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    11 Metaverse Use cases and Benefits in 2024

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    11 Metaverse Use cases and Benefits in 2024


    As exponential technologies continue to converge, visions of a fully immersive virtual world called the Metaverse have captured the imagination of innovators and businesses alike. From fiction becoming reality through innovations like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and artificial intelligence (AI), the Metaverse promises to fundamentally reshape how we learn, work, play, and live by blurring the lines between physical and digital worlds. This blog will explain various benefits and use cases of the metaverse. 

    The Metaverse refers to a future state of the Internet where physical and digital worlds converge entirely through emerging technologies. It envisions a fully immersive 3D virtual universe populated by our avatars. They act and interact just like we do in the physical world. In the Metaverse, we will shop, attend parties and meetings, explore places and spaces, watch movies, and play games. We essentially live our whole virtual lives alongside our physical ones. And we’ll do this through augmented and virtual reality interfaces that make everything feel real. The Metaverse also promises a merging of realities that enables new levels of human connection, creativity, and productivity. It is free from the limitations of time, distance, and even physical bodies. 

    The Metaverse presents companies with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reimagine how they relate to customers in this new 3D virtual reality. Entire business models built around physical interaction and real-world presence will be upended as people spend more time in virtual spaces. Companies understand how to leverage the Metaverse’s potential for immersion, interactivity, and persistence. These companies will gain huge advantages over those that remain hesitant or ignore it altogether. 

    Every aspect of a firm’s value chain from marketing to sales, customer service to collaboration will be revolutionized. This will be achieved as the Metaverse makes experiences the new currency of business success. But responsibly navigating this transformation will be key. Businesses must also learn to operate with empathy in virtual environments that mirror. It also magnifies issues of privacy, inequality, and opacity in the physical world. Those able to harness the Metaverse’s powers for good will emerge as the winning organizations of the future.

    The metaverse has emerged as a transformative concept with immense potential across various industries. By blending physical and digital realities, the metaverse offers a virtual landscape where individuals can interact, collaborate, and explore immersive experiences.

    Beyond its applications in gaming and entertainment, the metaverse is increasingly being adopted by diverse sectors to revolutionize their operations and create new opportunities. Here are some potential Metaverse use cases in various industries:

    1. Gaming

    Gaming companies are leading the way in building immersive Metaverse-like virtual worlds. The Metaverse promises to evolve gaming by enabling seamless continuity between titles through avatars and virtual item ownership. It helps blur the lines between individual games and create a unified virtual gaming experience. For gamers, this also represents truly digital life where every game is simply a new universe to explore.

    2. Travel and Tourism

    The Metaverse represents a huge opportunity for the travel industry to offer immersive virtual experiences that go beyond traditional photos and videos. Travel agencies can leverage 3D recreations of destinations for potential visitors to tour virtually through their avatars. Tourists can also use augmented reality applications during actual trips for hyper-realistic, enhanced experiences. Ultimately, the Metaverse also promises to make travel marketing more interactive and virtual trips more memorable.

    3. Education and Learning

    The Metaverse has immense potential to revolutionize education by making learning more interactive and immersive through virtual classrooms, 3D simulations, and interactions with avatar teachers. Students will be able to attend lessons anytime, anywhere, and interact with simulated environments that bring concepts to life. The Metaverse also promises to transform education into a truly digital experience that frees it from the constraints of physical locations.

    4. Remote working

    The Metaverse presents an enormous opportunity to reimagine how people work remotely. Office workers of the future may meet with colleagues as avatars in virtual meeting rooms and collaborate on 3D projects together. They can also access virtual versions of physical workspaces. If done right, the Metaverse also has the potential to make remote teams feel more present, connected, and productive. This will be done with a fully immersive virtual format that transcends the limitations of today’s 2D video conferencing.

    5. Real estate

    The Metaverse represents huge potential for the real estate industry by providing immersive virtual experiences that complement physical spaces. Property buyers could tour virtual recreations of homes before visiting in person to gain a realistic sense of different options. Real estate agents could utilize avatar representatives to give potential clients virtual walkthroughs of listings. Ultimately, the Metaverse may also transform how people visualize, interact with, and buy physical real estate in the years ahead.

    6. Healthcare

    The Metaverse holds immense promise to revolutionize how healthcare is delivered and received through virtual technologies. Doctors could conduct remote consultations, perform surgeries using VR/AR, and provide virtual therapies accessed through avatars. Medical training could also be transformed through immersive simulations. If realized responsibly, the Metaverse has the potential to make healthcare more accessible, affordable, and effective. This will be achieved through virtual interactions that transcend the barriers of physical location.

