Microsoft wants to make virtual meetings more immersive with 3D avatars and metaverses

• Microsoft plans to add 3D avatars that can take part in meetings on Teams.
• It also wants to build immersive spaces where people can collaborate and socialise.
• These features will start rolling out in the first half of 2022.

Companies like Google, Microsoft and Zoom have been trying to make virtual meetings more immersive now that work from home or anywhere else is permanent in many workplaces. Cisco even demoed real-time holograms of actual people for its Webex video conferencing platform. Microsoft is now getting more serious about virtual meetings with the introduction of 3D avatars and immersive spaces on Teams.

“Mesh for Microsoft Teams” will allow people in different physical locations to join collaborative and shared holographic experiences on Teams. Microsoft said its research studies revealed that people feel more present and engaged in meetings when everyone has their cameras on. But not everyone wants to do this, and this results in most of the people being replaced with a static picture or bubble with initials.

3D avatars for meetings

To solve this, Microsoft is adding 3D avatars to Teams. This way your 3D avatar will be able to take part in meetings when you don’t feel like turning the camera on. Microsoft will also take audio cues so that your face animates while you talk. It plans to make avatars more expressive by adding hand movements, head and even facial movements. This experience will be available not just through VR headsets but also on any device like smartphones and laptops.

Metaverses on Teams

Microsoft even plans on building immersive spaces - metaverses - within Teams. Mesh for Teams will initially roll out with pre-built immersive spaces for meetings and social mixers. It will also let organisations build metaverses within Teams where these avatars can “mix and mingle, collaborate on projects and experience those serendipitous encounters that spark innovation.”


There are also plans of creating this “Nth Floor” on Teams, a virtual campus used by Accenture where employees from anywhere can have coffees, presentations, parties and other events together. One feature here even lets people “bump into colleagues from around the world and have deep and meaningful conversations.”

The idea is to start with 3D avatars in meetings, and then evolve into shared experiences through these immersive spaces on Teams. The preview of Mesh for Teams will start rolling out in the first half of 2022.

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