs
    
4.  Add a table with two chairs for consultation
    
5.  Include decorative elements like paintings and plants to create a welcoming atmosphere
    
6.  Name them "Mentor Room A" and "Mentor Room B"
    
7.  Add borders to clearly define these spaces
    

**Pro Tip**: Design mentor rooms to be quiet, private spaces with minimal distractions. The visual cues of these rooms should signal their purpose as spaces for focused, supportive conversations.

### Creating Focus Areas and Study Rooms

\[Video: 07:45 - 15:30\]

1.  ​[Focus Rooms:](https://cosmos.video/product/features/focus-rooms-for-online-body-doubling) \[07:45-09:32\]
    
    *   Create small meeting rooms
        
    *   Choose distinctive floor designs
        
    *   Add individual seating
        
    *   Enhance with bookshelves and plants
        
    *   Name them "Focus Room A" and "Focus Room B"
        
2.  **Library Area**: \[11:08-13:25\]
    
    *   Create a spatial area with walls
        
    *   Add bookshelves along the walls
        
    *   Create small study nooks with tables and chairs
        
    *   Design a central collaborative table for group study
        
3.  ​[Solo Desks:](https://cosmos.video/product/features/personal-rooms-for-instant-collaboration) \[14:35-15:57\]
    
    *   Create small meeting rooms sized for one person
        
    *   Add a desk and chair
        
    *   Position these throughout your learning space
        

**Pro Tip**: Create a progression of study spaces from collaborative to independent work. Start with group study areas, transition to semi-private focus rooms, and culminate with completely private solo desks. This variety accommodates different learning preferences and task requirements.

### Creating a Game Room

\[Video: 09:38 - 10:14\]

1.  Create a meeting room for recreational activities
    
2.  Add game tables from the furniture menu
    
3.  Include decorative elements like lights and wall objects
    
4.  Enable the "Games" room interaction in the right panel
    
5.  Name it "Game Room"
    

**Pro Tip**: Learning spaces benefit from designated recreation areas. These spaces provide not only cognitive breaks but also opportunities for social bonding that enhances the overall learning community.

Key Features to Remember
------------------------

### Room Interactions

\[Video: 10:14 - 11:08\]

Cosmos offers two types of room interactions:

1.  **Apps**: Enables access to:
    
    *   Cosmos Whiteboard
        
    *   Figma
        
    *   Google Docs
        
    *   Google Sheets
        
    *   Miro
        
    *   Any website that supports iframes
        
2.  **Games**: Allows access to built-in Cosmos games
    

**Pro Tip**: Strategically enable Apps in rooms designed for collaborative work to integrate digital learning tools. For breakout activities, whiteboards and shared documents can transform discussion into tangible outputs.

Publishing Your Space
---------------------

_\[Video: 15:57 - 16:38\]_

When your design is complete:

1.  Click "Save" in the top toolbar
    
2.  Click "Publish this floor plan"
    
3.  Wait for the building process to complete (about one minute)
    
4.  Your new space is ready for your learners!
    

### ​[Personalisation Options](https://support.cosmos.video/article/92-how-to-personalise-your-space)​

\[Video: 16:38 - 18:52\]

1.  **Room Naming and Claiming**:
    
    *   Click on any room to access its details
        
    *   Edit the name to reflect its educational purpose
        
    *   Set personal desks as "home location" for regular instructors
        
2.  **Adding Custom Text and Images**:
    
    *   Go to Space dropdown > Personalise
        
    *   Add text (e.g., "Hello Learners" or "Lecture Times: 1PM-8PM")
        
    *   Upload custom images or use the asset library
        
3.  **Customising the Landing Page**:
    
    *   Go to Space Settings > Landing Page
        
    *   Change the logo or space name
        
    *   Create a memorable URL for easy access
        

**Pro Tip**: Use personalisation features to create a branded learning environment that reflects your educational institution or training programme. Consistent branding helps establish a professional atmosphere and reinforces the identity of your learning community.

Final Thoughts
--------------

Cosmos space builder gives instructors and teachers the ability to create a space that matches the needs of their students. Teachers can create a space that enables their teaching style with the ability to have webinars, breakouts, activities for living classes. For supporting students, a dedicated space to host tutor hours, a space for students to study together.

Cosmos space can act as a glue that brings together your live teaching sessions, and also be the space where students hop on to find help.

Further more do note, the messaging system cosmos offers can be setup to take care of students needs for announcements, asking doubts, sharing updates to assignments.

Also all classes can be recorded, transcribed and summarised with our native AI features as well as shared with students in a few clicks.

Ready to create your own learning space in Cosmos? Get started today, and transform how your students learn.


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Creating the Perfect Cosmos Space for Your Team
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-05-09
Category: Communication
Tags: remote team, space builder
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/creating-the-perfect-cosmos-space-for-your-team-cmagqwr2t000wljyv7okv0d4j

_A practical guide to designing effective digital collaboration spaces with the Cosmos Space Builder_

Introduction
------------

This guide accompanies our video tutorial on creating team spaces with the Cosmos Space Builder. We'll walk through the process of designing a functional digital workspace that brings your team together, enhances your working style, and fosters quick collaboration.

Getting Started with the Space Builder
--------------------------------------

_\[Video: 00:00 - 00:44\]_

The Cosmos Space Builder provides a clean, intuitive interface with three key components:

*   **Top Toolbar:** Contains all action buttons for creating and manipulating your space
    
*   **Left Panel:** Shows all objects and layers in a hierarchical structure
    
*   **Centre Panel:** The visual editor where you build your space
    
*   **Right Panel:** Properties panel that changes based on what you've selected
    

Understanding Area Types in Cosmos
----------------------------------

_\[Video: 00:44 - 03:13\]_

Before building your space, it's important to understand the three types of areas in Cosmos and how they affect communication:

### Spatial Areas

_\[Video: 00:49 - 01:18\]_

​[Spatial areas](https://cosmos.video/product/features/spatial-areas-for-networking) work like physical open spaces. People can only hear and see others when they're close to each other.

**When to Use:**

*   For common areas where multiple conversations may happen simultaneously
    
*   When you want natural, proximity-based interactions
    

In the video example, you can see how users have a square box around them representing their spatial zone. Only those within overlapping zones can hear each other.

**Pro Tip:** Spatial areas are ideal for creating a natural sense of presence in your digital workspace. They allow multiple conversations to happen organically within the same space—just like in a physical office environment. This makes them perfect for common areas where different team members might engage in spontaneous discussions without disrupting others. The spatial audio feature means that as you move through the space, conversations naturally fade in and out based on proximity, creating a remarkably realistic social environment.

### Meeting Rooms

_\[Video: 01:18 - 01:47\]_

​[Meeting rooms](https://cosmos.video/product/features/meeting-rooms-for-video-calls) ensure everyone inside can hear and see each other regardless of where they are positioned.

**When to Use:**

*   For formal meetings where everyone needs to participate
    
*   For client calls or team discussions
    
*   When everyone needs to be in the same conversation
    

Notice in the video how the entire room lights up when active, indicating that everyone can hear each other.

### Entrance Areas

_\[Video: 01:47 - 01:55\]_

This is where people enter when they use the link to your space.

**When to Use:**

*   As a central welcome point
    
*   To orient new visitors
    

Building Your Team Space: Step by Step
--------------------------------------

_\[Video: 01:55 - 15:00\]_

### Step 1: Create Your Common Area

_\[Video: 01:55 - 02:30\]_

As shown in the video, start by creating a spatial area to serve as your common space:

1.  Select the Area Tool (A)
    
2.  Choose "Spatial Area"
    
3.  Draw the area for your common space
    
4.  In the right panel, name it "Common Area"
    
5.  Customise the floor (the video demonstrates choosing a green grass texture)
    
6.  Remove walls if desired (as shown at 02:05)
    

**Tip:** Make this area spacious enough to accommodate all team members' solo desks.

### Step 2: Create Your All-Hands Room

_\[Video: 02:30 - 03:05\]_

Next, create a large meeting room for team-wide gatherings:

1.  Select the Area Tool (A)
    
2.  Choose "Meeting Room"
    
3.  Draw a sizeable rectangular room
    
4.  Name it "All-Hands Room"
    
5.  Customise walls and flooring
    
6.  Make it large enough for the entire team
    

Notice how the video demonstrates resizing the room by dragging the corners (02:40-02:55).

### Step 3: Add Smaller Meeting Rooms

_\[Video: 03:05 - 07:00\]_

Create 6-8 smaller meeting rooms for team meetings:

1.  Draw meeting rooms of appropriate size
    
2.  Customise each room's appearance
    
3.  Name them according to purpose (the video shows naming rooms for different teams)
    
4.  Add wall borders in different colours for visual distinction (09:40-10:30)
    

As demonstrated in the video (05:00-06:00), you can copy-paste rooms after creating the first one.

**Pro Tip:** Create meeting rooms with specific intentions and name them accordingly. This allows team members to immediately understand the purpose of a gathering just by seeing where it's happening. For example:

*   "Sprint Planning Room" signals a structured discussion about upcoming work
    
*   "Brainstorm Room" indicates a creative, free-flowing session
    
*   "Team Retro" suggests a reflective meeting about process improvement
    
*   "Client Presentation Room" can be designed specifically for external meetings
    

When team members see colleagues in a specific room, they immediately understand the context and type of meeting taking place. This contextual awareness helps set the right expectations for interruptions and engagement. Additionally, having purpose-built rooms encourages teams to choose the right environment for different types of collaboration.