    7. Banking and Finance

    The Metaverse could upend traditional banking models through innovative applications. These include virtual bank branches staffed by AI avatars, cryptocurrency wallets linked to users’ digital identities, and immersive financial literacy programs. It will make learning fun through games and simulations. Banks that embrace these possibilities first stand to reshape the customer experience and unlock new paths for growth.

    8. Social media and entertainment

    The Metaverse will transform social media and entertainment by enabling users to interact in unprecedented ways through their digital avatars. Creators will be able to build entire virtual worlds branded around their personalities. Fans will be able to participate in immersive concerts and experiences, collect virtual merch, and interact directly with their favorite celebrities and influencers. The Metaverse promises to take fan engagement and immersion to an entirely new level.

    9. Retail and E-commerce

    Metaverse technology is reshaping the retail and e-commerce landscape by creating virtual stores, marketplaces, and shopping experiences. Customers can browse and purchase virtual products, try on virtual clothing, and even create virtual avatars that reflect their style. This immersive shopping experience enhances convenience, personalization, and engagement for consumers.

    10. Workplace Collaboration

    The metaverse provides virtual workspaces that foster remote collaboration and teamwork. Companies can conduct virtual meetings, host interactive presentations, and collaborate on projects in real-time. This use case breaks down geographical barriers, promotes productivity, and creates dynamic work environments.

    11. Art and Creative Industries

    For artists and creators, the metaverse offers a canvas for showcasing their work and engaging with audiences in unique ways. Artists can exhibit virtual galleries, collaborate on immersive digital artworks, and offer virtual art experiences. This use case expands the boundaries of creativity, enables new art forms, and connects artists with global audiences. It is the most advanced metaverse used in real life.

    The metaverse is a transformative force that holds incredible potential across diverse industries. From gaming and entertainment to education, healthcare, retail, and beyond, the metaverse is reshaping how we interact, learn, work, and experience digital environments. These all metaverse use cases represent just a glimpse of the possibilities that the metaverse offers, and as technology continues to advance, we can expect even more innovative applications in the future. Embrace the metaverse revolution and get ready to explore a new dimension of possibilities.

    The Metaverse offers a multitude of benefits for businesses, revolutionizing the way they operate and interact with customers. Here are some key advantages of metaverse for businesses:

    1. Engaged users

    One of the most significant Metaverse benefits for businesses will be the ability to fully capture users’ attention through complete sensory immersion. Within virtual worlds, customers will be able to touch, feel, and manipulate products in realistic 3D form.

    They can interact naturally with virtual brand representatives and attend engaging events hosted by companies. Studies show people retain 95% of experiences compared to just 10% of passive content. As a result, businesses can translate their real-world offerings into immersive and interactive experiences within the Metaverse. It will gain devoted customers with unprecedented levels of brand loyalty, advocacy, and spending potential.

    2. Virtual event opportunities

    Metaverse applications for businesses will be the ability to host large-scale immersive virtual events that drastically improve attendee engagement. Unlike traditional webinars and virtual conferences, Metaverse events can transport participants to innovative digital environments. They can also mingle with realistic avatars, visit interactive exhibition booths, attend sessions in virtual auditoriums, and explore content together. 

    This level of immersion and social presence promises to generate much higher rates of attendee attention, participation, knowledge retention, and network-building. As a result, businesses can harness the Metaverse’s strengths to reimagine how they connect with audiences through virtual events. It will also gain an enduring competitive advantage in the form of deeper relationships with customers, partners, and employees.

    3. Sell and showcase products

    The Metaverse offers huge potential for businesses to sell and showcase products in immersive virtual spaces. Companies can create virtual storefronts within Metaverse platforms where potential customers navigate aisles and interact with product demonstrations using their avatars. This also allows consumers a more sensory-rich virtual shopping experience that closely mimics real life, potentially driving higher engagement, conversion rates, and sales. 

    The Metaverse may also enable businesses to test unbuilt products before investing in physical prototypes through realistic virtual replicas. It will help showcase the power of truly immersive commerce that transcends the limitations of e-commerce websites to bring the physical. It will also make the digital shopping experience closer together than ever before.

    4. Innovative advertising

    One of the greatest Metaverse benefits for businesses will be the ability to create immersive and interactive advertising experiences that command users’ undivided attention. Brands will be able to embed themselves into virtual worlds through interactive ads, sponsored virtual spaces, 3D brand logos, and virtual brand ambassadors. This promise of spatial, real-time, and highly contextualized advertising represents a dramatic shift from the interruptive banner ads of today’s 2D internet. 

