Microsoft Unveils Mesh, Know How The Mixed Reality Experience Will Help Users (WATCH)

Microsoft Mesh Platform: With Microsoft Mesh-enabled applications, designers or engineers who work with 3D physical models — anything from bicycles to high-end furniture to jet engines to new sports stadiums — could appear as themselves in a shared virtual space to collaborate and iterate on holographic models, regardless of their physical location,

PIC/Microsoft (YouTube account)

New Delhi: In a bid to make virtual reality and augmented reality content more accessible and less expensive, Microsoft Corp. has unveiled software tools named Mesh to help users process actions virtually by interacting with the same set of holograms on devices at various price points and from different manufacturers,

What’s the new platform Mesh all about?

As per the information on Microsoft Corp’s website, the newly launched Mesh is a mixed-reality platform powered by Azure. With the new platform people in different physical locations can join collaboratively and share holographic experiences on many kinds of devices and from different manufacturers, ranging from Microsoft’s $3,500 HoloLens augmented reality goggles and Facebook Inc.’s Oculus and other specialized VR headsets to cell phones and computers where users can get a two-dimensional view. Also Read: Samsung Galaxy A32 Launch Date Confirmed; Here's What To Get Excited For

It allows multiple people see the same holograms from different locations, giving access to events such as concerts or company meetings where one user attends in person and the other “holoports in” from home.

 “You can be anywhere as a hologram or an avatar, and it’s not just you,” shared Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella.

“You now have not just yourself but all of your co-workers or your friends with you and you can do things together, not just with real objects, but with holograms,” as per the news agency Bloomberg.

The new platform has come to fruition the result of years of Microsoft research and development in areas ranging from hand and eye tracking and HoloLens development to creating persistent holograms and artificial intelligence models that can create expressive avatars.

Initially, the company has announced a product in this space in 2015 with HoloLens, a pricey product that has largely focused on corporate uses, like medical imaging and complex equipment repair.

What are the two apps built on the Microsoft Mesh platform?

One of the apps include a preview of the Microsoft Mesh app for HoloLens, which allows team members to remotely collaborate and is available for download. Customers can also request access to a new version of Mesh-enabled AltspaceVR, which will allow companies to hold meetings and work gatherings in virtual reality with enterprise-grade security features including secure sign-ins, session management and privacy compliance.

Who can avail maximum benefits?

It will help users to express themselves as avatars in these shared virtual experiences and over time use holoportation to project themselves as their most lifelike, photorealistic selves, the company said.

With Microsoft Mesh-enabled applications, designers or engineers who work with 3D physical models — anything from bicycles to high-end furniture to jet engines to new sports stadiums — could appear as themselves in a shared virtual space to collaborate and iterate on holographic models, regardless of their physical location, as per the article on Microsoft website.

Architects and engineers could physically walk through a holographic model of a factory floor under construction, seeing how all the pieces of equipment fit together in three dimensions, potentially avoiding costly mistakes.

Engineering or medical students learning about electric car engines or human anatomy could gather as avatars around a holographic model and remove parts of the engine or peel back muscles to see what’s underneath. Colleagues could simply get together and chat in a shared virtual space, or companies could use Microsoft Mesh-enabled apps to offer virtual all-hands meetings or trainings to employees around the world.

Even as companies are promoting AR and VR as breakthrough technologies, but it still lack traction with a wider audience.