Alex Kipman, the inventor of Kinect and HoloLens, appeared in “The Verge” author Tom Warren’s living room to hand him jellyfish and sharks. No, that wasn’t a strange dream or animated show. This was possible because of Microsoft’s new Mesh platform. Mesh is a collaborative platform that allows anyone to have shared virtual experiences of a variety of devices. During this meeting, Kipman appeared next to Warren as an avatar as they were working on some virtual 3D project.
Microsoft Mesh is basically a platform containing a collaboration between Microsoft’s HoloLens devices and Virtual Reality headsets. For the virtual experience, Mesh will present people as virtual avatars taken from the AltspaceVR social network that Microsoft acquired back in 2017. Mesh will eventually support what Microsoft calls “holoportation,” allowing people to appear as themselves in a virtual space.
“This has been the dream for mixed reality, the idea from the very beginning,” explains Kipman. “You can actually feel like you’re in the same place with someone sharing content or you can teleport from different mixed reality devices and be present with people even when you’re not physically together.”
With the pandemic changing the way students, professionals, and even friends and family communicate and connect, the prevalence of virtual meetings is not something to be overlooked. Virtual spaces have become the new norm on the world stage, as it enables new communities to be created in order for teams to achieve more, despite physical distance or a pandemic. Emerging tech companies such as Microsoft’s Mesh have taken virtual meetings, such as Zoom or Skype, to a far more immersive and engaging level.
Learn more about the realm of extended reality and emerging technology in 2021’s “virtual showroom,” and try your hand at what the future of AR/VR holds in Public Spend For-Her’s inaugural webinar event! This 45-minute immersive experience will allow you to learn from Julie Smithson, Founder of MetaVRse, Augmented Reality technologist, Board Chairperson of XR Women, and a highly recognized leader in the rapidly emerging and developing field of virtual reality. Reserve your seat here!
More information on emerging technologies and augmented reality can be found on GovShop, a free supplier and contract intelligence platform that provides comprehensive data across all markets. As part of the ongoing effort of Public Spend Forum to connect buyers and suppliers in emerging technology fields, GovShop’s list of suppliers in virtual reality and other emerging technologies is accessible here.