    5. Easy transactions

    The Metaverse has the potential to revolutionize how businesses transact with customers by making payments simplified and seamless. Users will be able to make purchases directly from within Metaverse platforms using virtual wallets, bypassing the need for traditional payment gateways. This simplified transaction process has the potential to significantly reduce payment friction and boost conversion rates. 

    The underlying crypto technologies powering Metaverse economies will also enable new forms of micropayments for virtual goods and services. Together, these easier transactions have the power to unlock novel monetization opportunities for businesses as the spatial virtual economy of the Metaverse grows increasingly sophisticated and seamless.

    Join us in shaping the future of digital experiences. Together, we can unlock the full potential of the metaverse and create innovative solutions that revolutionize industries and enhance human interaction.

    Vegavid Metaverse development company services

    The promising use cases highlighted in this article like education, collaboration, gaming, and more will continue to evolve and see increased adoption next year. As metaverse platforms and technologies advance further, the experiences will start feeling closer and closer to reality across different devices. This will drive even greater engagement with these virtual worlds for both work and play. Standards and the ability to transition between platforms seamlessly will also improve, allowing our avatars and digital items to move more fluidly. With enhancements in edge computing, interactions will feel instantaneous with minimal lag.

    Integration of artificial intelligence into the metaverse will help augment and enhance our experiences. More industries beyond just tech and gaming will experiment with extended reality for their operations as well. The immersive web will also help connect these virtual spaces more seamlessly.

    By 2024, the metaverse should start transforming how entire enterprises conduct business and how communities interact on a global scale. With rising immersion in these collaborative 3D digital worlds, our idea of communication and collaboration is poised to evolve significantly. While challenges remain around aspects like safety, governance, and accessibility – the building blocks are being put in place for the metaverse to make an even bigger impact in the year ahead. Exciting times ahead as we explore new possibilities in the virtual realms!

    Conclusion

    The Metaverse promises a radical transformation of how people work, learn, socialize, and consume. For businesses, it represents an opportunity to move beyond interruptive 2D marketing and transactional customer relationships into a new realm of interactive storytelling, experiential brand building, and total sensory immersion. By translating their offerings into compelling narratives within immersive virtual worlds, companies that enter the Metaverse early stand to gain devoted brand loyalists and advocates. The Metaverse also promises to usher in a new golden age of innovation as businesses and consumers alike explore what it truly means to bring the virtual and physical worlds together in harmonious and humanity-enriching ways.



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    Microsoft Teams team updates: General channel

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    Microsoft Teams team updates: General channel


    All Microsoft Teams teams have the General-channel. That’s what it has been since Teams emerged. But it is not the case anymore. Recently we entered the new era, where we don’t have to have a channel named General anymore. This change is impacting everyone who is creating new Teams teams, so you want to share the word and keep your peers up to date. On top, if you have thought you want to change the name of General channel to something else – that is possible too. Take a look at this step-by-step post.

    During year, it hasn’t been once or twice when I have been asked how to change General-channel name to something else. Yes, there are lots of situations where it doesn’t make sense to have a generic name – perhaps we just want to name it to be more descriptive. The change is simple to do, but there is a caveat: once you change General-channel’s name to something else you can not rename it back to General!

    Navigate to the team and right-click on General-channel or click on … more option -menu.

    Then choose Rename channel from the menu

    You will get a warning, that you can not change it back to General anymore.

    Just overwrite the channel name and press save.

    After a short wait you can see the name of channel has been changed, and there isn’t General channel anymore. All your channel posts, files, tabs and settings are as before. This rename doesn’t do anything else but changes the name of the channel and name of the folder connected to the channel.

    The channel is still team’s first channel. It may not be deleted nor archived. It is treated the same General-channel.

    Looking at SharePoint team site, you can see that the General-channel’s name change also changed its folder in team’s Document Library.

    There are no known limits how many times General-channel can be renamed. The only limit is that it may not be changed back to General anymore.

    You notice a change also in when you are creating a new team. As a side-step: did you notice that both team and channel creation can be found on the top-right corner of the pane where teams are listed?

    The change in team creation is, that now you must give the first channel a name.

    This can catch some people off guard, as you need to think what the first channel’s name will be.

    Instead of General-channel, it is called the first channel. Now, if you think you just give it a name General.. Think again. You won’t be able to name it General.

    Name General seems to be reserved in all languages. For example when I switched my Teams to Finnish, I can’t create channel named General. It just tells that the name is reserved and to try another name.

