Microsoft Mesh

Last updated
Microsoft Mesh
Developer(s) Microsoft
Initial release7 September 2023;15 months ago (2023-09-07)
Stable release
5.2419.17.0 / 9 December 2024;28 days ago (2024-12-09) [1]
Platform Windows
Type Mixed reality
Website www.microsoft.com/en-us/mesh   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Microsoft Mesh is a cloud-based platform for collaboration in mixed reality, offering it both as an app and as a service. Microsoft Mesh leverages Microsoft 365 to allow people in different physical locations, using different types of devices, to participate and collaborate in a shared immersive space. There are two different applications of Mesh: Immersive Spaces in Teams and custom environments that are developed with Unity and currently used with a dedicated Mesh client application.

While Microsoft makes the Hololens 2 and has partnered with most major PC manufacturers like HP to build Windows Mixed Reality VR headsets, Microsoft Mesh is designed to be device and operating system agnostic, however, it currently supports only Windows and Meta VR headsets.

It makes use of elements of the AltspaceVR platform Microsoft acquired in 2017. [2] Mesh was first announced at Microsoft's Ignite conference in 2021. [3] Ahead of Ignite 2024, Christian Cawley wrote for TechRadar that "some might argue [that the promise of Mesh] has yet to be fully delivered. [4]

Microsoft has worked with companies such as Accenture and Takeda to test Mesh. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virtual reality</span> Computer-simulated experience

Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment, education and business. VR is one of the key technologies in the reality-virtuality continuum. As such, it is different from other digital visualization solutions, such as augmented virtuality and augmented reality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augmented reality</span> View of the real world with computer-generated supplementary features

Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated 3D content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be defined as a system that incorporates three basic features: a combination of real and virtual worlds, real-time interaction, and accurate 3D registration of virtual and real objects. The overlaid sensory information can be constructive, or destructive. As such, it is one of the key technologies in the reality-virtuality continuum.

A virtual environment is a networked application that allows a user to interact with both the computing environment and the work of other users. Email, chat, and web-based document sharing applications are all examples of virtual environments. Simply put, it is a networked common operating space. Once the fidelity of the virtual environment is such that it "creates a psychological state in which the individual perceives himself or herself as existing within the virtual environment" then the virtual environment (VE) has progressed into the realm of immersive virtual environments (IVEs).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mixed reality</span> Merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new environments

Mixed reality (MR) is a term used to describe the merging of a real-world environment and a computer-generated one. Physical and virtual objects may co-exist in mixed reality environments and interact in real time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metaverse</span> Collective three-dimensional virtual shared space

The metaverse is a loosely defined term referring to virtual worlds in which users represented by avatars interact, usually in 3D and focused on social and economic connection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immersion (virtual reality)</span> Perception of being physically present in a non-physical world

In virtual reality (VR), immersion is the perception of being physically present in a non-physical world. The perception is created by surrounding the user of the VR system in images, sound or other stimuli that provide an engrossing total environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oculus Rift</span> Virtual reality headsets by Oculus VR

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Cardboard</span> Discontinued virtual reality platform

Google Cardboard is a discontinued virtual reality (VR) platform developed by Google. Named for its fold-out cardboard viewer into which a smartphone is inserted, the platform was intended as a low-cost system to encourage interest and development in VR applications. Users can either build their own viewer from simple, low-cost components using specifications published by Google, or purchase a pre-manufactured one. To use the platform, users run Cardboard-compatible mobile apps on their phone, place it into the back of the viewer, and view content through the lenses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samsung Gear VR</span> Virtual reality headset by Samsung

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windows Mixed Reality</span> Mixed reality platform

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microsoft HoloLens</span> Mixed reality smartglasses

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virtual reality headset</span> Head-mounted device that provides virtual reality for the wearer

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OpenXR is an open-source, royalty-free standard for access to virtual reality and augmented reality platforms and devices. It is developed by a working group managed by the Khronos Group consortium. OpenXR was announced by the Khronos Group on February 27, 2017, during GDC 2017. A provisional version of the standard was released on March 18, 2019, to enable developers and implementers to provide feedback on it. On July 29, 2019, OpenXR 1.0 was released to the public by Khronos Group at SIGGRAPH 2019 and on April 15, 2024, OpenXR 1.1 was released by Khronos.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oculus Go</span> Untethered virtual reality headset by Oculus VR

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meta Quest Pro</span> Virtual reality headset

The Meta Quest Pro is a mixed reality (MR) headset developed by Reality Labs, a division of Meta Platforms.

Meta Horizon OS, previously known informally as Meta Quest Platform or Meta Quest OS, is an Android-based extended reality operating system for the Meta Quest line of devices released by Meta Platforms. Initially developed for the embedded operating system on the Oculus Rift and Oculus Rift S, the platform has been based on the Android operating system since the release of the Oculus Go in 2018. It first supported augmented reality via grayscale camera passthrough upon the release of the Oculus Quest in 2019, and has supported color passthrough since the release of the Meta Quest Pro in 2022.

References

  1. "Microsoft Mesh". Microsoft Apps. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
  2. "Microsoft Mesh feels like the virtual future of Microsoft Teams meetings". The Verge. 2 March 2021.
  3. Sag, Anshel. "Microsoft's Mesh Platform For Mixed Reality Puts Microsoft At The Forefront Of XR Collaboration". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
  4. Cawley, Christian (2024-11-18). "5 Microsoft Ignite showstopper announcements from years gone by". TechRadar. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  5. "Microsoft Mesh is a virtual meeting platform on Teams". Engadget. 2024-01-25. Retrieved 2024-04-06.