### Step 4: Add Solo Desks

_\[Video: 07:00 - 08:55\]_

​[Solo desks](https://cosmos.video/product/features/personal-rooms-for-instant-collaboration) create individual workspaces for team members:

1.  Add desks to your common area
    
2.  Position desks in logical groups based on team structure
    
3.  Add chairs to each desk
    

**Key Insight:** As mentioned in the video (07:27-07:55), solo desks are important because:

*   They provide a sense of belonging
    
*   They create visibility within the team
    
*   When you're at your desk, colleagues know you're available
    
*   When you're away, it signals you might be busy elsewhere
    

**Pro Tip:** One of the biggest benefits of Cosmos is the enhanced visibility it provides across teams. Position solo desks strategically by placing teams that work closely together in proximity to each other. This digital proximity means team members will see each other in their immediate view, creating awareness of who's available and facilitating spontaneous conversations. Just as you would in a physical office, arrange desks so frequent collaborators can easily spot each other, leading to more natural interactions and smoother workflow between interdependent teams.

### Step 5: Create Special Purpose Spaces

_\[Video: 08:55 - 13:50\]_

Create spaces for specific activities:

#### Hangout Room

_\[Video: 08:55 - 11:38\]_

1.  Create a meeting room
    
2.  Add comfortable seating
    
3.  Add decorative elements like plants and carpets
    
4.  Enable games integration in room properties
    

#### Game Room

_\[Video: 11:38 - 13:50\]_

1.  Create a dedicated space for games
    
2.  Add game tables and appropriate furniture
    
3.  Enable games in the room interactions (right panel)
    
4.  Add decorative elements that signal a fun environment
    

### Step 6: Create an Entrance Area

_\[Video: 13:50 - 14:13\]_

1.  Create a central entrance area
    
2.  Add your company logo
    
3.  Add decorative elements
    
4.  Position it for easy access to all other spaces
    

### Step 7: Final Touches and Configuration

_\[Video: 14:13 - 15:13\]_

1.  Add interaction options to rooms:
    
    *   Enable apps in meeting rooms (Google Docs, Mero, etc.)
        
    *   Enable games in social spaces
        
2.  Add decorative elements throughout
    
3.  Configure wall borders with team colours
    
4.  Name all spaces appropriately
    

Publishing Your Space
---------------------

_\[Video: 15:13 - 15:55\]_

When your design is complete:

1.  Click "Save" in the top toolbar
    
2.  Click "Publish this floor plan"
    
3.  Wait for the building process to complete (about one minute)
    
4.  Your new space is ready for your team!
    

Key Features to Remember
------------------------

### Setting Home Locations

_\[Video: 15:55 - 16:25\]_

Encourage team members to:

1.  Claim their desk
    
2.  Set it as their home location
    
3.  Use "Go to your home" to return to your desk quickly
    

Conclusion
----------

_\[Video: 16:25 - 16:35\]_

Creating the perfect team space with Cosmos is an iterative process. Start with the structure outlined in this guide and the accompanying video, then refine based on your team's feedback and needs.

The key to an effective [digital workspace](https://cosmos.video/product/features/digital-space--presence) isn't just how it looks—it's how it supports your team's communication patterns and collaboration needs. By thoughtfully designing your space with Cosmos, you can create a digital environment that truly brings your team together.

_Ready to build your perfect team space? Watch our complete video tutorial and start creating today with the [Cosmos Space Builder](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-T-LSlxSdU&list=PLAiToN-vHEqS89BwZ9S_LmAoVWxcBhPqq&ab_channel=CosmosVideo)._

_In our next article, we'll explore how to [create the perfect space for learning environments](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoD-mszOEHQ&list=PLAiToN-vHEqS89BwZ9S_LmAoVWxcBhPqq&index=4&ab_channel=CosmosVideo)._


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## How to Use the Cosmos Space Builder
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-05-09
Category: Communication
Tags: space builder
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/how-to-use-the-cosmos-space-builder-cmagqs1rg000vljyvk8v1819m

_Create a digital space perfectly suited to your needs with the Cosmos Space Builder_

The Cosmos Space Builder is an easy-to-use tool for creating digital spaces. Whether you're starting from scratch or customising an existing template, the Cosmos Space Builder gives you complete control over the experience of people who enter your space.

In this article & accompanying video, we'll walk you through the essentials of the Space Builder, helping you understand how the interface works and how to use its core features to create your own spaces.

Getting Started with the Space Builder

\[Video: 00:00 - 00:19\]

Accessing the Space Builder is straightforward:

1.  Open your Cosmos space
    
2.  Click on the Space dropdown
    
3.  Select "Floorplan"
    
4.  Choose "Build your own space"
    

Once opened, you'll see a clean interface designed to make spatial design accessible to everyone, regardless of design experience.

Understanding the Interface
---------------------------

\[Video: 00:19 - 00:55\]

The Space Builder is organised into a four-part layout:

**Top Toolbar:** Contains all the action buttons and tools needed for creating and manipulating your space.

**Left Panel: Object Layers:** Displays all your areas and furniture in a hierarchical structure, making it easy to select and organise elements.

**Centre Panel: Visual Editor:** The canvas where your vision comes to life—place, move, and arrange elements to create your perfect digital space.

**Right Panel: Contextual Panel:** Adapts dynamically based on what you've selected, showing relevant properties and options for rooms or furniture.

Navigating the Top Toolbar
--------------------------

\[Video: 00:55 - 02:05\]

The toolbar provides quick access to essential tools:

**Select Tool (S):** Choose this option to select and move rooms or furniture. Double-click to select individual pieces of furniture within a room.

**Area Tool (A):** Areas in Cosmos are crucial; they impact how video calling behaves for your users.

*   Spatial Areas: Where [spatial video](https://cosmos.video/product/features/visibility--spatial-video) calling works, people who are close to each other hear, and see each other. Like a physical space. Ideal for situations where you want users to dynamically move between conversations.
    
*   ​[Meeting Rooms](https://cosmos.video/product/features/meeting-rooms-for-video-calls): For situations where you want everyone to be in one video call, think of it as a Google Meet. Here, everyone sees and hears everyone. Meeting rooms can be named, have direct links, and can be locked for private conversations.
    
*   Entrance Areas: Area where people will enter the space, if they have the link to your space.
    

**Object Tool (O):** Access our extensive library of assets with which you can build your Cosmos spaces. This includes furniture, carpets, tables, decorations, plants, lighting, and much more.

**Hand Tool (H or Spacebar):** Pan around your space to focus on different areas.

**Undo/Redo:** Easily step backward or forward through your changes.

**Zoom Controls:** Adjust your view to see the big picture or focus on details.

**Clear Floor Plan:** Start fresh by removing all elements (use with caution!).

**Save:** Preserve your work and publish your custom space when you're ready.

Understanding Area Types
------------------------

\[Video: 02:05 - 03:20\]

The Space Builder offers three distinct area types, each affecting how calling behaviour works in your digital space:

### Spatial Areas

Spatial Areas are where spatial video calling works. People who are close to each other (with overlapping coverage areas) will hear and see each other, while those who move further away stop hearing each other. Use Spatial Areas when you want dynamic conversations that can become larger or smaller based on people's intentions.

### Meeting Rooms

Meeting Rooms are designed to ensure everyone in the room can hear and see each other, regardless of where they are positioned. The entire room "lights up" when active. Use Meeting Rooms when you want to make sure that everybody in the call hears each other.

### Entrance Areas

This is where people enter when they use a link for your space. Please note that if you share your space link, people will enter here. If you share links to specific rooms, people will enter directly in those rooms.

Working with the Object Layers Panel
------------------------------------

\[Video: 03:20 - 03:33\]

The left panel has two views:

1.  When using the Select Tool, it displays a list of all areas with their corresponding objects in a hierarchical structure.
    
2.  When using the Object Tool, it shows you the object library with all available assets.
    

Using the Contextual Panel
--------------------------

\[Video: 03:33 - 04:43\]

The right panel dynamically changes based on what you've selected:

If you've selected an area (meeting room, spatial area, or entrance area), you'll have options to:

*   Customise the area name
    
*   Change wall and floor designs
    
*   Toggle display settings
    
*   Add and style borders
    
*   Enable interactive features:
    
    *   **Apps:** Allow access to [embedded applications](https://cosmos.video/product/features/embedded-apps) like Google Docs and Sheets
        
    *   **Games:** Enable built-in Cosmos games
        

If you've selected an object, you'll be able to:

*   Customise the sequence of layering
    
*   Choose from different style variations
    
*   Select colours
    
*   Adjust rotation
    

Next Steps for Building Your Perfect Space
------------------------------------------

Now that you understand how the basic UX of the Cosmos Space Builder works, you can start creating your own custom digital spaces.

If you want to learn more about building specific types of spaces, check out our other helpful guides:

*   ​[Creating the Right Space for Your Team](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-NHC-7_5F0&list=PLAiToN-vHEqS89BwZ9S_LmAoVWxcBhPqq&index=3&ab_channel=CosmosVideo)
*   ​[Creating the Perfect Space for Your Learners](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoD-mszOEHQ&list=PLAiToN-vHEqS89BwZ9S_LmAoVWxcBhPqq&index=4&ab_channel=CosmosVideo)​


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Improved Call Experience, Messaging and Insights
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-04-03
Category: Product Update
Tags: calling, second camera, active speaker, polls, analytics
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/improved-call-experience-collaboration-on-messaging-and-insights

We've shipped a truckload of features to Cosmos that unlock new possibilities. Here's what's new:

👨‍🏫 **Large Meetings for all-hands & teaching**

Run large sessions with crystal-clear audio, focused attention on speakers, and interactive audience engagement.

*   **Support for up to 200 participants** with 30% less bandwidth usage thanks to VP9 encoding
*   **Noise cancellation** to automatically remove background noise
*   **Active speaker mode** to highlight whoever is speaking—perfect for webinars and podcasts
*   **Share a second camera** during calls—ideal for music teachers showcasing instruments or product demonstrations
*   **Polls** in meetings for real-time audience feedback
*   **Firefox improvements** supporting up to 125 participants with annotations on screen-share
*   **Reactions** are less jarring with options to turn off sounds (user settings > advanced)

  

🏢 **Team Collaboration**

Get straight to work with minimal friction and improved messaging.