    What I could do, is to create a channel named Yleinen. That was General channel’s name in Finnish and I can go on and keep using that name for new teams if I so want to do. Let’s create a new team and name it’s first channel to Blog ideas and schedules to tell more about what that first channel will be used for. Note that you can’t make the first channel shared nor private. In the core it is still the same General-channel, but now you can specify a new name to it.

    And after a bit of wait and adding other members, you can see your new team.

    And I can go on normally from this point forward. Including changing it’s name to something else.

    There is a one more thing to know: The channel’s folder created to SharePoint team site, is still General!

    This may be a bug, so I would not be surprised if this would change to first channel’s name in the future. Currently it can cause a bit of confusion when trying to locate the folder in the DocLib.

    To fix the folder name, just rename the first channel to something else and them back to the original channel name. Then the first channel’s folder is named correctly.

    This is a great update, as not all teams need the general channel. It was possible to hide General-channel before this, but this change is nice step in making teams more flexible and meet more needs organizations and people have. It has good benefits, like when you pin the channel, you see team and channel name work together better. Instead of having General stated in larger letters, the channels purpose is more clear.

    In this snip, Blog posts in Marketing is a the first channel in the team, aka old General channel. Another good way to make it easier to tell teams apart from each other is to use a team picture – it was not done to this example.

    When you are using @mention in the channel, you can use channel’s name as expected.

    Notifications show the channel name and thus give you a better context for the message.

    When @mentioning the old fashioned General-channel, we need to check team’s name before knowing the context.

    The change is not huge, but it does impact both teams and users. People creating new teams need to think about the first channel’s name. But as needs change – or perhaps the first name was just a placeholder – rename can save the day.

    How do you feel about this change? Thumbs up or down?

    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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    Introduction to Metaverse Gaming in 2024

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    Metaverse Fashion Week Online
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    Introduction to Metaverse Gaming in 2024


    The metaverse is a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection. In futurism and science fiction, the term “metaverse” describes a fully immersive virtual world where people can interact with each other and digital objects while operating virtual representations of themselves, known as avatars.

    The metaverse aims to incorporate aspects of social media, online gaming, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and cryptocurrencies to allow users to interact virtually. The metaverse is accessed via the internet, letting users engage across virtual worlds.

    Some key components of the metaverse include:

    Virtual reality (VR) – Fully immersive digital environments users can explore and interact with using VR headsets. This allows for lifelike experiences and simulations.Augmented reality (AR) – Overlaying of digital information and objects onto the physical, real-world environment via smartphones and AR glasses. Pokemon Go is an example of AR.Avatars – Digital representations of users that allow them to explore the metaverse, play games, and interact with others.Digital assets – Items like virtual clothing, skins, artwork, music, and more that users can purchase and trade inside virtual worlds. These often use cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.Persistent virtual worlds – Metaverse environments that continue to exist and evolve over time, with or without any one user being logged in. This gives metaverse worlds a feeling of permanence.

    The metaverse aims to evolve the internet from 2D web pages and apps to persistent 3D virtual worlds and experiences. Proponents argue the metaverse will transform everything from play to work in the coming decades.

    History and Evolution of Metaverse

    The idea of a virtual shared space has long captured the imagination of science fiction writers and futurists. The term “metaverse” was coined by author Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel Snow Crash, which envisioned a virtual reality-based successor to the internet.

    In Snow Crash, people interacted as avatars in a 3D virtual world that contained buildings, vehicles, and other environments. This vision of an immersive, persistent virtual space laid the groundwork for current notions of the metaverse.

    Other influential fictional depictions include the virtual world of “The Matrix” films, the OASIS in Ernest Cline’s novel Ready Player One, and the VR realms of William Gibson’s Sprawl trilogy. These science fiction works explored philosophical questions around the virtual vs. physical world and envisioned expansive virtual spaces where people could live, work, and play.

    While fiction writers dreamed of metaverse-like environments, the technology to create them developed in parallel. Key innovations that set the stage for today’s metaverse include:

    The creation of the internet, which enabled people across distances to connect and share information.Advancements in virtual and augmented reality hardware, such as Oculus Rift and Microsoft HoloLens. These devices allow for immersive visual experiences.The rise of massively multiplayer online games like Second Life and World of Warcraft, which demonstrated the potential for large shared virtual spaces.The development of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Decentralized blockchain networks allow value and assets to be exchanged securely in a virtual realm.Improvements in 3D graphics, simulation, and physics engines used in video games and CGI films to create detailed virtual worlds.Growth of high-speed networks and cloud computing infrastructure to support complex virtual environments.

