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In June 2021, as part of the opening of AHK Culture Club, we created a virtual reality experience, that takes two strangers into the world of HYPERLIVING, letting them connect in the digital realm by chatting and taking part in various activities. Afterward, they met in physical space as new friends and could learn more about the research.

While thinking about the ideas behind HYPERLIVING, as a priority we set creating a HEALTHY digital environment, that serves the people on their rules. That is why we find it crucial to incorporate the expertise of not just creators and investors but more importantly the users and social scientists. In the conversation with an urban sociologist, Elisa van Gent, we talked about many mind-boggling questions around the impact digital technology has had on society and how we can take action towards designing healthy phygital experiences.

The COVID-19 crisis has enormously accelerated many trends that have been gaining popularity in the last years, one of the main ones being remote work. Being left without a choice, people around the globe had to adapt to transforming their homes into workspaces, meetings with their clients into video calls, socializing events into virtual pub quiz sessions. Technological infrastructure allowed this switch to happen and evolved to serve us better, quicker and safer.

The crash-test of mass transition into remote working system led to realization, that offices as we know them are not necessarily essential and a lot of business can be taken care of from homes. However, for most people, a mix of the two is the most convenient and healthy state – the future is a hybrid! In this system, the role of shared spaces in co-living projects grows enormously as, while being part of the house, they can use their potential to provide flexibility and create communities that people need.

A major concern, when talking to people about remote work, is the lack of interaction with other colleagues. While being convenient at the beginning, working alone can become very frustrating and unhealthy. Simple presents of other people can be motivating, help us to keep the structure of our day and sustain the life-work balance. With a digital tool, residents of a co-living building could easily connect with each other and form circles, helping each other to stay in the productive but healthy rhythm, find people to have lunch with, have a break to stretch your muscles, socialize and find business opportunities.

With the help of digital tools, the activation of shared spaces can go further than being available only for the residents of the co-living buildings. The co-working places can become neighborhood productivity hubs, without becoming a completely public space. Thanks to a digital platform you can give access to the spaces only to verified and subscribed neighbors, in the selected hours, opening the building up during the day and keeping it more private and cozier in the evening. Unless of course, the guests become part of the community and will stay for dinner and drinks.

If shared spaces in co-living buildings are meant to become an integral part of the hybrid working system, they must provide more diversity and reliability for their users.

Throughout the day, there is a need for different kinds of spaces, for meetings, calls, brainstorms or spots with various types of seating or standing arrangement. A digital tool could allow booking such places, so people can have insight into what is available and be sure that they will have access to the spot that fits them most. At the same time, the area would be used in the most efficient way and give feedback on what sort of rooms are the most popular and what should be changed. Moreover, such digitally managed space also gives an opportunity for the residents to really become co-owners of the building and be compensated for the use that neighborhood makes of their shared spaces. Therefore, the residents become real hosts of their shared space and profit from the areas being vibrant and open to the surroundings.