*   **Home**—join your preferred desk instantly in listening mode and skip the space landing
*   **[Threads section](https://support.cosmos.video/article/124-threads-section-place-for-all-your-threads)** to see all active threads with updates and to carry the conversation
*   **Deep-linking notifications** that take you directly to specific messages across all platforms
*   **See what's happening** in the space when in Focusing or Away statuses

  

📊 **[Better Insights](https://support.cosmos.video/article/128-space-insights-analytics-measure-your-teams-collaboration) for Admins**

Understand how your team uses Cosmos, and the value it creates.

*   **Space utilisation charts** to understand peak usage times
*   **Value metrics** to see what benefits Cosmos brings to your team
*   **Activity patterns** to help identify optimal times for formal co-working sessions

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/product-email-gif-big-ship-1743670711766-compressed.gif)


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## How Cosmos Delivers High-Performance Virtual Spaces
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-03-19
Category: Future of Work
Tags: performance, architecture, hardware requirement
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/how-cosmos-delivers-high-performance-virtual-spaces-cm8fn8p4m00eatbw9qxl3xgxi

When we set out to build Cosmos, we knew that creating truly immersive digital spaces for remote teams and educational institutions would require solving complex technical challenges. Traditional video conferencing platforms are designed for [scheduled meetings](https://cosmos.video/product/features/meeting-rooms-for-video-calls) with clear start and end times. Cosmos, however, needed to support an entirely different paradigm: always-on spatial environments where people can move around, form spontaneous conversations, and collaborate naturally.

In this technical deep-dive, we'll explain the architecture and innovations that make Cosmos uniquely suited for all-day use, even on standard hardware.

The Challenge: Instant Spatial Communication
--------------------------------------------

The fundamental technical challenge we faced was speed. In physical spaces, you can walk up to a colleague and start talking instantly. Online, typical video calls require 30+ seconds to initiate - disrupting the natural flow of interaction.

For Cosmos to replicate the feeling of physical presence, we needed to reduce this to milliseconds. When you approach someone in a Cosmos space, the video connection must establish in under 50ms to create the sense of genuine spatial interaction.

This requirement shaped our entire technical approach. 

  

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/group-3468769-4-1-1742374050352-compressed.png)

  

Core Architecture
-----------------

Cosmos operates on a dual-server architecture that separates environmental state from video handling:

### Game Servers: The Digital Space

Our game servers maintain the complete state of each virtual environment - tracking user positions, interactions, and space configurations. These lightweight servers:

*   Process user movements and proximity in real-time
*   Determine when users are close enough to trigger voice/video connections
*   Manage the visibility and interactive elements of the space
*   Support customisable layouts for different use cases (offices, campuses, events)

### Video Relay Servers: Dynamic Connections

Our globally distributed video servers handle the audio/video connections between users. Unlike traditional conferencing platforms that establish a single large call, Cosmos:

*   Dynamically activates and deactivates video feeds based on proximity
*   Prioritises connections for users currently in conversation
*   Maintains low-latency audio even when video quality needs adjustment
*   Scales connections fluidly as users move through the space

Both server types are deployed across multiple regions (North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Japan, and Australia) to ensure low-latency experiences for teams worldwide.

Video Quality Optimisation
--------------------------

### Advanced Codec Selection

We utilise VP9 as our default video codec across all platforms, which provides:

*   Approximately 50% higher compression efficiency than VP8
*   Better quality at lower bitrates
*   Reduced bandwidth requirements without sacrificing visual clarity

For browsers that don't support VP9 encoding (such as Firefox), we automatically fall back to VP8. This codec-switching happens seamlessly behind the scenes.

### Intelligent Resource Management

Cosmos continuously monitors system performance and makes real-time adjustments:

1.  **Frame Rate Monitoring**: We target 30 frames per second for smooth movement in spatial environments
2.  **Automatic Low Resource Mode**: When rendering falls below 20 FPS, we trigger optimisations:
    *   Reduce the number of concurrent video streams
    *   Lower the resolution of peripheral videos
    *   Prioritise screen shares at higher quality
    *   Compress world textures and assets
    *   Adjust frame rates for optimal performance

This adaptive approach allows Cosmos to run smoothly even when:

*   Running on older hardware
*   Handling large numbers of participants
*   Operating in low-bandwidth environments
*   Being used for all-day sessions

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/image-82-1-3-1-1742375733706-compressed.png)

Hardware Considerations
-----------------------

To help teams prepare for optimal experiences, we recommend these hardware configurations:

### Minimum Requirements

*   Dual Core processor
*   2GB memory

_Suitable for:_

*   Up to 20 participants in meetings
*   Presenting non-video content

### Recommended Specifications

*   Modern CPU:
    *   10th Gen Intel i3, i5, or i7 (Ice Lake and up)
    *   AMD 3000 series Ryzen 5 or 7
*   4GB memory

_Suitable for:_

*   High-quality video and audio
*   Presenting content with videos and animations
*   Using visual camera effects
*   Multitasking during meetings

### Optimal Configuration

*   High-performance CPU:
    *   11th Gen Intel i5 or i7
    *   AMD 5000 series Ryzen 5 or 7
    *   Apple Silicon M1
*   1080p camera
*   Graphics card with WebGL 2.0 support

_Suitable for:_

*   Full HD quality for camera video and presentations
*   Access to all visual effects in the highest quality
*   Heavy multitasking during use

Pop-out Mode: The Secret to All-Day [Performance](https://cosmos.video/product/features/performance--reliability)​
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One of our most innovative features is the [pop-out](https://support.cosmos.video/article/126-popout-mode-focus-on-your-work-while-staying-connected) mode in our desktop applications. When users minimise Cosmos to focus on other work:

1.  We clear most assets from memory
2.  Stop rendering the 3D space
3.  Maintain only essential connection information
4.  Keep a small, efficient interface for status changes and incoming conversations
5.  Automatically expand when interaction is needed
6.  Show screen shares without requiring the full application to open

This approach dramatically reduces CPU, GPU, and memory usage during periods of lower activity while maintaining presence in the space.

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/group-3469006-4-1742374398804-compressed.png)

  

The Result: Natural Digital Presence

These technical optimisations work together to create an experience that feels remarkably different from traditional video conferencing:

1.  **Instantaneous connections** - Conversations start in under 50ms when approaching someone
2.  **Flexible group formation** - Teams can split and merge conversations naturally
3.  **All-day sustainability** - Low resource usage during inactive periods
4.  **Consistent quality** - Automatic adjustments based on network and hardware conditions
5.  **Universal accessibility** - Works across a wide range of devices and connection types

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/home2-1-1742374678242-compressed.png)

By solving these fundamental technical challenges, Cosmos creates digital spaces that support the natural ebb and flow of teamwork and learning - whether you're running a remote company, teaching a distributed class, or building an online community.


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Space Navigation, Spotlighting & More 🌟
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-01-24
Category: Product Update
Tags: space builder, space, spotlight, home location
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/space-navigation-spotlighting-and-more-cm6akerv8001o11x64g9qmz2g

Kicking off 2025 with improvements to make Cosmos video calls more powerful & intuitive:  

**🧭  Space & Call Switch**  
Two-tab view to simplify navigation, especially for first-time users

*   **Space View:** Navigate the space, create breakout groups, or return to your desk
*   **Call View:** Focus on gallery view with enhanced pinning and spotlighting options

**🌟  Spotlight Mode**

*   Admins and members can now pin videos for everyone in calls
*   Recordings follow spotlighted videos with improved layout & UX

**📍  Home Location**   
Set your preferred place in Cosmos as Home, whether it's a private room or a co-working desk. You can return to your place anytime by clicking the "Home" button in the space tab.  
  
**🛠️  Space Builder Beta**   
Want early access to create fully custom spaces? Sign up for our beta and help us polish the space builder functionality before we release it to all users. Reply to this email: "I want to build my own space, YES!"

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/b64-1737711295787-compressed.gif)

✨ **Polish & improvements**

*   **[Google Calendar Add-On](https://support.cosmos.video/article/61-integration-google-calendar):** Now re-verified on Google App Marketplace
*   **Game fixes:** Resolved disconnection issues at game tables
*   **Call toolbar with apps open:** Stays visible during games/apps
*   **Coming soon:** Notification sounds and deep linking for apps/desktop

After a strong 2024, we're excited to continue enhancing Cosmos with your input. Here's to creating the best digital spaces for connecting, collaborating, and learning!


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Custom Rooms & Live Streaming
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-01-24
Category: Product Update
Tags: Custom rooms, room name, live stream
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/custom-rooms-and-live-streaming-cm6akc9tz001j11x6nrtjy8ie

We’re making Cosmos spaces more customisable and adding social features to help you connect with a bigger audience. 

###   
**🔗 Memorable Space Links**

*   Memorable links work seamlessly on desktop, mobile, and apps.
*   Get yours via Space Settings > Memorable Space Link for effortless sharing.

  
**🪧 Change Rooms Names on the go!** 

*   Room cards with options to go to a room, get the shareable link for quick sharing, or edit settings.
*   To change name, go to Cosmos space > click on room card > Edit & update name.
*   Soon, you will be able to claim rooms, set room types, and embed links or music that auto-plays when someone joins.

  
**🎥 Live Stream calls from Cosmos**

*   Stream call recordings directly from Cosmos to platforms like YouTube or Twitch.
    *   Turn on livestream when starting a call recording in Cosmos.
    *   Add your RTMP stream URL and password, and you’re live!
*   Streams mirror your recorder’s layout and orientation.
*   An update coming to recorder design & layout —have feedback? Reply to this email!

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/8733673b-90f9-edd3-6b04-1dd54c74a5a4-1737711194834-compressed.gif)

**✨ Polish & improvements**

*   **Simplified navigation:** Movement cues and clickable room names make it easier for first-time users to get around.
*   **Auto-Low resource mode:** Cosmos automatically alerts you if your device is struggling and switches to low resource mode. Turn it off via the View Control button in the top-right corner.