    While early virtual worlds were limited by technology, improvements over decades have brought the metaverse vision closer to reality. Today’s metaverse efforts build on those pioneering foundations.

    The metaverse is rapidly evolving thanks to major investments and advancements by some of the world’s largest tech companies. Meta (previously Facebook) has been one of the most aggressive in pushing metaverse development, investing billions into its Reality Labs division for AR and VR technology. In 2021, Meta launched Horizon Worlds, a social VR platform where users can explore virtual worlds. Microsoft also unveiled its own metaverse platform called Mesh in 2021, which allows people to have shared holographic experiences through mixed reality headsets.

    Some popular existing metaverse platforms include:

    Decentraland – A blockchain-based virtual world where users can buy land, build environments, and create unique avatars. Decentraland launched in 2020 and has seen significant growth and investment.The Sandbox – A decentralized gaming metaverse that allows users to build voxel game worlds and assets stored as NFTs on the blockchain. Brands like Adidas and Atari have partnered with The Sandbox.Roblox – A popular game creation platform with millions of users. While not a full metaverse yet, Roblox contains many metaverse-like elements of user-generated worlds.

    Major companies like Microsoft, Meta, Epic Games, and Nvidia are all developing metaverse hardware and software tools to enable next-generation immersive experiences. The stage is being set for mass consumer adoption of metaverse technology in the coming years.

    The metaverse offers some exciting potential benefits and use cases that are driving adoption. Here are some of the key ones:

    Immersive Social Connections and Remote Collaboration

    The metaverse enables more immersive social connections and collaboration compared to traditional 2D online interactions. People can have meaningful social engagements through their digital avatars in a shared virtual space. This allows for richer nonverbal communication and makes online gatherings feel more real.

    Remote teams can also benefit from metaverse collaboration tools. Instead of traditional video calls, teams can brainstorm ideas and collaborate on virtual whiteboards as if they were in the same physical room. The metaverse provides a sense of proximity that improves teamwork and collaboration.

    Virtual Shopping, Events, and Travel

    Brands and retailers are exploring opportunities for virtual shopping in metaverse environments. Customers can browse digital storefronts, view 3D product models from all angles, and try on digital clothing. Virtual real estate also enables companies to establish a presence and connect with consumers. Events like concerts, conferences, and sports games are being held in metaverse spaces.

    Virtual travel offers an alternative to physical trips. People can explore digitally recreated destinations and attractions through their avatars. This provides access to experiences that might be inaccessible or too expensive in the physical world. Virtual tourism has expanded during the pandemic but will continue playing a role in the metaverse.

    Training and Education Through Simulation

    The metaverse unlocks new possibilities for training and education through simulation. Dangerous or expensive real-world training environments can be replicated digitally for safe and cost-effective learning. Medical students can practice procedures, pilots can train in flight simulators, and firefighters can run through emergency scenarios. Beyond training, virtual classrooms and collaboration spaces can enhance traditional learning.

    The evolution of gaming from simple 2D arcade games to fully immersive 3D virtual worlds has paved the way for metaverse gaming. Early multi-user domains like Second Life provided a glimpse into shared virtual spaces, while recent advances in virtual and augmented reality hardware have enabled more complex metaverse experiences.

    There are several types of metaverse games emerging:

    VR-based games – These require a VR headset to experience 3D environments. Popular examples include Rec Room and VRChat which allow users to explore, socialize, and play mini games together.Blockchain games – These use blockchain technology to introduce true digital asset ownership and economies. In blockchain games like The Sandbox, players can buy virtual land and create and monetize gaming experiences.Hybrid games – These combine elements of conventional PC/console gaming with metaverse features like digital identities, virtual economies, and social interactivity. An example is Fortnite with its live events and avatar skins.

    Major platforms for accessing metaverse games include:

    Decentraland – An open virtual world where users can play games, build experiences, and monetize creations.Roblox – A popular game creation platform with millions of user-generated 3D multiplayer games across genres.Core – A platform for creating and playing blockchain games with true digital asset ownership.

    As immersive technologies and game design evolve, metaverse gaming offers new frontiers in social, interactive, and hyper-realistic gaming experiences.

    Opportunities for Game Developers

    The emergence of the metaverse creates exciting new opportunities for game developers and studios. Here are some of the key potential benefits:

    Ability to create highly immersive and interactive games

    The metaverse represents the next evolution of immersive gaming. By integrating VR/AR technologies, metaverse games can offer unparalleled realism and interactivity. Players can fully immerse themselves in expansive virtual worlds and interact naturally with environments and other players. This leads to more engaging and addictive gameplay.

