Collaborative Production Without VR: Recreating the Workrooms Experience with Existing Tools

Recreate the best parts of VR Workrooms—without the headset

Pain point: Your team misses Workrooms’ whiteboards, breakout flow and that oddly satisfying sense of “spatial” presence—yet buying a fleet of headsets isn’t realistic. Good news: by 2026 a practical toolkit of existing apps and wearables recreates the same collaborative benefits for production teams, creators and remote-first companies.

In this guide I lay out a tested, repeatable workflow that uses Zoom, Miro, Gather, video production tools (OBS + NDI), and wearables such as Ray‑Ban smart glasses to reproduce Workrooms-style whiteboards, spatial audio vibes and hands-free production. You’ll get step-by-step setups, prompts, security notes and realistic tradeoffs—so your team can run immersive, low-friction collaboration sessions now.

Why this matters in 2026: Workrooms is gone, but the need remains

Meta discontinued the standalone Workrooms app on February 16, 2026, citing a shift toward broader Horizon productivity tooling and a strategic pivot to wearables like AI-capable Ray‑Ban smart glasses. The move reflects bigger 2025–2026 trends: major tech firms de-emphasizing siloed VR meeting apps, rising investment in lightweight AR wearables and improvements in web-based spatial audio via WebRTC and cloud audio services.

Meta announced the end of the Workrooms standalone app on February 16, 2026, signaling a pivot toward wearables and integrated productivity platforms.

The result: teams need practical, cross-platform alternatives that deliver the same meeting outcomes—collaborative ideation, intuitive visual context and a sense of shared space—without forcing everyone into a headset ecosystem.

Toolkit overview: What you’ll use and why

• Gather — for spatial audio zones, avatar-based navigation and “pre-meeting lobby” interaction.
• Miro — for infinite whiteboards, templates, real-time cursors and embedded media.
• Zoom — for high-quality video, breakout management, recording, and wide compatibility.
• OBS + NDI / virtual camera — for live mixing, picture-in-picture microsites and routing camera feeds (including wearables).
• Ray‑Ban smart glasses (2025–26 models) — for hands-free POV, field reporting and low-latency video that integrates into workflows.
• Spatial audio services (Dolby.io, Agora, or WebAudio techniques) — to create directional audio and “proximity” vibes inside web spaces or recorded content.
• Utility tools — Loopback/VoiceMeeter for routing audio, Miro templates, Zapier/Make for automation, and an AI assistant (GPT-style) for summarizing boards and generating action items.

Core design goals (what you must recreate)

• Shared whiteboard fidelity — low-latency cursor sharing, layered assets and easy switching between brainstorm and production modes.
• Spatial presence — believable proximity audio and visual cues that reduce cognitive drift.
• Producer control — a single control layer for recording, views, screen-sharing and participant spotlighting.
• Wearable integration — hands-free capture and POV without disrupting the meeting flow.

Quick-start setup: 30-minute checklist to get a session running

1. Spin up a Gather space with a lobby, main room and two breakout zones. Add visible Miro iframe boards to the main room walls.
2. Create the Miro board with templates: Empathy Map, Crazy 8s, Prioritization Grid. Preload assets and the session agenda as sticky notes.
3. Start Zoom as the “recording stage.” Spotlight the producer’s OBS virtual camera. Invite core participants to Zoom; use Gather as the spatial “social” layer for informal networking.
4. Launch OBS and add NDI sources: Zoom virtual camera, Ray‑Ban POV (via companion app or RTMP if supported), and a desktop capture of Miro. Create scenes for “Talking Head + Board”, “Bird’s Eye Board” and “Group Grid”.
5. Route audio with Loopback/VoiceMeeter so you can mix Zoom and Gather audio. Use a spatial audio service if you want panning and depth in recorded outputs.
6. Run a 5-minute tech check: mute/unmute flow, camera switching, Miro cursor syncing, Ray‑Ban video resolution and battery check.

Step-by-step: Recreating the whiteboard experience with Miro + Zoom

Miro is the obvious backbone for non-VR whiteboarding because it supports infinite canvases, multiple simultaneous cursors and integrations. The trick is to make Miro feel as tactile and communal as Workrooms.