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Profiles, Memorable Space Links & More
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-01-24
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, memorable space link, profiles
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/profiles-memorable-space-links-and-more-cm6ak92yp001h11x6qepzadk3

Cosmos is where people come together to work, learn, and connect. We are introducing features to make it easier to bring people together in a space and help them form new connections -  
 

**🌟 Profiles** – Share your story, location, time zone and interests to find common ground with others in Cosmos space and form new connections.  
  
**🔗 Memorable Space Links** – Give your Cosmos space a custom, easy-to-remember URL - cosmos.video/**yourspace.**  
  
You can get your memorable URL and control access via space > settings > space access.

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/0436e887-e9ed-3197-8eaa-afced506df0f-1737711063010-compressed.gif)

**📱 Improved Mobile Onboarding—**Our mobile apps now support all Cosmos links, including member invites, room, user, call, and calendar invites. Just click, download, and go directly to the right Cosmos space or meeting.  
 

**🔒 Screen Share Auto-off for Privacy –** Set Cosmos to turn off screen sharing automatically when you leave a meeting room, are alone, or switch your status to focus or away. Adjust your preferences under user settings > advanced.


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Cosmos Mobile: Simpler Guest access & Enhanced Chat!
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-01-23
Category: Product Update
Tags: Mobile, guest, chat
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/cosmos-mobile-simpler-guest-access-and-enhanced-chat-cm69ljowe0001m1mvg7d6k10i

I am back with updates, this time enhancing guests' ability to join meetings quickly and better chat on mobile, ensuring you and your team stay connected.

🔗 **Guests can join meetings on mobile easily**

*   **Guests can join meetings with a link:** Easier to jump into discussions quickly. There is no need to sign up; download the Cosmos app, click the link, and go.
*   **Enhanced deep linking across Cosmos:** Cosmos takes you where you need to be with a link in a snap - space, room, user, or meeting links,

💬 **Chat improvements**

*   **[Notifications](https://cosmos.video/product/features/threads--notifications) deep link:** Jump to the message from any notification, saving you time and hassle.
*   **Thread replies** in [Direct Messages (DMs)](https://cosmos.video/product/features/direct-messages), [Channels](https://cosmos.video/product/features/channels-for-group-communication), and [meeting chats](https://cosmos.video/product/features/meeting--conversation-chat) with a refined user experience.
*   **Profile pictures** sync seamlessly with mobile, web, and desktop chat, keeping chat personalised and engaging.

👯 **Community Feedback**

*   Slack notifications: Cosmos will no longer create message groups for notifications. Instead, you'll get all updates as direct messages from Cosmos. To reduce the clutter from multiple notifications.

[![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/unnamed-8-1737652824953-compressed.png)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpm47TBkkI8)


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Cosmos Replay: Meeting recording, insights and more
Author: Unknown
Published: 2025-01-23
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, communication, Meeting Experience
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/cosmos-replay-meeting-recording-insights-and-more-cm69ki5if0001exembmxh2gaw

We're excited to introduce [Cosmos Replay](https://cosmos.video/product/features/call-recording--ai-cosmos-replay), designed to save teams valuable time and make it easy to keep everyone in the loop.  
  
​ **🌍Multilingual Support:** The ability to transcribe and summarise calls in 10 languages, from Spanish to Japanese.  
  
​ **🔍Insightful Summaries:** Cosmos Replay's advanced AI condenses meetings to Summaries, Action Items, and Key Insights. It lets you dive into relevant video snippets directly from Action Items and Key Insights.  
  
​ **📹Better Replay Experience:** The revamped video player is built to be quick and intuitive. It includes speed control, quality, pop-out, and volume adjustments.  
  
​ **➡️Share with Ease:** Effortlessly share meeting replays with people outside your team. Cosmos replay sharing links come with customisable permissions, ensuring your insights reach the right people anywhere, anytime—even on mobile—without login hassles.   
  
​ **🧘🏻Auto-share replays:** Cosmos plugins for Google Calendar and Outlook now allow you to auto-share replays with everyone invited to the meeting. You can decide to auto-share when starting the recording.   

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/unnamed21-ezgif-1737652289344-compressed.gif)


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## June Update: Video experiences, public channels & more
Author: Unknown
Published: 2024-07-08
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, Video Quality, Meeting Experience
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/cosmos-june-update-video-experiences-public-channels-and-more

We are building out two streams for Cosmos to be the best [digital place](https://support.cosmos.video/article/108-what-is-a-digital-space-and-how-it-works) for people to come together, work and learn:

*   **[Video experiences](https://support.cosmos.video/article/117-video-views-map-view-gallery-view-spotlight-active-speaker):** Our strong suit keeps getting better. Now, we have new and improved video experiences: map view, gallery of videos, pinning with HD quality video.
*   **Channels and Chat:** We aim to ensure all your messaging needs are met inside Cosmos without going anywhere else.

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/cosmos-july-update-1720454517961-compressed.gif)

Let's dive deeper into the features now available to all Cosmos users.  

🎥 **Video Experiences:** Different video experiences to suit everyone's needs, with default call quality at 720p.

*   **View switcher:** One place to switch between different video experiences
*   **Map View:** See videos in a floating layout over the map.
*   **Gallery View:** See videos in a grid with the ability to pin a video or screenshare, which supports up to 36 videos on a page.
*   **Video settings:**  
    *   Popout: See up to 4 videos in a popout that stays on top of other apps with the Cosmos desktop app.
    *   Fullscreen: Focus entirely on the video and screen share.
    *   Hide Self Video: Hide your video if it's distracting.

💬 **Public Channels:** To level the playing field for communication within space. Messages sent to public channels reach everyone: admins, members, and guests. They are perfect for announcements, space-wide discussions, introductions, and welcomes.

🔔 **Activities:** Notifications now show in the bottom right of Cosmos along with a ding sound. Notifications are listed in the activities tab of the sidebar to keep you in the loop.


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Cosmos May Update: Sidebar, Video Layouts, and Screen Share
Author: Unknown
Published: 2024-06-07
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, Video Quality, communication
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/cosmos-may-update-sidebar-video-layouts-and-screen-share-clx4iiivp001eaheogs10u10t

These updates are designed to make your experience with Cosmos more intuitive and engaging.

  

🧭 **All-New Sidebar:** Facilitates seamless communication through channel messages, DMs, video calls, and more, tailored to everyone's needs.

• **Space:** All controls and settings related to your space.

• **Conversations & Calendar**: All your conversations and meetings in one place.

• **Channels:** For async conversations and updates.

• **Users List:** View user lists and perform actions quickly.

• **Your Controls:** Access inputs, screen sharing, status, and settings effortlessly.

  

📹 **Video Layouts and Native Chat:** Perfect for hosting lectures, fireside chats, and panels with superior video and audio quality.

• **New Video Layouts:** Choose from floating video in the map, video sidebar, gallery, or pinned videos.

• **720p Video Quality:** Video quality now auto-increases to 720p in gallery mode or when you pin a video during a call.

• **Native Chat Experience:** View and interact with chat channels alongside video calls. Whether you’re in gallery mode or focusing on a screen share, chat is always accessible.

  

🖥️ **Improved Screen-Sharing Experience:** Elevates collaboration, group learning, and meeting experiences within your community.

• **One-Click Screen Share:** No need to choose quality every time; set defaults by hovering over the screen share option.

• **Screen Share shows along videos**: Effortlessly switch between different screen shares from the video container.

• **Annotation:** Change pen colours easily for better collaboration (available in the desktop app).

• **[Pop-Out](https://support.cosmos.video/article/126-popout-mode-focus-on-your-work-while-staying-connected) Experience:** Collaborate easily with multiple screen shares and one-click switching between screens from the pop-out window. (available in the desktop app).

• **Screen Preview:** Tucked away to minimise distractions. No more infinity mirror effect when viewing your own preview.

  

🛠️ **Contextual Toolbar:** Provides relevant controls for an excellent and easy-to -understand experience for guests and first-time students.

• **Your Controls:** Manage inputs, screen share, raised hands, and your settings.

• **Conversation Controls:** Handle conversation chat, move conversations, and invite people.

• **Room Controls:** Lock rooms, record sessions, and set up timers.

  

​


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Smoother guest experience, and customisation
Author: Unknown
Published: 2024-04-30
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, Vision, Meeting Experience
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/smoother-guest-experience-and-customisation-clvmmzm69005ypkylhsyacpyu

Cosmos is a place to engage and achieve more together. Whether you're collaborating with colleagues, engaging students in workshops, or bringing together a community for discussions, we're here with you every step of the way.

Here's what we've been up to:

🛎️ **Smoother Guest Experience**

*   **Familiar Video Call Experience:** Set the guest invite links to start the call in gallery mode and make your guests feel at ease.
*   **Start Calls Smoothly:** Direct guests to specific rooms in your Cosmos space.
*   **Control Access:** Decide if external guests can join by themselves or need to be let in by admins or other members in the space.
*   **Be Available for Clients:** Cosmos links are permanent; External guests can use them to find you when they need your help.

🎨 **Your Space, Your Brand**

*   **Branding:** Add your logo and customise your space welcome header and description.
*   **Space Working Hours:** Let visitors know the best times to visit your team.
*   **Booking Link to Schedule Calls:** If your space is empty, guests can use the booking link to book a meeting time.

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/unnamed-4-1714496794617-compressed.png)

💬 **Chat Keeps Getting Better:**

*   **Improved Channel Creation:** Creating channels and adding team members is smoother.
*   **Notification Preferences:** Set what you want to be notified about for each space to make sure you stay in the loop without the noise.