    New revenue models like in-game assets, NFTs, etc.

    The metaverse also opens up new revenue streams for game developers. They can now create unique in-game assets like skins, accessories or even land/real estate and sell them to players as NFTs. Players can truly own these digital assets and trade them on NFT marketplaces. This creates a whole player-driven economy within games.

    Lower barriers to develop and distribute games

    Building and distributing games in the open metaverse has lower barriers than traditional app stores. This allows more indie developers and studios to publish their games easily to a large audience. The open standards and interoperability also means games can be played across various metaverse platforms and hardware.

    Overall, the metaverse unlocks an exciting new frontier for game creators to build immersive, interactive and economically viable games. It will be fascinating to see what innovative gaming experiences emerge as the metaverse evolves.

    The metaverse presents some unique challenges for game developers looking to create immersive virtual worlds.

    Achieving Scalability with Complex Graphics and Simulations

    One of the biggest technical hurdles is achieving scalability with the complex 3D environments and physics simulations needed to create a believable metaverse experience. The computational power and bandwidth required for thousands or millions of concurrent users to interact in a shared virtual space is significant. As user expectations grow for more realistic graphics, animations, physics, and interactions, it will require optimizations in areas like cloud computing, edge networks, and graphics rendering.

    Preventing Toxicity in Virtual Worlds

    The social nature of metaverse worlds also introduces challenges around preventing toxic behavior like bullying, harassment, hate speech, etc. Game developers need effective content moderation and governance systems to maintain positive communities. Some approaches could include proactive monitoring tools, robust reporting systems, swift consequences, and designing the virtual environment itself to discourage toxicity. There are also risks around radicalization if social spaces are unmoderated.

    Regulatory Uncertainty

    There is also uncertainty around future regulation of areas like digital assets, data privacy, content policies, and monopolization as the metaverse takes shape. New oversight and laws adapted to the unique nature of virtual worlds will likely emerge. Until then, it’s unclear how issues around taxation, data collection, identity verification, and corporate accountability will play out. Game developers will need to monitor regulatory developments closely to stay compliant.

    The metaverse has opened up new possibilities for innovative and immersive gaming experiences. Here are some of the most notable metaverse games across different categories:

    Sandbox Games

    Decentraland – This is a virtual world where players can buy land as NFTs, build anything they want, and monetize their creations. Key features include a marketplace, custom avatars, and a robust developer community.The Sandbox – Also a virtual world where players own land and assets. They can build 3D voxel models and create games without coding. It uses the SAND cryptocurrency and has partnered with brands like Snoop Dogg.

    Virtual Reality Games

    Population: One – A multiplayer VR shooter game with battle royale mechanics. Key features are free locomotion, character customization, and large map areas.Echo VR – A multiplayer VR game set in zero gravity. Players coordinate with their team to maneuver a disc into a goal. It requires strategic movement and communication.

    Blockchain Games

    Axie Infinity – Players collect, breed, raise, and battle creatures called Axies. The game popularized the play-to-earn model through NFTs and cryptocurrency.Gods Unchained – A digital trading card game on blockchain similar to Magic: The Gathering. Cards are NFTs that can be traded or sold. It has a competitive ranking system.

    The metaverse has expanded gaming into new frontiers by integrating VR, blockchain, digital ownership, and user-generated content. As the technology matures further, metaverse games will unlock more immersive social gaming experiences.

    The future outlook for metaverse gaming is very promising, with massive potential for growth and innovation on the horizon. A key driver of this growth will be the increasing adoption of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies. As these immersive technologies become more mainstream and affordable, more consumers will be equipped to fully experience metaverse games.

    This growing user base will also drive the emergence of new metaverse game genres and gameplay mechanisms that take advantage of VR/AR capabilities. For example, we may see new hybrid genres that combine aspects of first-person shooters, real-time strategy, and multiplayer online battle arenas within a virtual environment. The interactive nature of VR/AR also opens up possibilities for new game mechanics based on full-body motion controls and environmental interactions.

    AI and cloud technologies will also play a major role in shaping the future of metaverse gaming. AI can enable more responsive, adaptive and realistic NPCs to create a more dynamic experience. The scalability of cloud computing can support the demands of complex virtual worlds with countless simultaneous players. And machine learning has the potential to customize and tailor metaverse game experiences to individual players over time.