1) Prepare the board before the session

• Build a landing flow with an agenda lane, timer, and rules of engagement. Use color-coded sticky notes and a “parking lot”.
• Pre-create starter clusters so participants can drop into a ready-made structure. Add image and video cards to simulate artifacts that would normally be in a VR room.

2) Use Zoom for spotlighting and high-fidelity screen sharing

Instead of everyone staring at a shared Miro, let Zoom manage the “stage.” The presenter shares their Miro viewport in Zoom (or use OBS scenes). When someone speaks, the producer switches the Zoom spotlight to their camera plus the Miro view. This replicates Workrooms' sense of a main stage with collaborative artifacts.

3) Keep engagement high with role-based prompts

• Assign a visual facilitator to move sticky notes and call out clusters.
• Use an AI assistant to summarize clusters after 10 minutes (example prompt below).
• Run 3-minute silent brainstorming intervals where everyone adds notes; follow with 8 minutes of grouping.

Step-by-step: Recreating spatial audio vibes with Gather + audio routing

Spatial audio is less about 3D visuals and more about social cues—who’s “closer,” conversational bubbles and private sidebars. Gather nails this with proximity audio; combine that with Zoom for formal recording.

1) Build natural zones in Gather

• Create a lobby for casual pre-meeting chats, tables for small groups and a stage for official presentations.
• Place ambient soundscapes (low-volume office hum, cafe noise) to give context and reduce the feeling of a stark virtual room.

2) Use audio routing to blend Gather’s spatial audio with Zoom recording

Route partitioned audio with Loopback (macOS) or VoiceMeeter (Windows): capture the Gather spatial mix as a separate channel, feed it into OBS, then mix with Zoom input. For recorded outputs, you can either preserve the spatial mix or use a “broadcast mix” where important speakers are louder and side-chats are softer.

3) Emulate 3D panning for recordings

If you want “spatial” feeling in exported videos, use Dolby.io or similar to apply panning and distance effects during post-production or in real-time via plugins. This helps listeners identify who’s left/right/front/back during roundtable discussions.

Wearables: How Ray‑Ban smart glasses fit into the workflow

Ray‑Ban models in 2025–26 added low-latency streaming and hands-free capture that’s ideal for run-and-gun production and POV moments. They won’t replace camera crews, but they extend perspective and reduce friction.

Use cases

• Field reporting: A host walks a physical set or location while participants watch the Ray‑Ban POV feed in Zoom or OBS.
• Hands-free ideation: A product designer sketches on a physical whiteboard; the glasses stream their hands and the board into Miro via an OBS scene.
• Accessibility: Quick B-roll and contextual footage without pulling out a phone or camera.

Practical tips

• Use the glasses’ companion app to create an RTMP or NDI stream; connect that to OBS as a source.
• Set expectations: announce when a wearable is live and get consent for recording.
• Charge and pair before the session—wearables’ batteries drain faster when streaming.

Production workflow: Producer responsibilities and OBS scenes

Whether you’re running a creator roundtable or a distributed sprint, your producer must manage views, audio mixes and recording. Here’s a recommended OBS scene set with brief notes:

• Scene: Opening — Title card + Countdown timer + background music (broadcast mix).
• Scene: Host + Board — Host camera (Ray‑Ban or webcam) + Miro window as shared canvas. Use picture-in-picture for faces.
• Scene: Panel Grid — Zoom gallery capture for panel discussions; lower-third names overlayed.
• Scene: Field POV — Ray‑Ban stream full-screen with sidechat overlay (from Gather) for context.
• Scene: Breakout Recap — Miro snapshot and AI-generated summary shown while participants debrief.

AI prompts and automations to speed meetings

AI can remove friction if used for explicit tasks. Here are ready-made prompts and automations.

Miro summarization (GPT-style assistant)

Prompt: "You’re given 50 sticky notes from a Miro board grouped into 5 clusters. For each cluster, provide a 1-sentence summary, a priority (High/Medium/Low), and two suggested next steps. Output JSON with keys cluster_1...cluster_5."

