Microsoft has announced the launch of a metaverse-inspired feature for its Teams app called Mesh. Mesh will allow users to introduce personalized avatars into digital worlds, making meetings more immersive. The platform is announced on the heels of Facebook’s pivot to become a company dedicated to the metaverse, changing its name to “Meta”.
Microsoft embraces the metaverse
Software giant Microsoft has announced that it will release a metaverse-inspired solution for its Teams app called Mesh. With Mesh, meeting users will feel more immersed as the app will introduce avatars – digital representations of the user – for applications like team calls. In addition, avatars will be able to meet and greet each other in an immersive digital world.
This new feature will be available for users of smartphones, laptops or even holographic devices. According to Jeff Teper, vice president of Microsoft, meshing is a way to:
Point out that we are in the same virtual space, we are a team, we are a group, and help reduce the formality and commitment to go up. We have seen that these tools have achieved both the objectives of helping a team to be more efficient and also of helping individuals to be more engaged.
Play catch-up
While the feature has been in development for some time now, Microsoft’s move looks like it comes right after Facebook’s recent name change to Meta. The business and social worlds are starting to promote this type of service and offer them as part of a new conception of social contact and work in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, the metaverse proposals are not new, and many blockchain projects have already featured similar autonomous worlds. One of them is a relatively obscure blockchain project called Decentraland, which started during the ICO season boom in 2017. Founded by Ariel Meilich and Esteban Ordano, the project has created a virtual world where plots of land can be purchased by individuals and businesses to establish virtual booths or other useful digital representations.
Another similar project is the sandbox. Owned by Animoca Brands (which recently received funding from Ubisoft, a leading game development company), the project also includes land and virtual assets. These assets can be created by the user and monetized as well, as the objects are automatically transformed into NFTs, thus bringing the concept of true ownership into the digital world.
What do you think of Microsoft Mesh and its virtual bet? Tell us in the comments section below.
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