- Microsoft has announced Mesh, its own version of the metaverse
- Microsoft will integrate its metaverse into its remote working platform
- Mesh will compete with Facebook’s Meta for enterprise users
Microsoft has thrown its hat into the metaverse ring, announcing that it is building its own inside its virtual meeting room Teams. The announcement comes just days after Facebook rebranded to Meta and announced a new focus on building its own metaverse, with Microsoft’s Mesh seeming to be a direct competitor to Facebook in terms of the virtual meeting market. Mesh is part of a company-wide effort from Microsoft to combine mixed reality and HoloLens technology with meetings and video calls with participants appearing as avatars.
Microsoft Keeps Meetings Interesting With Avatars
With many companies experiencing a culture shift and moving to a work-from-home culture following the pandemic, there has been a huge push on virtual meeting technology. Microsoft has tried to make virtual meetings more interactive with initiatives like Together Mode, but it seems that the metaverse represents their biggest hope yet for keeping virtual meetings interesting.
That’s according to Nicole Herskowitz, general manager for Microsoft Teams, who told The Verge that “We got hit by meeting fatigue in the virtual world. After 30 or 40 minutes max in a meeting, it was very hard to stay engaged and focused.”
Bored Apes Not Invited
Microsoft hopes that a much more immersive metaverse experience will keep interest levels up, with new 3D avatars used instead of detached heads, with AI used to animate your avatar in accordance with your speech. Whether Microsoft will allow NFTs to be introduced into meetings remains to be seen, but it’s unlikely that your boss will be happy with a Bored Ape pitching up halfway through an important presentation.
