The End of Chitchat

On some level, offices exist to inspire in-person collaboration.

on some level=to some extet
in-person collaboration 面对面的合作

But many of the basic technologies that employees now use to work together often encourage them to work virtually independent of one another.

independent of one another 彼此独立

Document-editing services, for example, allow employees to collaborate without ever communicating in physical space, while cloud-based chat programs let workers discuss projects, in real time, at their respective computers.

in real time 实时

In-office email chains have also given employees fewer reasons to speak in person, even as open-plan offices have proliferated, with employees sitting in direct view of each other.

in person 表示“亲自”；
open-plan 是形容词，表示“开放式的，敞开式的”；
proliferate 作不及物动词，表示“激增”
例如，Private schools have proliferated in the past decade. “过去十年中，私立学校的数量激增。”
in direct view of each other 在彼此的直接视野中

How have workers responded?

“They don their headphones—headphones are the new walls—to signal they are involved in high-concentration work and not available for chitchat,” says Stowe Boyd, a social critic whose research focuses on the future of work.

don 表示“披上，穿上，戴上”

Such behavior is indicative of a wider workplace trend.

As office-communication technologies have become more advanced, more and more employees are avoiding direct interaction with their co-workers.

Experts say this is a shift that is likely to continue.

A raft of emerging technologies even suggests a future—perhaps decades away, but maybe sooner—in which offices are populated by employees who engage in virtually no work-focused, face- to-face contact whatsoever.

raft of 大量的
emerging 新兴的
engage in virtually no work-focused, face- to-face contact whatsoever
几乎不会有任何以工作为中心的、面对面的接触

Which isn't to say co-workers won't connect.

Even as employees make the transition to solitary work, they may begin to communicate in new ways that are as engaging as real-life interactions.

engaging 表示“有趣的；令人愉快的；迷人的”
比如，an engaging smile 迷人的微笑；an engaging person 魅力十足的人

Virtual reality, for example, could "eventually allow for the kind of rich interactions that would take place in physical proximity," says Martin Ford, an author who studies artificial intelligence and robots, among other things.

proximity （时间/空间上的）接近
author 创始人，发起人

And while VR and other immersive technologies haven't yet gained a strong foothold in the office, there are signs that such features are making their way into the workplace, according to futurist Nikolas Badminton.

immersive technologies 沉浸式技术
a strong foothold 稳固的立足
feature 这里翻译成功能

Virtual-reality headsets, for instance, could facilitate 3-D work meetings around a digital conference table.

And holoportation, a kind of real-time virtual teleportation currently in development, can beam employees, Star Trek–style, into spaces they are not physically in.

Holoportation 全息影像通话
real-time virtual teleportation 实时虚拟远距传动技术
beam 作动词表示“发射电波”，在这里可以引申为“融入”，它作名词表示“光线”或“笑容”，比如，一丝丝的阳光，narrow beams of sunlight。

What's the upside of a chitchat-free future, in which colleagues work together in close physical proximity but never need to talk person-to-person?

upside 表示“（糟糕局面的）好的一面，正面”，它的反义词是 downside；
-free 构成形容词表示“没有……的”，比如，免税店，duty-free shop。

For one, it may make work experiences more seamless and efficient by eliminating gossipy distractions that can get in the way of substantive affairs.

seamless 表示“不停顿的，无空隙的”
get in the way of 表示“妨碍”
substantive 表示“实质性的，本质上的”，它的形近词 substantial 表示“大量的，重大的”。

It also may safeguard employees from physical harassment, a growing workplace concern, says Jamais Cascio, an author and futurist.

But there are possible snags.

snag  “问题，麻烦”

Virtual environments have the potential to reduce social inhibitions, which could lead to confrontation.

social inhibitions 社交障碍
inhibition 表示“拘谨，拘束感”
confrontation 表示“对抗，冲突”

It's also possible that technology will create a more impersonal atmosphere.

impersonal atmosphere 缺乏人情味的氛围
impersonal 缺乏人情味，冷淡的
inhuman   无同情心的，不人道

Without the water cooler−style chitchat that can make work life more vibrant—research suggests informal office banter can boost productivity—office relationships could start to resemble the interactions we have with strangers in public spaces.

water cooler chat 俚语，说的就是在单位和同事们边喝水边聊天
vibrant 表示“充满生机的”
banter 表示“玩笑”

Ultimately, some experts believe, humans may remove themselves from the work equation altogether, though not in the sense that they will be replaced by robots, as many have predicted.

humans may remove themselves from the work equation altogether, though not in the sense that they will be replaced by robots, as many have predicted
人类可能会完全从工作中脱离出来，尽管这并不像许多人所预测的那样意味着人将被机器人取代