What is Microsoft Mesh？
Microsoft launched Microsoft Mesh in March this year and will launch Mesh for Teams in the first half of next year, which will pave the way for mixed reality meetings.
What is Microsoft Mesh？
Microsoft Mesh is a platform for virtual meetings and other collaborative gatherings in mixed reality (virtual reality, augmented reality, or any combination of the two) using various devices. Microsoft Mesh is designed to provide all the immersive creativity and intimate interaction of real collaboration in a secure and scalable virtual world. Blending the real and virtual worlds through mixed reality could be the key to enabling better teamwork.
Features of Microsoft Mesh
The first function is a live experience called "Feel Presence". It includes two capabilities. One is Holoportation, which means holographic transmission that remotely transmits images of one's body to the scene. The other is called Avatar, which is to make a virtual doll.
The second function is called "Experience Together". It includes video conferencing, remote collaboration and training, and co-design among others. It cooperates through a mixture of virtual and reality.
How Microsoft Mesh change video conferencing
Microsoft Mesh opens the door to the future of XR collaboration platforms, where participants can interact in a visual-first space. Within Microsoft Mesh, companies will be able to build and access apps that allow users to work together on holographic or 3D projects in real-time. When you share ideas in a video conference, sensors will follow your actions, allowing you to better interact with digital content.
How Microsoft Mesh will transform conferencing and collaboration
Animated avatars: Animated avatars are Microsoft’s first step towards photo-realistic holoportation. These tools will enable employees to engage in remote collaboration with 2D and 3D content, as well as dynamic avatar representations of their peers. Tools will be able to access things like Azure Active Directory to help team members find each other
Interactive meeting: Combined with Microsoft Teams, Mesh’s interactive virtual meeting will provide a more comprehensive and realistic experience for video meetings. Users can use real-time interactive 3D content and hand tracking technology.
Application integration: Developers on the Microsoft Mesh platform will access Microsoft functionality and potentially even third-party apps for additional functionality. For example, you can add Microsoft Word or Excel files to the meeting so that meeting members can view the content together.
Project immersion: Compared to the collaboration tools available today, Microsoft Mesh can provide a higher degree of immersion. You can create video conferences to mix employees from different regions, let them choose their favorite 3D virtual images, and work on projects and 3D blueprints together.
What kind of hardware does Microsoft Mesh need?
Microsoft Mesh is suitable for various devices. Customers can access AltSpaceVR through Mesh support, which provides virtual reality meetings with enterprise-level security. Mesh for Teams will be launched in the first half of 2022. All video conferencing devices that can adapt to Microsoft Teams can use Mesh. AMong such tools are Nexvoo's video conferencing devices which support Team's system.
What is the future of Microsoft Mesh?
At the beginning, Microsoft believed that Microsoft Mesh was a virtual avatar of collaboration employees which would appear as their colleagues, but the ultimate vision for mesh development was to provide holographic technology. This means that users can appear as themselves in the grid space and "transfer" between settings.
Currently, Microsoft Mesh is still in the early stages of its development, but Microsoft has some grand plans for holographic transmission and unique extended reality experiences in the future. If we can eventually find a way to allow everyone to access Mesh through hardware development and software customization, this will make the future of team collaboration even more promising.