🕶️ Microsoft to Unite AI with VR Meetings

Good morning!

This week marked the debut for journalists using Microsoft's latest metaverse platform, and the outlook is quite promising, especially for those who grew bored from the conventional two-dimensional Teams meeting…

Today’s Topics:

• 🌐 Microsoft Teams is about to go 3D with VR meetings

• 💡Unity is Revolutionizing Real-Time 3D Industry

• 🛌 This VR app is aimed at helping you sleep

Reading time: 6min

🌐 Microsoft Teams is about to go 3D with VR meetings

Microsoft is integrating its mixed reality platform, Microsoft Mesh, into Teams, bringing immersive 3D meetings to users starting January. This move aligns with the company's shift toward making Mesh more accessible to users where they work every day, like Teams. 🚀

The 3D meeting experience allows customization of virtual spaces, offering boardrooms, casual meeting spaces, and even virtual team bonding activities. 🏢🤝

Details:

• Microsoft Mesh, initially a broader platform, is now focused on 3D meetings and events within Teams 🔮.

• The move is seen as a response to the competition in the emerging space of 3D meetings, where startups and Meta (formerly Facebook) are already making strides.

• Teams users can engage in immersive experiences without VR headsets, with a 2D version available for non-VR users.

• Microsoft aims to make hybrid meetings more inclusive and connected 🌐, catering to the changing dynamics of remote and hybrid work.

• The immersive Teams experience includes spatial audio and audio zones, allowing multiple conversations without interference, mimicking natural breakout conversations.

The Future: Although the ability to chat with colleagues in this manner is innovative, Microsoft is hinting at the potential of its generative AI Copilot system to fulfill requests for crafting virtual meeting environments and objects in VR. The exact arrival date for this feature is uncertain, but it's evident that generative AI in VR is in the pipeline. 🤖

To learn more about the topic, click here.

💡Unity is Revolutionizing Real-Time 3D Industry

Unity, renowned for its gaming engine, introduces "Unity Industry," a suite of products and services revolutionizing real-time 3D experiences for industry creators. It replaces the Unity Industrial Collection, offering optimized solutions for enterprises across various sectors, including manufacturing, infrastructure, energy, and retail. 🏭🌐

Tools within Unity Industry: Unity Industry comprises five key offerings:

• Unity Enterprise: Manages complex real-time 3D projects with extended three-year long-term support (LTS) and source code access. 🏗️

• Industry Success: Exclusive support with dedicated advisors, professional training, onboarding, and rapid-response support. 🤝

• Pixyz Plugin: Allows importing of over 40 3D, CAD, and BIM file types into Unity’s real-time 3D platform. 🔄

• Unity Mars: Facilitates efficient creation of augmented reality (AR) apps with improved workflows and purpose-built authoring tools. 📲

• Unity Build Server: Enables on-premises solutions for faster project build testing, overcoming network restrictions. 🏢

Use Cases: Unity Industry's potential was showcased at the Smart City Expo World Congress. A demonstration by Yuan-Po Li featured a real-time 3D model of a building, integrating data from cameras and sensors into a high-resolution digital twin. This digital twin enables remote monitoring and interaction, transforming facility management. Applications include overseeing critical processes, virtual inspections, and data-driven decision-making, highlighting the technology's vast utility. 📊

Why it Matters: Unity Industry recognizes the value of gaming engine graphics expertise for enterprises. By offering digital twin technology, it has the potential to revolutionize various industries, enhancing collaboration, efficiency, and immersive experiences.

If you are interested in this type of technology read more about it in our latest article here.

🛌 This VR app is aimed at helping you sleep

Do you suffer from stress or have a hard time falling asleep? "Pillow" is a new mixed reality app designed for relaxation before bedtime on Quest. Created by YouTuber Lucas Rizzotto, it offers four unique experiences for users to help you unwind before nodding off. 🌙

Details:

• Sky Fishing: Fish for user-created voice messages from your ceiling in changing ponds.

• Bedtime Stories: Craft immersive choose-your-own-adventure stories and play them 🎮.

• Stargazing: Transform your ceiling into an interactive night sky with constellations and soundbaths 🌌.

• Meditations: Rhythm-based breath-tracked meditations where users create worlds with their breath.

Our take: As mixed reality becomes increasingly accessible, experimental applications like "Pillow" showcase the potential for incorporating VR into everyday experiences. While using a headset for bedtime relaxation may seem unconventional now, if proven effective, it could pave the way for wider adoption, challenging perceptions and expanding the utility of mixed reality in unexpected aspects of daily life. 💤

To learn more about the topic, click here.