Meeting recap email (automation in Zapier/Make)

Trigger: Zoom recording ends. Action: Transcribe recording (Rev/Azure/Whisper), extract action items with the AI prompt below, and post a summary + Miro snapshot to Slack and email.

Action item extraction prompt

"From this transcript, list clear action items with owner, deadline (suggested), and brief acceptance criteria. Output as bullet list."

Security, privacy and accessibility (non-negotiables)

• Always announce wearable streams. Obtain explicit consent for recording, and log consent in session notes.
• Use single-sign-on (SSO) for Miro, Gather and Zoom to keep access centralized and auditable.
• Mask PII before sharing recordings externally—use automated redaction where possible.
• Offer captions and live transcripts (Zoom has auto-transcription; add VTT to OBS outputs for recorded captions).

Real-world mini case study: Independent podcast production team (example)

Background: A five-person indie podcast team (producer, host, guest coordinator, editor, designer) needed to maintain creative flow and quick show turnarounds after Workrooms shut down.

What they did: The producer set up a Gather space to run pre-show warmups (10–15 min), used Zoom as the recording stage, used Miro for episode planning and scripting, and used a Ray‑Ban glass for the host’s on-location interviews. OBS mixed the feeds and produced near-live output for social clips.

Outcomes after three months:

• Average episode turnaround dropped from 10 days to 6 days.
• Pre-show collaboration increased, measured by more actionable notes captured in Miro.
• Social-ready clips increased by 40% because Ray‑Ban POV content produced authentic B-roll.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

• Over-tooling: Start with a single Miro + Zoom + Gather combo. Add wearables or advanced audio only when the team is comfortable.
• Bandwidth issues: Run a low-res fallback (audio-only or webcam-only) for remote contributors on constrained networks.
• Fragmented ownership: Assign a production lead for each session to operate OBS, manage scenes and enforce the agenda.
• Privacy glare: Make live wearable usage explicit in agendas and visual labels in Gather/Zoom.

Future-proofing & 2026 predictions

As of 2026 we’ll see three clear trends that affect collaborative production:

1. Wearables become an augmentation layer: Not everyone will wear AR glasses, but those who do will act as mobile cameras and context providers. Expect improved APIs for low-latency streaming from Ray‑Ban-style devices.
2. Spatial-first audio will enter mainstream web apps: Cloud audio services and WebRTC upgrades make proximity-based moderation and panning a native feature in many SaaS collaboration tools.
3. AI will manage continuity: From automated board summaries to action-item extraction and show notes, AI will become the glue that connects Miro boards, Zoom recordings and publishing pipelines.

Actionable takeaways — 9 quick wins to implement this week

1. Create a Miro template with agenda + parking lot + 3 brainstorming clusters.
2. Build a Gather lobby with at least two small-group tables and embed the Miro board on a wall.
3. Designate a producer and practice an OBS scene switch once in a dry run.
4. Route Gather audio into OBS via Loopback and create a “spatial” and “broadcast” mix.
5. Test Ray‑Ban streaming flow and confirm RTMP/NDI compatibility.
6. Set up a Zap to transcribe Zoom recordings and extract action items automatically.
7. Document consent rules for wearable streams and add to every session invite.
8. Run a 15-minute “warmup” in Gather 10 minutes before every recorded session to recreate the informal presence Workrooms gave you.
9. Measure impact: track episode turnaround time, number of Miro notes resolved and social clip output.

Final note: Use the toolkit, not the theatre

Workrooms offered a compelling vision of shared presence. When Meta ended the standalone app in February 2026 and shifted toward Horizon and wearables, it didn’t remove the need for good collaboration—it simply moved the battleground. The practical toolkit above gives teams the essential affordances of VR Workrooms—shared whiteboards, spatial audio vibes and low-friction presence—without the overhead of buying headsets or learning a new platform.

Start small, assign ownership, and iterate: within a few sessions your team will recover the smooth flow of in-person ideation and level-up production outputs for podcasts, creator shows and distributed workshops.

Call to action

Ready to rebuild your own Workrooms-style workflow? Download the free 1-page setup checklist and Miro templates, then book a 20-minute consult to tailor the toolkit for your team’s production needs. Click the link below to get started and reclaim the creative flow—no headset required.

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