Microsoft Office Is Moving Into The Metaverse As A More Immersive Suite
Photo 179247507 © Mikhail Primakov | Dreamstime.com
The thought of using software such as Excel might bring up a visual of you seated in front of the desktop and dragging cells with your computer mouse. However, all this is primed to evolve as the world makes its transition into the multisensory metaverse, made known to the mainstream by Meta (formerly known as Facebook).
Hot on the heels of Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft has now announced that it will also forge into virtual worlds that are no longer limited by cold, hard screens.
Gaming, of course, is part of the company’s plans—with hopes to evolve the Xbox platform and its games into the 3D world—but Microsoft is taking a more practical approach than expected and primarily assuming a role of what it’s traditionally known for: creating productivity tools for more efficient work.
Bloomberg reports that apps like Microsoft Office’s PowerPoint and Excel will be involved somehow. The tech giant will adapt its go-to software products so as to develop “a more corporate version of the metaverse,” describe Bloomberg’s Dina Bass and Emily Chang.
For now, the unfamiliar idea of interacting in the metaverse—where virtual conversations could be made to feel like you’re standing in the same room—can seem daunting. Microsoft says its wish is to build practical tools with benefits that are obvious to most, like the option of getting remote support for defective products, or the ability to consult a doctor in a virtual clinic with no chance of infection.
“This pandemic has made the commercial-use cases much more mainstream, even though sometimes the consumer stuff feels like science fiction,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told Bloomberg Television.
Image via Microsoft
The company is beginning with Teams, a widely-used program propelled by the inception of the remote-work era, for its venture into the metaverse. It’s currently testing digital avatars for the video conferencing software, and these will be ready in the first half of 2022.
With the use of Microsoft’s mixed-reality technology Mesh, businesses will be able to design immersive meeting spaces and share Office documents and features, including PowerPoint decks, in the foreseeable future.
Bloomberg details that the metaverse-friendly apps would be compatible with gadgets like Microsoft’s own HoloLens and Meta’s Oculus goggles, among several others of the ilk. An upcoming Dynamics 365 Connected Spaces tool will also invite people to navigate retail and factory areas.
Users without special headgear won’t be excluded, though, as they’ll still be able to access shared content in 2D.
[via Bloomberg, images via various sources]
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