At the start, there was one metaverse but now it looks like we might have a meta-multiverse on our hands with Microsoft’s (MSFT) recent plans. At the company’s annual product launch conference, it announced new functionality for its Teams platform.
Microsoft’s new ‘Mesh for Teams’ service will now allow users to conduct work meetings in a VR environment through the use of 3D avatars and VR headsets or smartphones. It’s not quite like Facebook’s metaverse, which has a more of an all-in aspect of completely shifting your life to a VR environment. Mesh for Teams is more of productivity-focused VR play, or at least by the looks of Microsoft’s initial information surrounding the function. But there’s no telling what it’ll evolve into as the company releases multiple iterations over time. The first update for Mesh comes in early 2022.
Why it matters
It started with Zoom (ZOOM), then Facebook’s (FB) WorkRooms, and now Microsoft has entered the VR office space as well. The concept of metaverses seems cool but it’s unclear whether it's too ahead of its time or not — its future depends on how eager users are to climb onboard.
