Yes, Microsoft Mesh finally made it to the M365 Roadmap. It’s entries are listed there under Microsoft Teams. So, let’s jump to see what’s in there. To see the live situation, use this URL to jump directly to the Mesh roadmap. There are some pretty big items in the list, that will help to utilize Mesh more and better.

The first one to catch the eye, is the support for Microsoft Whiteboard. This will enable us to collaborate with our whiteboard in Mesh events and very likely in Teams Immersive Spaces as well. It will work on both PC and on Meta Quest devices And it comes also with Whiteboard Copilot! We should be able to get our hands on this at November. Perhaps there is a bit of Ignite -scent in this timing?

The other items in the roadmap have been set to October, so we should have these available during the Ignite time as well. 🤔

I want to raise the first one (just recently added!) that is the Microsoft Mesh app on PC will support guests in Mesh events! This is big, as this expands Mesh from a single organization to wider audience. It will be possible to invite people outside from their organization to join Mesh events. And they can participate fully: join events, engage in discussions, and overall experience the event just like organization’s internal attendees. What’s going to come later is support for guests using Mesh app in Meta Quest devices and also the support for anonymous participants! This means we will have anonymous participants in Mesh events.. which means we can create all new kinds of experiences – from parties to B2B and B2C scenarios with Microsoft Mesh.

What makes the Whiteboard cooler, is that we will be able to use it with Meta Quest 2, 3 and Pro without using our controllers. Mesh is getting hand interactions support – I have been waiting for this one a long time! Whiteboarding will be fun, as we don’t have to use controllers! Don’t worry, you can continue to use controllers and switch between hands and controllers as you need. And of course this has major impact on what you can do in Mesh experiences and interact with objects.

Microsoft Teams Chat support is an another great feature on the list. It will gives us the ability to communicate with all participants, across all rooms, within a Mesh event . It will be possible to chat from Teams desktop directly to Mesh events and vice versa. And of course attendees in Mesh can chat too (with both PC and Meta Quest devices). And in multi-room events, this chat includes all rooms.

We will be also getting a new environment The Project Studio, that we can use in Teams Immersive Spaces and also on Mesh events. It looks like it will be a interesting, space that has been designed for synchronous teamwork and productivity for small groups to collaborate on content and use whiteboards and other tools together Yes, Whiteboard will be embedded in the space! 🤘 And thinking that, how this space can be out October if the Whiteboard support is coming out November.. 🤔 My hunch is, that these will come out quite close to each other, instead of separately.

Whiteboard is really quite essential tool for people to work together in 3D spaces, so I am happy that we will see it in a few months.

And then there are Audio Zones, that Mesh developers can implement to spaces. These spaces can define how sound and audio is traveling to and from the space. It makes possible to create areas where you can talk with each other, without others hearing you, even if they stand just outside the audio zone limit. And vice versa, you can create an area where there isn’t any surrounding noise to make a quiet space in the middle of party to allow conversations. And I would not be surprised, if it would be possible to select between on and off levels how audio can pass through the zone limit.

Then there is one more feature: host and attendee interaction visibility. It is quite close to what Multi-Room User Visualization in the Mesh What’s new does, but it expands the visualization also to attendees, not just hosts. Multi-Room User Visualization just came out, but at the moment is limited to hosts only. We need to wait until they finalize this roadmap item and roll it out October. Multi-Room User visualization is allowing hosts to see attendees who have raised their hand. Additionally, hosts can now see emojis that attendees use in other rooms.

Here are the roadmap items, in a table. You can see the the live situation (if and when updates happen) in M365 Roadmap.

FeatureRollout StartDescriptionMicrosoft Whiteboard can be added to Mesh eventNovember 2024Mesh event participants can now use Microsoft Whiteboard in Mesh 3D environments. This functionality will enable users to collaborate spatially as avatars on a 2D whiteboard present in the virtual space, available on PC and Meta Quest devices. Mesh event attendees can use inking, annotation, and other built-in tools to brainstorm, plan, and share with others on a digital canvas in real time. Copilot integration with Whiteboard helps suggest and organize ideas directly on your canvas while in Mesh.Microsoft Mesh app on PC supports guest access for eventsOctober 2024Attendees can now join Mesh events as a guest in the Microsoft Mesh app on PC. Event organizers can invite guest users outside their organization, providing an opportunity for broader collaboration and networking in Mesh events. Guests can sign in to Mesh app to join events, participate in discussions, and experience the same interactive features as internal users, all while maintaining secure access control. Guest access for events in the Mesh app on Quest and support for anonymous participants will be supported in a future update.Audio zones enable Mesh creators to craft custom audio experiencesOctober 2024Spatial audio in Mesh provides a realistic recreation of how sound moves in the real world, with the volume of people speaking or media playing getting lower of as you move away from the source of the sound. The introduction of audio zones enables creators to craft custom audio experiences for the intended use of a space with features such as extended audio drop off distances for conversations that happen in a large area, or restricting what audio can enter a given area, to allow smaller groups to have lively conversations without disrupting their neighbors.Host and attendee interaction visibility for multi-room Mesh eventsOctober 2024Mesh event attendees can now see raised hands and reactions from attendees in other rooms during large, multi-room Mesh events. This creates a greater sense of audience feedback as a whole across all rooms in a Mesh event and increases total audience engagement.Teams chat support in Mesh eventsOctober 2024Participants in Mesh events on PC and Mac can use Teams chat to communicate with all participants, across all rooms, within a Mesh event. Users can do this in the Microsoft Mesh PC app, the Mesh app in Teams, as well as in the chat message list of the Teams app.Microsoft Mesh app on Meta Quest headsets supports hand interactionsOctober 2024Microsoft Mesh app users on Meta Quest 2, 3, and Pro headsets can now use their hands to use the app, move around in event environments, and interact with objects. Motion controllers continue to be supported, and users can switch between using controllers or their hands while using the app.New collaborative Project Studio environment in Microsoft MeshOctober 2024The Project Studio environment is a new space for immersive meetings and Mesh events. This space has been designed for synchronous teamwork and productivity for small groups to collaborate on content and use whiteboards and other tools together in the virtual environment.

Published by Vesa Nopanen

Vesa “Vesku” Nopanen, Principal Consultant and Microsoft MVP (M365 and AI Platform) working on Future Work at Sulava.

I work, blog and speak about Future Work : AI, Microsoft 365, Copilot, Microsoft Mesh, Metaverse, and other services & platforms in the cloud connecting digital and physical and people together.

I have about 30 years of experience in IT business on multiple industries, domains, and roles.
View all posts by Vesa Nopanen



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