    Overall, metaverse gaming has an exciting road ahead as these technological innovations converge to provide engaging, social and interactive game experiences within virtual worlds. The metaverse offers game developers vast creative possibilities, which will ultimately benefit players who want deeper immersion and connection from games. The stage is set for metaverse gaming to achieve significant growth and adoption in the coming years.

    Conclusion

    The metaverse presents both exciting opportunities and daunting challenges for the future of gaming. On one hand, the ability to create fully immersive virtual worlds where users can interact and play together opens up limitless possibilities for innovative game design and collaborative play. The metaverse has the potential to take gaming to an entirely new level in terms of realism, customization, and social connection.

    However, developing for the metaverse also introduces hurdles like requiring specialized hardware, preventing toxicity in open virtual spaces, and creating sustainable economic models. Game developers aiming to break into the metaverse will need to grapple with these issues from the start.

    Overall, the metaverse seems poised to transform gaming in revolutionary ways. As the technology matures and expands over the coming years, we may see metaverse gaming become the new norm. The key will be finding the right balance between leveraging the metaverse’s capabilities and overcoming its limitations. If done well, gaming in the metaverse could take us into an exciting new frontier for interactive digital entertainment.



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    Storylink Radio plans spooky fall events in Kitely and Second Life – Hypergrid Business

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    Storylink Radio plans spooky fall events in Kitely and Second Life – Hypergrid Business


    Storylink Radio plans spooky fall events in Kitely and Second Life – Hypergrid Business
    (Image courtesy Storylink Radio.)

    This year’s Storylink Radio’s October celebration is more ambitious than ever before, organizers told Hypergrid Business.

    There will be live in-world Halloween storytelling all month long and dozens of YouTube exclusive presentations, including short Halloween tales every night on Storylink Radio’s YouTube channel.

    All the videos were filmed in virtual worlds.

    The live Halloween stories begin on Thursday, Sep. 26 and run through Nov. 2.  There are three different stories every night at 6 p.m., 7 p.m., and 9 p.m. Pacific time in-world and on YouTube.

    There will also be a special, live, Halloween Trick or Treat story, and a Dia de Los Muertos storytelling.

    “We will be presenting simultaneously at the Storylink Radio estate in Kitely and the Seanchai Library in Second Life, with a live intergrids chat connection,” StoryLink Radio owner Shandon Loring told Hypergrid Business.

    In addition, there will be exclusive Edgar Allen Poe presentations on YouTube every Monday, a Frightful Classics full-length novel every Friday, and Short-n-Spooky tales on Saturdays.

    For more details, check out the full calendar on the Storylink Radio website.

    Hypergrid Business editor and publisher Maria Korolov is a science fiction novelist. During the day, Maria Korolov is an award-winning freelance technology journalist who covers artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and enterprise virtual reality. See her Amazon author page here and follow her on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, and check out her latest videos on the Maria Korolov YouTube channel. Email her at maria@hypergridbusiness.com. Her first virtual world novella, Krim Times, made the Amazon best-seller list in its category. Her second novella, The Lost King of Krim, is out now. She is also the publisher of MetaStellar, a new online magazine of speculative fiction.
    Latest posts by Maria Korolov (see all)



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    OpenSim active users rise with cooler weather – Hypergrid Business

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    OpenSim active users rise with cooler weather – Hypergrid Business


    This time of year — in the northern hemisphere, at least — people start spending more time inside as temperatures drop and school starts.

    So it’s no surprise that the total number of active users on the public OpenSim grids is going up.

    According to their published stats report, there were 44,129 actives this up, up by 1,128 from this time a month ago.

    However, the total land area went down, by the equivalent of 738 standard regions. All of that drop — and then some — is accounted for by the fact that a single grid, CandM World, didn’t report its stats this month. Last month, it had over 1,800 regions. Today, the website just shows a security error message, so it could just be a configuration error.

    We are now tracking a total of 2,675 public grids, of which 311 are active and 244 published their statistics this month. If you have a stats page that we’re not tracking, please email me at maria@hypergridbusiness.com — that way, your grid will be mentioned in this report every month, for additional visibility with both search engines and users.

    This month, OSgrid was the largest grid by land area, with 34,103 standard region equivalents, while Wolf Territories Grid was the most active, with 6,950 unique logins over the past 30 days.

    OpenSim active users rise with cooler weather – Hypergrid Business
    OpenSim land area for Sep. 2024. (Hypergrid Business data.).

    Our stats do not include most of the grids running on DreamGrid, a free easy-to-use version OpenSim, since these tend to be private grids.

