While the Microsoft Ignite event kicked off today, the company took time to focus on its AR / VR efforts with the announcement of the Microsoft Mesh platform. The new mixed reality software works with the company’s hardware such as the HoloLens 2 and more to offer virtual experiences and finally ‘holoportation’. That all comes as Apple may launch its first AR headset as soon as this year.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly stated that he believes AR is the next big thing. And he thinks it will ‘penetrate our whole life’. Apple Glasses is expected to arrive along the way, but according to Apple, the first AR headset will be launched this year or next year.
And of course, Apple will have competition in the space of Facebook, Google, Samsung, Qualcomm, Microsoft and probably others.
Although it’s still early days for the widespread adoption of AR, Microsoft has shared a vision on how it wants to offer compelling experiences in the mixed reality space by announcing Microsoft Mesh.
In a promotional video, the company emphasizes connection, communication and collaboration with a variety of use cases from physiotherapy to business, engineering to airspace control with the caption “The future is here. And here can be anywhere. ‘
The Verge got a demo with Microsoft’s HoloLens inventor Alex Kipman, who also shared his excitement about Mesh:
Mesh is a collaborative platform with which everyone can share virtual experiences on different devices. “It was the dream of mixed reality, the idea from the beginning,” Kipman explains. “You can actually feel like you’re in the same place with someone who shares content, or you can teleport from different mixed reality devices and be with people, even when you’re not physically together.”
Initially, Mesh will provide people with virtual avatars, but Microsoft will later launch ‘holoportation’ on the platform that makes science fiction a reality with users appearing as digital versions of themselves.
Kipman talked about a mixed reality version of Microsoft Teams that enables Mesh. And the company has also partnered with Niantic to show what Microsoft Mesh can mean for games like Pokémon GO.
“While this demo is not intended for consumers, it provides an early look at the future development of software and hardware,” said John Hanke, CEO and founder of Niantic. “We just scratched the surface. We know that the years ahead must be filled with important achievements that will serve as points in AR’s journey to become a life-changing computer platform. ”
Niantic is excited to partner with Microsoft and its new Mesh platform early on, but Hanke also said he expects a world where there are multiple headsets in the market, and that there will be multiple platforms’ (via CNET), which indicates that it plans to collaborate with others such as Apple, and Facebook’s Oculus as AR / VR launches.
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