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Avatar Style Choice & Mobile App updates!
Author: Unknown
Published: 2024-04-30
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, Future of Work
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/avatar-style-choice-and-mobile-app-updates-clvmhx1lf004epkylh6drukbx

We hope you're making the most out of Cosmos. We are back with updates that make Cosmos accommodating for all teams—big or small, creative or corporate. Let’s dive into what's new and improved!

🧑‍🎨 **Choose your Avatar Style based on your needs**

*   **Picture Bubbles:** For those who prefer simplicity, users can now upload profile pictures, making team recognition smoother and faster.
*   **Avatars:** Add a splash of fun by animating and customising your avatar, making every walk through Cosmos space engaging.

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/unnamed-3-1714495808920-compressed.png)

  

🤳 **Mobile App Enhancements for people on the go**

*   **Invite Links:** Meeting, room, user, or space invite links work seamlessly on mobile. We’ve added redundancy to ensure users get to the reception if any invite link breaks.
*   **Simpler Guest Access:** We want external guests to join on mobile without signups. This is in development and will be released next week.

💭 **Meeting Chat is now available on mobile:** Participants from the mobile can ask questions and share updates, documents, and insights, enriching interactions.

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/unnamed-1-1714495826012-compressed.gif)

  

⏩ **Cosmos Replays now work on mobile browsers:** Anyone can catch up on meetings conveniently on mobile—no app download or login is required. This truly enhances accessibility for Cosmos replay viewers.


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Mobile: Simpler Guest access & Enhanced Chat!
Author: Unknown
Published: 2024-04-30
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, communication, messaging
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/mobile-simpler-guest-access-and-enhanced-chat-clvmf1aq80028pkylq7rpoyeo

New updates are here, this time enhancing guests' ability to join meetings quickly and better chat on mobile, ensuring you and your team stay connected.

🔗 **Guests can join meetings on mobile easily**

*   **Guests can join meetings with a link:** Easier to jump into discussions quickly. There is no need to sign up; download the Cosmos app, click the link, and go.
*   **Enhanced deep linking across Cosmos:** Cosmos takes you where you need to be with a link in a snap - space, room, user, or meeting links,

💬 **Chat improvements**

*   **Notifications deep link:** Jump to the message from any notification, saving you time and hassle.
*   **Thread replies** in Direct Messages (DMs), Channels, and meeting chats with a refined user experience.
*   **Profile pictures** sync seamlessly with mobile, web, and desktop chat, keeping chat personalised and engaging.

👯 **Community Feedback**

*   **Slack notifications:** Cosmos will no longer create message groups for notifications. Instead, you'll get all updates as direct messages from Cosmos. To reduce the clutter from multiple notifications.


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Desktop: Enhanced Chat and performance improvements 🌟
Author: Unknown
Published: 2024-04-29
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, communication, messaging
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/desktop-enhanced-chat-and-performance-improvements-clvl2iq2100002m36uy9he59p

We have some exciting news for you — a slicker chat experience on desktop and fewer steps to enter Cosmos, making it the best app for video calls.

🗨️ **Revamped Desktop Chat:** Desktop chat just got a makeover. Here's what's new and improved...

*   **Fresh Interface:** A new interface on the web that's intuitive and user-friendly.
*   **Enhanced Formatting:** Make your messages more readable with formatting options like bold, italics, strikethrough and code.
*   **Seamless Sharing:** Share attachments effortlessly to keep the conversation flowing.
*   **Pinning:** Ability to pin important messages on channels and DMs.
*   **Express Yourself:** Sprinkle personality into your messages with emojis.
*   **Threads:** Improved threading experience for deeper discussions.

🚀 **Performance Boost:** Under-the-hood improvements to reduce load times, smoother panning, and seamless zooming. Also, snowball throwing is fixed. If you don't know what I am referring to, enter Cosmos, and press "T" to try and throw one at your colleague.

🎤 **Hassle-Free Joining:** Users can enter Cosmos space without giving permission to a mic or camera. They see the permission prompts when they unmute the mic or camera.

🛠️ **Cosmos recovers if Chrome auto-kills the tab:** Stay connected with your colleagues easily.

🎥 **Cosmos Recording:** The [recorder bot](https://cosmos.video/product/features/call-recording--ai-cosmos-replay) wasn't starting recording immediately; we've shipped a fix today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm7YFduqIGQ&ab\_channel=CosmosVideo

Checkout the video here-


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Easier to be available and start conversations 👥
Author: Unknown
Published: 2023-05-10
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, communication, messaging, Be available
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/feature-be-available-virtual-office

We at Cosmos want to help teams to be connected. We do this by lowering the effort it takes to start a conversation. We've shipped new features that make it easier to be available, pick the right moment and start a conversation.  

### 🌟 **Easier to be available:** 

Improved [popout](https://support.cosmos.video/article/126-popout-mode-focus-on-your-work-while-staying-connected) experience to ensure Cosmos gets out of the way and lets you be productive. It gives you control for peace of mind:

*   Quick access to buttons for mic and camera, status, and screenshare
*   Floating videos with the ability to switch between pages
*   Sound notification when someone walks up to you

![cosmos-popout-experience-to-be-available](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/productemailnew-1683719487727-original.gif)

### 🔍 **Pick the right moment:**

*   Spot available teammates in the sidebar or on the map
*   Understand their context from true status
*   If one of your teammates is busy, you can ask Cosmos to notify you when they become available  
    

### 💬 **Start Conversations Effortlessly:**

*   Walk up to your teammate to start talking
*   Or use "Are you free for a chat?" to ask if now is a good time

  

The new popout experience is available in the [Cosmos desktop app.](https://www.cosmos.video/download)

  

Checkout out our blog on how to [overcome disconnect and isolation in remote teams](https://cosmos.video/blog/remote-work-isolation-loneliness/) to understand why we've built features to be available and easily start a conversation.


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## How to overcome isolation and loneliness in remote teams?
Author: Unknown
Published: 2023-05-10
Category: Future of Work
Tags: Future of Work, Vision, Be available
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/remote-work-isolation-loneliness

**🏝️****The Remote Work Challenge** 
-------------------------------------

In recent years, distributed remote teams have become the new norm, bringing unique challenges. The most significant issue is the feeling of isolation, loneliness and disconnection among team members. It's now harder to ask for help, share personal experiences, and connect with colleagues more deeply.

### 🔍 The problem at its core 

Based on our work with 250 remote-first teams, we've identified the issue to be the higher threshold for starting conversations. 

Casual chats at someone's desk are now replaced with a new workflow: messaging your teammate to ask for a call, sharing a reason to talk, and scheduling a call. Higher friction to start a conversation leads to fewer conversations that feel transactional and leads to weakened team bonds. 

Organizations of all sizes are impacted by this issue and are often characterized by the following comments in employee NPS surveys:

*   Team members feel isolated
*   Disconnect within the team
*   Difficult to ask for help or support​

These challenges can ultimately result in a loss of productivity or lead to employee churn. The best place for Leadership or HR to learn about the challenges their teams face is to talk to the team's new hires or junior people. In our experience, these challenges are deeply felt by new hires or juniors on the team.

### 🛠️ Teams are limited by the tools they use

While one can blame these issues on the leadership or individuals in the team for their inability to change their behaviour to fit the tools available: Slack, Google Meet or Zoom. We believe that at work, to be in a state of flow, our tools should fit our innate behavioural needs. 

**🪄 The Cosmos Way**   

-------------------------

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/cosmos-demo-1683718893301-compressed.jpg)

We have built Cosmos to reduce the barrier of starting a conversation within a team. To enable seamless connections between team members at home, in the office or on the beach. 

**With Cosmos, team members:**

*   **Be available, and use statuses to signal availability**
    
*   **Others can see who's available for a chat**
    
*   **Start talking with just a single click**
    
*   **All conversations are visible to others in the team, and they can join with a single click**
    

Lowering the barrier to starting conversations and discovering ongoing discussions, Cosmos fosters stronger cohesion and connection and enhanced support and guidance for junior team members. [Features to increase availability and connection.](https://cosmos.video/blog/feature-be-available-virtual-office)

100+ teams use Cosmos to maintain personal connections and keep your team strong, united, and efficient. 

Here is a video demo of Cosmos: 

  

Feel free to try [Cosmos](https://cosmos.video/setup-office) out with your team to be available, and support each other, and host meetings during work hours.  

If you want to use Cosmos for your team, you can get a free [personalized demo from a member of our team here.](https://calendly.com/cosmosdemo/30min?back=1&month=2023-05)


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Annotate screenshare for better training and co-working
Author: Unknown
Published: 2023-02-08
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, Expression
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/annotate-screenshare-for-better-training-and-co-working-cldvotuby701471kte74qdaxu2

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/15bbdb79-446b-1a8e-3b0b-7737d6fc3313.gif)

Everyone in a conversation can now annotate a screen which is being shared.  

### 📺 For the person sharing the screen

You need to use the Cosmos Desktop App and share your entire screen.  

### ✏️ To annotate  

Click your mouse/touchpad and drag/swipe.   
You can choose to be on the Chrome browser or the Cosmos desktop app. We currently don’t support the annotations feature on mobile.


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Improved video experience on Web, Desktop and Mobile apps
Author: Unknown
Published: 2023-02-06
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, Video Quality
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/improved-video-experience-on-web-desktop-and-mobile-apps-cldt47oo51411001ks4f3nk9uge

### Dynamic Screen-share quality 🪄

Cosmos prioritises screen-share and audio over video in a situation with limited bandwidth.

### Ability to handle slow internet speed and optimisations to reduce CPU usage 📶

We adjust video quality based on the bandwidth available to upload and download. We also show the quality of each participant's connection on the video tile.

