Microsoft will bring its mixed reality platform Mesh with 3D avatars and VR support to Teams in the first half of 2022
Microsoft and Meta are on a collision course for metaverse competition — Microsoft is entering the race to build a metaverse inside Teams, just days after Facebook rebranded …
The Verge Tom Warren
Context & Ripple Effects
Mesh began as an Azure-based mixed-reality platform for virtual rooms and devices such as HoloLens 2. Bringing it into Teams shifts the effort from a standalone technical platform toward an existing workplace collaboration surface.
The later Teams–Workplace integration plan shows Microsoft and Meta were also building interoperability between their workplace products, even as each pursued a more central role in digital collaboration.
First-order effects
- Microsoft gives Teams customers a planned path to use Mesh avatars and VR features inside the collaboration product they already use, rather than treating mixed reality as a separate Mesh experience.
- Mesh becomes more tightly tied to Teams’ product direction, broadening its intended audience beyond the HoloLens-oriented virtual-room demo described in Mesh’s initial unveiling.
Second-order effects
- Meta must compete for workplace engagement with a Teams experience that incorporates avatars and VR, while its Workplace partnership keeps Teams connected to Meta’s enterprise social product.
- Teams’ position as the integration point raises the value of Microsoft’s Azure-backed Mesh platform for organizations evaluating which collaboration stack should host immersive meetings.
Third-order effects
- The pattern points to enterprise collaboration suites absorbing immersive interfaces as product features, rather than leaving virtual rooms as standalone destinations; Mesh’s eventual release from preview in Teams is consistent with that direction.
- Interoperability and platform competition can advance together: Microsoft and Meta can connect Teams and Workplace while still contesting where workplace identity, meetings, and immersive experiences reside.
The trend: Enterprise software vendors are turning mixed-reality platforms into extensions of established collaboration suites, competing for the primary workplace interface.
Related: Microsoft · Meta · Microsoft unveils Mesh on Azure · Microsoft launches Mesh in Teams · Microsoft and Meta integrate Teams and Workplace
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Discussion
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@satyanadella
Satya Nadella
on x
The metaverse is here, and it's not only transforming how we see the world but how we participate in it - from the factory floor to the meeting room. Take a look. https://twitter.com/...
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@dujunx
Du Jun
on x
#Microsoft x #Metaverse is happening 👀 https://www.bloomberg.com/...
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@avinash
Avinash Kaushik
on x
One of those OH MY GOD SO AMAZING and then a second later OH SH1T combination. Metaverse... PowerPoint will be there! So... Metaworse. :) https://twitter.com/...
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@chriscapossela
Chris Capossela
on x
Ignite is all about our commitment to addressing key trends and exploring breakthrough ways of connecting people, organizations and ideas. I'm inspired by our Microsoft Cloud innovation, from the metaverse to AI breakthroughs and more! #MSIgnite https://blogs.microsoft.com/ ...
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@ibogost
Ian Bogost
on x
Friends, a legless, 3D cartoon avatar of yourself inside corporate groupware isn't a metaverse. It's an office made of sad marionettes. https://www.theverge.com/...
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@maryjofoley
Mary Jo Foley
on x
Mesh for Teams is coming next year in preview. You hate turning on your camera in meetings? This might be for you: https://www.zdnet.com/... https://twitter.com/...
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@microsoft
@microsoft
on x
Mesh for Microsoft Teams is a gateway to the metaverse. 🤯 Announced today at #MSIgnite, Mesh for Teams is designed to make collaboration more engaging and fun. The first step? Joining a standard Teams meeting as a customized avatar of yourself: https://news.microsoft.com/...
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@stroughtonsmith
Steve Troughton-Smith
on x
Everybody is trying to define a metaverse before Apple swoops in, eats the entire AR consumer market, and erects the insurmountable walls of the App Store ecosystem. You just know Apple's offering will define alt metaverses out of existence — with policy & hardware limitations
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@el33th4xor
Emin Gün Sirer🔺
on x
Look, “The Metaverse” as envisioned by “big tech” is just going to be ads, ads, and ads, combined with office work. It's full on cringe, because this is all they know. The actual metaverse will be built on blockchains. https://twitter.com/...
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@carnage4life
Dare Obasanjo
on x
I love that big tech companies are now competing for who can make meetings look more like the world's most boring Fortnite session. https://www.fastcompany.com/ ...
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@anonopshispano
@anonopshispano
on x
Facebook wants to build a metaverse. Microsoft is creating something even more ambitious. Rather than ruling one metaverse, Microsoft wants its Mesh platform to be the glue that holds a multiverse of many worlds together. https://www.fastcompany.com/ ...
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@mcnees
Bobby Yaga
on x
Thanks but I'd rather just give up on technology. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
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@rleshner
Robert Leshner
on x
This is not the metaverse that I was hoping for 😱 https://twitter.com/...
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@jamespmcleod
@jamespmcleod
on x
aw yeah, finally the metaverse is good https://www.bloomberg.com/...
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@pewilliams_
Paul E Williams
on x
Damn so we will be able to email and share screen in the future? https://twitter.com/...
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@bennetttomlin
Bennett Tomlin
on x
Maybe I was wrong about the Metaverse https://twitter.com/...
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@vanvidum
Coffeemancer Vanvidum
on x
Using VR to watch a powerpoint presentation in a simulated office sounds utterly soul-deadening. https://twitter.com/...
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@resnikoff
Ned Resnikoff
on x
My understanding of the Metaverse is currently that it's like playing The Sims, if The Sims were about going to your real office and doing your actual job in real time. https://twitter.com/...
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@joserosado
Jose Rosado
on x
Metaverse is a code name for taking your job home. https://twitter.com/...
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@arrington
@arrington
on x
So they're skipping the fun part and going straight to dystopia. https://twitter.com/...
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@kchoudhu
Kamil Choudhury
on x
This is legit more appealing than whatever Facebook is trying to roll out. https://twitter.com/...
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@lenkiefer
@lenkiefer
on x
you can only escape this metaverse by entering an a numeric code but it keeps getting converted to a date https://twitter.com/...
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@microsoft365
@microsoft365
on x
Flexible work is here to stay. Connect, collaborate, create, and innovate—all in the flow of work. Learn how: https://www.microsoft.com/... #MSIgnite #HybridWork https://twitter.com/...
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@jeffteper
Jeff Teper
on x
#MSIgnite ... with tons of hybrid news across #Microsoft365 including Mesh for #MicrosoftTeams and just getting started today 🔥 https://www.microsoft.com/... https://twitter.com/...
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@brianroemmele
Brian Roemmele
on x
“Microsoft's Own Metaverse Is Coming, and It Will Have PowerPoint And A Blue Screen Crash Error Report” https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...
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@darth
@darth
on x
will the power point decks have photos of dogs https://twitter.com/...
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@carlquintanilla
Carl Quintanilla
on x
“Customers will be able to share Office files and features, like PowerPoint decks, in the virtual world.” (via @business) $MSFT https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...
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@emilychangtv
Emily Chang
on x
Microsoft's metaverse is coming and this is what it looks like. Our exclusive interview with @satyanadella — who has now made multiple trips to virtual worlds. With @dinabass https://www.bloomberg.com/...