Microsoft announced Tuesday the launch of an augmented reality collaboration platform: Mesh.
It allows several users to find themselves in the form of avatars or holograms in the same room.
A particularly useful service in a society where teleworking has quickly gained its place.
The American firm intends to play on the alliance between virtual reality and physical elements.
“
A key advantage of mixed reality has always been the ability to be represented elsewhere, despite spatiotemporal barriers.
I can be in a factory even if I am not there (...) so that we have the same physical feeling of the presence of the other
”, declared Alex Kipman, in charge of mixed reality at Microsoft.
Read also: The Covid crisis breathes new life into virtual reality
Users will need to equip themselves with augmented reality glasses to see their colleagues, who are identified by sensors.
They will also be able to visualize objects and images that are added as a 3D overlay to their living room or meeting room.
The platform should allow the development of tailor-made applications to work on augmented reality glasses like Microsoft's HoloLens 2 ($ 3,500), but also on the usual screens of smartphones or computers.
A competitive market
“
People think of 2020 as the year that work moved home.
But in reality, this is the year that work moved to the cloud,
”said Frank Shaw, vice president of Microsoft.
This new telework market has been at the heart of many ambitions for a year.
Microsoft is already involved with Teams, but wants to diversify its offer by relying on mixed reality.
It will thus be able to stand out from the offers of the new colossus Zoom, but also of Google.
Facebook is also working on mixed reality solutions, in connection with its Oculus branch.
But if these technologies are imagined for work, they could also make it possible to innovate in the context of entertainment: “
A travel agency could create an experience for you to visit the ruins of ancient Greece,
” suggests Frank Shaw.
A possible alternative to trips that had to be postponed by the pandemic.