![](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/4MTPx-y83r_O2zTaiOi1eG2s8GaOFh205C9-XUQg2ZIcctAfHtLmbZSz12N3otYUnw4dZxssFmFbvbQjJDUTIZ-N1N2H2gbcearCP472CGdtEKWusDMusWRhajMNWIwBJb0QoMm-FH8pAF5PXpmfjuM)

### Low latency when connecting to people in different parts of the world 🌏  

Cosmos now has globally distributed servers, and users connect to the closest Cosmos server based on location. Example: If two people are talking, one in India and the other in the UK, they will connect to the closest Cosmos servers based on their l📱ocation. Our users get the best video quality regardless of their location. 

### New mobile app 📱

Please update your Cosmos Video mobile app to the latest version. Older versions of the app will no longer work. Also, we have resolved the following bugs on the apps:

*    Screen-share can now be zoomed in and out
*   Bluetooth headphones now work
*   The phone remains awake while you are on the video call

​[Download the apps here](https://write.superblog.ai/sites/supername/cosmos/posts/untitled-draft-post-cldt47oo51411001ks4f3nk9uge/cosmos.video/download)​

​


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Introducing direct messages and channels
Author: Unknown
Published: 2022-11-11
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, messaging
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/introducing-direct-messages-and-channels-cldudsjue189781kteo7pf2d89

### ​[Direct Messages](https://cosmos.video/product/features/direct-messages)​

Now you can send a message to your colleagues directly within Cosmos. Just click on your Cosmos colleague's name in the sidebar on the left.

![Cosmos Video direct messages to ping a team member or to ask a question.](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/Q9ailRNXaAUbc6ixKPsnxWuKz9Jl3w6sAmFT-4OdwpM2S8mzWFxNQSsubvwOStIArnupYGu6EK3W4asxHTX0hzpGkENrUKSdkNZ1pwcr74S43iC-uClOiOwuYxtP_zYKM0Px9ugDKmha2tHZhaSxW6Q)

Send a direct message

### ​[Channels](https://cosmos.video/product/features/channels-for-group-communication)​

We have introduced Channels - dedicated spaces for your text conversations. Channels can bring clarity and organization to your communication - you can create them for any project, topic or team. With all the information in one place, you can share ideas, make decisions and move forward.

You can create a new channel by clicking +New in the Channels section in the sidebar.

![Cosmos Video channels for team updates and discussions](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/Axv_UAtfEgIKXxZoizW0wf-QMWeMU9NlvElAUOMHtSWOfx9jk3szrigOBIrGd6nNhFu2u1AKD1GnqRMEP67m1IDd8dr7hJ1Aer_WnoFEwfWWo9XCZuSimryYEJbFLva4Wb5y0YMB04HZIr-wZrKH2bM)

Create a new channel


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Schedule a meeting in Cosmos from Google Calendar
Author: Unknown
Published: 2022-08-03
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, communication
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/schedule-a-meeting-in-cosmos-from-google-calendar-cldufusmy252211kte49lcyics

Introducing Cosmos integration with [Google Calendar.](https://support.cosmos.video/article/61-integration-google-calendar) 

### Meeting Organisers

Can easily schedule a meeting in Cosmos from Google Calendar. Set up Cosmos as the default video-calling option for all meetings.   

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/a30f1c8f-879c-6a92-45e1-58716b676bfd.gif)

  

### Users in Cosmos Office

All the meetings scheduled for the day show up in the sidebar. You can press "Start" and select which room the meeting should start in.  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/4d3681a3-2423-d210-be51-b7b12d8dae43.gif)

  

### Joining the meeting using a calendar link  

Users using the link will come to the same meeting room selected by the person inside the office. If no one is in the office, a room will be allocated randomly for the meeting.  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/b66d9beb-45b6-5247-71dd-40cc0490c702.gif)

  

### How to set it up?  

You can install it from the Google Calendar Tab in the ⚙️ Settings of your Cosmos Office or use the link below.  

Link to [Install Cosmos for Google Calendar](https://workspace.google.com/marketplace/app/cosmos_video/435289367003)​

Guide for [changing default office for Google Calendar](https://support.cosmos.video/article/71-google-calendar-change-the-default-office-link)​


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Record meetings and ability to blur your video background
Author: Unknown
Published: 2022-04-29
Category: Communication
Tags: communication, Meeting Experience
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/record-meetings-and-ability-to-blur-your-video-background-cldvont55697201ktej43uv394

**🎥 Record Meetings in Rooms**  

​[Record meetings](https://cosmos.video/product/features/call-recording--ai-cosmos-replay) and keep them private or share them with your teammates. To view a recording, head to the video inbox in the left sidebar of your Cosmos venue.

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/0f565d5a-45ef-21a1-bbc2-7801b147c9dc.png)

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/72154609-c9dc-03d9-c6ec-93999e86b4e1.png)

  

**📷 Background Blur**  
You can now [blur your background](https://support.cosmos.video/article/112-apply-virtual-backgrounds-like-blur-images-or-upload-your-own-custom-background) from the Audio & Video tab in Settings and keep your surroundings private.

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/116d905c-5fc0-10ba-9cb2-6c4c66140421.png)


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## 1st Product of the day on Product Hunt
Author: Unknown
Published: 2022-03-29
Category: Future of Work
Tags: Future of Work, announcement
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/1st-product-of-the-day-on-product-hunt-cldvrw7x5827141ktecxcuye5u

![product hunt product of the day, cosmos video, remote work](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/screenshot-2023-02-08-at-14-1675866981822-compressed.png)

Cosmos became the product hunt product of the day! Thanks to our users for their support and backing. We won't be here without our users. 

Your continued support has been incredible and means so much to us.  

  

![user reviews of cosmos video on product hunt](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/screenshot-2023-02-08-at-14-1675867136937-compressed.png)

Cosmos got a rating of 4.9/5 from our long-standing customers. 

Some quotes from our reviews: 

Adam, founder of [Maya Agency](https://cosmos.video/case-studies/maya) - "We use cosmos all day, every day, and it has transformed how we work and feel as a team. Their customer support is unlike anything I have experienced, with rapid response to feedback and suggestions"

Martin, founder of Wing AI - "Great product! It is honestly an interesting way to engage your remote team and give them the feeling of a virtual office without breaking the bank!"

Koussey Goupil - "Working in a fully remote company, I was looking for a solution to create a real sense of belonging. I've been using it for a couple of days, and we love it!"


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Express yourself on Cosmos
Author: Unknown
Published: 2022-03-11
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, Expression
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/express-yourself-on-cosmos-cldvpf8vt724501kteioebyji2

### Adopt an office Pet 🐶   

Have an adorable puppy, kitten, or penguin follow you around and show you 🧡  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/331729dd-b0b2-fca1-b9c7-537230657b49.gif)

You can also pet or shoo your pet by clicking on them. 

What would you want your pets to do for you? 

Some customers want them to answer questions from the company wiki, and some users want their pets to give them life advice. 

Please share your thoughts [on our community feedback board.](https://cosmos.canny.io/)​


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Reactions on Cosmos 
Author: Unknown
Published: 2022-03-11
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, Meeting Experience
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/reactions-on-cosmos-cldvp0wo2710041kten0jdpv9g

### Express yourself through reactions  

Show how you’re feeling and bring vibrancy to your office 👏🎉🙌  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/73adaae8-b4db-4407-65dd-b8143ed9156e.gif)

Users can react on Cosmos during meetings or conversations using the reactions in the toolbar or by using the number keys.   

![](https://assets.superblog.ai/site_cuid_cl8ua9uua621081js6939qs4n9/images/screenshot-2023-02-08-at-13-1675862532226-compressed.png)


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Run engaging meetings with Cosmos
Author: Unknown
Published: 2022-02-28
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, communication, Meeting Experience
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/run-engaging-meetings-with-cosmos-cldvpnxfd736691kteirgjg84w

In our quest to be the definitive communication tool for sync teams. We realised we need to be great meeting tools as well. 

All recurring meetings on Cosmos help teams create visibility for others and a sense of belonging. People can have spontaneous conversations before and after the meetings. 

We’ve evolved into the meetings tool that helps create visibility and a sense of belonging within remote teams.  

### Mobile and Desktop Apps   

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/ffb4d7f4-2a03-0c9b-a0b3-eba289c6171f.png)

  

### Better Video Quality  

We support up to 80 people in a conversation and handle reconnects smoothly. We also have servers across the world to reduce latency. Gallery view now has 12 or 24, or 36 videos per page. You can toggle this in video settings.   

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/9c3bb6a5-33e5-9a98-1ab8-ebc77d27cbe5.png)

  

### Ultra-clear screen share 

Screenshare can now be made full-screen and optimised for slow internet or text readability.  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/c3f89f6c-49cf-250b-d875-8793e42d9f69.png)

### Google Calendar Integration  

Set Cosmos as the default video-calling option for all meetings. Integrate Google Calendar with Cosmos from the settings in your Cosmos Office.  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/c6835646-f403-0bf6-6504-5b39c82af30e.png)

### Meeting Topics 

Set meeting topics in Cosmos to let others know what you are discussing and let them jump into the call with one click.  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/676d630b-d4c8-62d3-a55a-0ebc46f5cbb1.png)

### ​[Slack Integration](https://cosmos.video/product/features/integrations)   

Get updates about what’s happening in your Cosmos office directly in Slack. Install the Slack App from the settings in your Cosmos Office.  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/10e75fbb-77f3-211f-0c12-9540891c7bce.png)

  

### Meeting Recordings

Record meetings and keep them private or share them with your teammates. To view a recording, head to the video inbox in the left sidebar of your Cosmos office.


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Support for all hands, video messages and more
Author: Unknown
Published: 2022-01-31
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, Meeting Experience
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/support-for-all-hands-video-messages-and-more-cldvq6vhk760261kteoiubcgvl

### Cosmos now supports up to 70 people in a conversation 🤩

You can now converse with groups of up to 70 people and host up to 150 people in your Cosmos office

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/75cb2340-63de-034e-80b3-6b85ec505bc9.png)

###   

### Leave video messages for your teammates 📮

If a teammate you want to talk to is busy or offline, you can click on their name in the participant's tab and record a video message for them. They’ll be able to access the message from their all-new Cosmos video inbox. 

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/c0d70835-abfe-29e3-bd9a-123681973bad.png)

  

### Single Click to Move 💨  

Point your cursor to the place you want to move to, and just click to move there. You can also pan around the map using your mouse or trackpad to easily zoom in and out.  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/ef2a1175-e7b9-0f98-79b5-b1c635128030.gif)


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Open apps and games within Cosmos
Author: Unknown
Published: 2021-11-12
Category: Communication
Tags: Product Update, communication, Meeting Experience
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/open-apps-and-games-within-cosmos-cldvqi4te772041kteh2y2s110

### **We’ve launched integrated apps 🌐**

Walk up to any work table in Cosmos and press 'X' to access integrated apps. Collaborate with your teammates on the best apps for work: Google Docs, Miro, Figma and more. All from within Cosmos!

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/04559598-d129-b481-1fa3-16f632407564.png)

### The Games Table is here 🤩  

You no longer have to choose between pong or pictionary in your office. Walk up to a game table, and choose from one of the 15 games you’d like to play.

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/c2eb0755-26ee-41c1-29fb-9d6234a22afc.png)

### You can now whisper to someone 🤫

Hover your cursor over someone’s video tile to whisper to them. You’ll be in a one-to-one chat with them, and no one around you will be able to overhear.


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Launching notifications on Chrome and Slack
Author: Unknown
Published: 2021-10-28
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, communication, Future of Work, Be available
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/launching-notifications-on-chrome-and-slack-cldvs7o1g837831ktevzwq4rex

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/2f589b16-519e-1dcd-b58d-f3d641e13787.png)

You can now receive notifications from Cosmos on your browser or Slack.   

Contents

​[On Slack](#on-slack)

[On browsers](#on-browsers)

[How to set up web and Slack Notifications](#how-to-set-up-web-and-slack-notifications)​

*   [On browsers](#on-browsers)
*   [How to set up web and Slack Notifications](#how-to-set-up-web-and-slack-notifications)

### On Slack  

Set up a public channel to get a notification when someone enters your Cosmos Office (only venue admins can set this up)

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/1d836fff-61c5-2347-7339-e3ed891155fd.png)

  

Invite colleagues who are offline to talk to you on Cosmos. They'll get a DM in Slack and can join with a single click.

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/0bfee72f-244c-e67d-817f-4e0d9139a089.png)

  

Get notified when teammates are trying to speak to you while you’re in focus or away mode

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/fd149c4a-7678-c44c-83a6-b0a96ae7aa6a.png)

  

### On browsers  

Get notified when someone joins your Cosmos office

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/11b62e9b-1bfc-14d5-615e-d79450c99207.png)

  

Get a notification when someone wants to talk to you, and you’re in focusing or away mode

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/de4cf6a6-8ea6-04b6-e2ac-e079da85e9a5.png)

### How to set up web and Slack Notifications  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/d755c6c3-4d19-2683-8399-f586d8dee0e4.png)


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Celebrate Halloween on Cosmos: No tricks just treats
Author: Unknown
Published: 2021-10-15
Category: Communication
Tags: Expression
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/celebrate-halloween-on-cosmos-no-tricks-just-treats-cldvqnwbi777701ktew91radqq

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/b19f10ba-bf6f-fef5-aedc-99fe6b19b35f.png)

  
🎉 **Use our Halloween map**  
Our template halloween office is now available for you to plan your event. Invite your friends, hang out and play games on the day  

### 🧟 Bring a spooky vibe to your office   

Add Halloween decorations to your venue using the edit venue option in the top left of your office  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/36ca97cd-e2af-f0fa-4b14-b0a7ef2f4bb5.png)

### 👻  Add axes, witch robes and even pumpkin hats to your avatar  

You can customize your avatar from Wednesday next week by clicking the settings cog wheel inside Cosmos.  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/7b68f87f-1902-c4f9-1f8d-c30699fca257.png)

  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/651b750b-d84e-735f-b938-61e5e068e0d2.png)


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Why are we building Cosmos?
Author: Unknown
Published: 2021-09-15
Category: Future of Work
Tags: Future of Work, Vision
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/why-are-we-building-cosmos-clduej0tw216221kteosbgg8uo

![Why we’re building Cosmos](https://cdn.eu1.cosmos.video/blog/office.jpg)

​[Introduction](#introduction)

​[Why didn't asynchronous work for us?](#why-didnt-asynchronous-work-for-us)​

​[Replicating an office using Slack and Zoom](#replicating-an-office-using-slack-and-zoom)​

​[Is a return to the office inevitable?](#is-a-return-to-the-office-inevitable)​

​[What about hybrid?](#what-about-hybrid)​

​[So, we built the Virtual HQ:](#so-we-built-the-virtual-hq)​

*   [Why didn't asynchronous work for us?](#why-didnt-asynchronous-work-for-us)
*   [Replicating an office using Slack and Zoom](#replicating-an-office-using-slack-and-zoom)
*   [Is a return to the office inevitable?](#is-a-return-to-the-office-inevitable)
*   [What about hybrid?](#what-about-hybrid)
*   [So, we built the Virtual HQ:](#so-we-built-the-virtual-hq)
*   [The Future](#the-future)
*   [But.. We still don't know how to fix this:](#but-we-still-dont-know-how-to-fix-this)

### Introduction

Last year, we were thrown into remote work for the first time. Since then, our feeds have been full of conflicting opinions on remote communication and how best to do it.

Before the pandemic, we led product teams at tech startups in London. We tried working asynchronously to adjust to remote working, but it didn't work. We then tried, like everyone else, to work synchronously, and attempted to replicate the office environment using Zoom and Slack.

Even with these tools, we found [remote work to be lonely](https://cosmos.video/blog/remote-work-isolation-loneliness/) and missed being in the office.

We had tasted the upside of working from home, so to avoid a full-scale return to the office, we set about building a way to bring teams together so they could enjoy all the benefits of being in an office environment while working from home.

### Why didn't asynchronous work for us?

Guides to remote work focus on best practices for asynchronous teams (who work from anywhere, at different times), so that is what we tried first.

Very few companies have actually taken remote work as far as eliminating offices and time zones altogether, but that seemed to be all we talked about.

Based on the notion that remote work = asynchronous work, the playbook was clear: do your work independently, document everything in manuals and threads on Slack, and have meetings only when necessary.

However, documenting processes in minute detail and deferring decision-making until the right person was online killed the aspects of our jobs we loved most: working in a high-energy environment and shipping fast.

We quickly realised that asynchronous methods did not work for us.

![https://media.giphy.com/media/QPQ3xlJhqR1BXl89RG/giphy.gif](https://media.giphy.com/media/QPQ3xlJhqR1BXl89RG/giphy.gif)

  

### Replicating an office using Slack and Zoom

We wanted to work simultaneously with the same speed and energy we experienced when working with our teams in the same place. But we wanted to do it remotely. In other words, we wanted to work synchronously from home. We tried doing this using Slack and Zoom.

When we wanted to speak to people during our remote experiment, we would message on Slack, wait for a reply, sync on [](https://cosmos.video/product/features/true-statuses)[privacy](https://cosmos.video/product/features/security-and-access), set up a time for the call, and then meet on Zoom. This worked well for longer meetings with a clear agenda but was a painful process when we all wanted a 2-minute discussion. In the office, we could tap colleagues on the shoulder to ask questions without having to schedule a meeting for every conversation. It was easy to pull in others for an impromptu brainstorm to solve a problem.

![https://media1.tenor.com/images/02550efd51395bbf7eb809ac28a7a673/tenor.gif?itemid=13346895](https://media1.tenor.com/images/02550efd51395bbf7eb809ac28a7a673/tenor.gif?itemid=13346895)

  

The lack of convenience of communicating meant we simply communicated less, which led ultimately to unresolved questions, less employee input in decision making and fewer brainstorming sessions.

To try and keep everyone in the organisation on the same page, we tried writing up notes of Zoom meetings and sharing them on Slack. Inevitably, however, these notes were limited to action points, so they gave minimal context. We also found that while in the office, people used to overhear and jump into discussions happening around them, they rarely jumped in with their thoughts on Slack.

![https://media1.tenor.com/images/406dea3c20cda3680a54de5f0c2ddd91/tenor.gif?itemid=5059284](https://media1.tenor.com/images/406dea3c20cda3680a54de5f0c2ddd91/tenor.gif?itemid=5059284)

  

In the office, people at every level of the organisation could always bump into each other. These chance conversations helped build solid relationships and company culture. They also led to some of the most creative ideas at the company. When all our communication moved to Slack and Zoom, employees struggled to access senior leaders outside the formal constraints of a scheduled 'check-in', and there was very little communication outside our immediate teams. Employees had less exposure to important decision-makers, and our teams became siloed.

The pains we experienced arose from a single issue: our teammates were not in the same place simultaneously.

### Is a return to the office inevitable?

There are too many upsides to working from home to dismiss it outright.

Employees save time and money on their commute. And they get to work from the comfort of their own home, which no longer needs to be in expensive parts of the city.

Working from home reduces greenhouse gas emissions from cars on the road and the consumption of fossil fuels. It means better air quality as a result of decreased air pollution.

For companies, having their teams working remotely is a fraction of the cost of an expensive office lease. It is also a chance to start hiring globally.

![https://media.giphy.com/media/ZlgwEg24rPhv9cju8K/giphy.gif](https://media.giphy.com/media/ZlgwEg24rPhv9cju8K/giphy.gif)

  

### What about hybrid?

Having experienced the benefits of remote, most employees aren't on board with the idea of a return to a 5-day week in the office. As a result, many businesses are attempting a hybrid return to work and are tackling it in one of two ways:

The entire team works from the office on set days every week: Companies acknowledge that working synchronously from home is not optimal. The speed of decision-making, fluidity of creative discussions and sharing context on what's happening across the company are all adversely affected. They want to solve this by bringing people together in the office on set days and having them do individual-focused work when working from home.

Each employee can choose between working from the office or from home on any given day: Given the choice, we believe every employee will default to one of the two options and stick with it. Those working from the office will have the chance to bump into each other, discuss ideas and feel a sense of camaraderie with their teams. They will overhear conversations among other teams and have more facetime with senior staff. Meanwhile, those working from home will use a combination of Zoom and Slack and encounter the same issues faced by remote teams discussed earlier. The office will slowly become the centre of work, creative discussions and socialising. This will create a disparity between those working from home and those working from the office and will likely create fractures in the team.

![https://media1.tenor.com/images/ab88a00d81329f24e01f739875cb702a/tenor.gif?itemid=9286799](https://media1.tenor.com/images/ab88a00d81329f24e01f739875cb702a/tenor.gif?itemid=9286799)

  

Hybrid work is still being figured out. We believe current tools do not work for people who want to work from home, whichever hybrid option is used.

We believe the world still needs a solution for working together remotely. A way for everyone to be present together in the same space simultaneously.

### So, we built the Virtual HQ:

At Cosmos, we are building [virtual spaces](https://cosmos.video/product/features/digital-space--presence) replicating the physical office through secure video chat in a computer game environment.

The way it works is simple: the user selects a digital space from our website and makes it their own. They can then invite Cosmos colleagues to the space, which exists on a permanent weblink - their virtual HQ.

Each user in the venue has an avatar and can walk up to other people's avatars to video chat with them. When users move their avatars away, the video chat ends automatically. Essentially, every user in the same venue can walk in and out of a conversation with other users.

Using avatars means there is the same 'flow' of people walking in corridors and passing each other in common areas, which creates opportunities for bumping into each other.

Video and audio can be turned on or off, and statuses help indicate availability so everyone has privacy and can focus without interruption when needed.

For our team, having a virtual HQ means we bump into each other and walk over to each other to ask questions all the time. Having these interactions at work, even remotely, has enabled our team to develop friendships with people they have never met in real life and with people outside their teams. We get all the upsides of being in an office from the comfort of our homes.

![https://cdn.eu1.cosmos.video/blog/office.jpg](https://cdn.eu1.cosmos.video/blog/office.jpg)

  

### The Future

Our vision for the future is one where every remote synchronous business has a virtual HQ where they can socialise, collaborate and build relationships through casual and informal interactions with their colleagues.

At the same time, we imagine casual coworking spaces popping up in neighbourhoods, enabling people to switch up their work environment whenever they want without needing to commute to city centres.

As employees, imagine we weren't tied to a particular office and could choose where we worked instead. Some of us would work from our home office or gardens in the summer, while others would choose a lively coworking space. It would depend on the person, the day of the week, or what they're working on.

We believe businesses using Cosmos can make this a reality for their teams.

### But.. We still don't know how to fix this:

![https://media1.tenor.com/images/acff0c447d673e0dff878052ceb0906a/tenor.gif?itemid=17008936](https://media1.tenor.com/images/acff0c447d673e0dff878052ceb0906a/tenor.gif?itemid=17008936)


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Connect your Cosmos HQ to your
Slack workspace
Author: Unknown
Published: 2021-07-29
Category: Communication
Tags: Product Update, communication, Be available
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/connect-your-cosmos-hq-to-your-slack-workspace-cldvqu2jf783441ktegvibrrgr

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/c0af7f3c-f0de-2d10-9ce2-472a5fb42826.png)

Over the last few months, we've worked closely with 100+ teams using Cosmos as their Virtual HQ and are excited to launch the most requested feature - Slack integration.  

### Invite someone offline on Cosmos to chat by sending a Slack DM 💥  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/c680dc4e-38fc-a399-a03d-b6492af14ce8.png)

###   

### Type “/cosmos” in Slack conversations to jump into your Cosmos HQ 🪄  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/ee3da4d9-0f30-b2d8-7d63-e0fc6e154c76.png)

### See someone’s Cosmos status inside Slack - available, focusing, away 👀  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/80e90ac6-0904-1362-87d3-4bed172f682d.png)

### How to set it up?

Head to the settings pane in Cosmos, and click 'Connect to Slack' 💫

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/35ef1354-0289-aa92-7099-9a94bd24c819.png)


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Virtual HQ for remote teams
Author: Unknown
Published: 2021-07-26
Category: Future of Work
Tags: communication, Future of Work
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/virtual-hq-for-remote-teams-cldvrqgop817551kte8d3uxni6

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/2c905000-7c3f-80d6-9606-872c95b9121d.jpg)

We’ve spoken to hundreds of Cosmos super-users over the last few months. Before they went remote, they used to love going to a physical office - it allowed them to communicate fast, gain context on what was happening in the wider team, and have impromptu brainstorms. Sharing a space with their team meant bumping into each other, which led to casual conversations, and created a sense of belonging.

  
Since going remote, they've been using Cosmos as a Virtual Office Software daily. This is because Cosmos allows them to experience the benefits of being in an office while being remote.

### Be available and quickly ask questions

Walk up to others to ask a question without back-and-forth scheduling. Every conversation doesn't need to be a meeting 

### Know what is happening

Overhear conversations, have context on what others are working on, and jump into conversations

### Sense of belonging

Talk with your teammates without reason, and discuss the last episode of friends or weather. Form lasting relationships with the people you spend the most time with. 

### How to introduce Cosmos to your team?

*   Have regular meetings (such as standups) on Cosmos, after which the team naturally breaks into groups to discuss
*   Set up daily co-working time in the calendar. Popular times are 10 am-12 pm & 2pm-4pm


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Meet the New Cosmos: Faster, Cuter, Better
Author: Unknown
Published: 2021-06-30
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, Expression
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/meet-the-new-cosmos-faster-cuter-better

Over the last 3 months, we’ve been working hard to build an entirely new visual look and feel for Cosmos.  

### Brand new world

We’ve redesigned Cosmos from scratch, and it looks amazing! 🤩

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/e804d1a1-36ea-a028-25da-783e7f0960ab.png)

### Adorable avatars

To go with the new look of Cosmos, we’ve launched a range of avatars. Did someone say cuteness overload? More avatars coming soon...  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/5bbc6243-a5b7-49a2-b6ea-0f5d458ccb9a.png)

###   

### Globally scaled video platform

We’ve developed video tech that works for users across the world. You should notice snappier videos and less delay when using Cosmos! Cosmos is for everyone 🤗.  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/7b590d35-1842-ca80-5d18-06985410791e.png)

To host your team on Cosmos, please create an office by [following this link](https://cosmos.video/setup-office) or [booking a demo with a member of our team.](https://calendly.com/cosmosdemo/30min)


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## Introducing gallery view and meeting rooms
Author: Unknown
Published: 2021-03-03
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, communication, Meeting Experience
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/introducing-gallery-view-and-meeting-rooms-cldvr872p798521ktewdoffajn

### Introducing Gallery View

Switch to gallery view to see more people and focus on the conversation.

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/082f054f-8776-4d6f-af0b-fbc92872f3ce.png)

Introducing meeting rooms for you to see everyone
-------------------------------------------------

Walk into [meeting rooms](https://cosmos.video/product/features/meeting-rooms-for-video-calls) for a meeting. Everyone inside the area will be in the same conversation, and no one outside will be able to hear you.

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/a667cc82-7045-4a33-ac07-6f309c585084.png)

### New Avatars

We heard you wanted more choices in avatars...here are 24 new ones. 🤩 More are on the way!  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/d7575f6d-1460-49b6-8146-c1217b1030c9.png)

### Under-the-hood features

\- Smoother movement of avatars on the map

\- Video reconnects automatically if you change your wifi network or switch on VPN

\- Default to your laptop mic and speakers when your Bluetooth headset runs out of battery


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## See everyone in the office in the sidebar
Author: Unknown
Published: 2021-02-18
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, communication
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/see-everyone-in-the-office-in-the-sidebar-cldvrepr9805271kteq71nsmxy

### It's now easier to find people🕵️‍♂️

You can now see everyone's location in the participant's tab, making it easier to find (or avoid) other people in an office.   

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/db883756-7d25-4c9d-9e14-edfc684e54c9.png)

### Work hard, play hard - two new games

\- Pong 🏓 - an old arcade classic.

\- Navy Wars 🚢 - sink your opponent's fleet before they sink yours.

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/e1588435-7e9d-4a7e-9893-3d3301ba4608.png)

### Cosmos now works on Safari too!

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/d26ab74c-6654-4642-bf0b-16f4a073b041.png)


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---

## New office maps, games, and avatar names!
Author: Unknown
Published: 2021-01-26
Category: Product Update
Tags: Product Update, Future of Work, Expression
URL: https://cosmos.video/blog/new-office-maps-games-and-avatar-names-cldvrjnld810111kterqo28tt7

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/e5cb9b4f-8b87-4edd-b739-9028ab8a4241.png)

### New office maps

Select the office map that's best for your team. Offices are of different sizes and have different vibes. One even has secret tunnels 🤫.  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/b0d87043-6a34-45d7-83df-361e3ee96636.png)

### Two more games for your office socials

**Who said it best** - Who can come up with the most fun answer to "What is the best thing to use when you're out of toilet paper?" or "What killed the dinosaurs?"

**Cosmos Art** - Guess what others have drawn, and find the artist in your team!

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/f3f5ba5e-6c84-44d6-8c4d-187f14b18b04.png)

### Names above avatars

It's now easier to find your colleagues and avoid some 😛  while walking around the office.  

![](https://mcusercontent.com/311e479f423258bf413ba0191/images/3cfbbabb-dcad-4b4c-ab4e-f529ea6b1676.png)


---
This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more.
---