    OpenSim is a free, open-source, virtual world platform, that’s similar to Second Life and allows people with no technical skills to quickly and cheaply create virtual worlds and teleport to other virtual worlds. Those with technical skills can run OpenSim worlds on their servers for free using either DreamGrid, the official OpenSim installer for those who are more technically inclined, or any other distribution, while commercial hosting starts at less than $5 a region.

    A list of OpenSim hosting providers is here. Download the recommended Firestorm viewer here and find out where to get content for your OpenSim world or region here.

    Hypergrid Business newsletter is now available

    Every month on the 15th — right after the stats report comes out — we will be sending out a newsletter with all the OpenSim news from the previous month. You can subscribe here or fill out the form below.

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    ]]>

    Top 25 grids by active users

    When it comes to general-purpose social grids, especially closed grids, the rule of thumb is the busier the better. People looking to make new friends look for grids that already have the most users. Merchants looking to sell content will go to the grids with the most potential customers. Event organizers looking for the biggest audience — you get the idea.

    Top 25 most popular grids this month:

    Wolf Territories Grid: 6,950 active users
    OSgrid: 4,894 active users
    GBG World: 2,422 active users
    DigiWorldz: 2,143 active users
    Darkheart’s Playground: 2,018 active users
    Alternate Metaverse: 1,789 active users
    WaterSplash: 1,491 active users
    AviWorlds: 1,101 active users
    AviVerse AlterEgo: 1,024 active users
    Trianon World: 1,004 active users
    Neverworld: 953 active users
    Moonrose: 861 active users
    Littlefield: 858 active users
    Party Destination Grid: 792 active users
    Craft World: 790 active users
    Astralia: 717 active users
    AvatarLife: 638 active users
    Herederos Grid: 566 active users
    Groovy Verse: 564 active users
    SunEden Resort: 552 active users
    Great Canadian Grid: 550 active users
    Gentle Fire Grid: 496 active users
    Kitely: 495 active users
    Virtual Vista Metaverse: 456 active users
    ZetaWorlds: 437 active users

    Online marketplaces for OpenSim content

    There are currently 21,019 product listings in Kitely Market containing 41,133 product variations, 35,892 of which are exportable.

    Kitely Market has delivered orders to 630 OpenSim grids to date.

    (Data courtesy Kitely.)

    As you can see in the above chart, nearly all the growth in Kitely Market has been in content that can be exported to other grids — that is the green area on the graph. The red area, of non-exportable content, has stayed level for the past eight years.

    The Kitely Market is the largest collection of legal content available in OpenSim. It is accessible to both hypergrid-enabled and closed, private grids. The instructions for how to configure the Kitely Market for closed grids are here.

    New grids

    I didn’t add any new grids to the database this month.

    If you know of any public grid that we’re missing, please email me at maria@hypergridbusiness.com.

    Suspended grids

    The following 12 grids were suspended this month: BachmansWorld One, CatGrid, DigiGrids, German Grid, Legacy, Mathesis, Matrix, NewOffworld, Oczko, SFgrid, Steg, and Trinity’s DreamGrid/

    If they don’t reappear online again soon, they will be marked as closed in future reports.

    Sometimes, a grid changes its login URI or website address — if that’s the case, email me and let me know and I’ll update my database.

    Top 40 grids by land area

    All region counts on this list are, whenever available, in terms of standard region equivalents. Active user counts include hypergrid visitors whenever possible.

    Many school, company, or personal grids do not publish their numbers.

    The raw data for this month’s report is here. A list of all active grids is here. And here is a list of all the hypergrid-enabled grids and their hypergrid addresses, sorted by popularity. This is very useful if you are creating a hyperport.

    You can see all the historical OpenSim statistics here, including polls and surveys, dating all the way back to 2009.

    OSgrid: 34,103 regions
    Wolf Territories Grid: 29,277 regions
    Simation Grid: 25,408 regions
    Kitely: 18,320 regions
    ZetaWorlds: 13,010 regions
    Alternate Metaverse: 10,605 regions
    Groovy Verse: 8,380 regions
    Discovery Grid: 4,919 regions
    DigiWorldz: 3,526 regions
    Virtual Vista Metaverse: 3,284 regions
    Tag Grid: 1,464 regions
    Shoalwater Bay: 1,088 regions
    Friends Grid: 1,040 regions
    ArtDestiny: 961 regions
    GBG World: 960 regions
    Virtual Worlds Grid: 914 regions
    AviWorlds: 839 regions
    Craft World: 688 regions
    Kinky Haven: 677 regions
    AvatarLife: 587 regions
    Littlefield: 513 regions
    GorGrid: 428 regions
    Furry World: 373 regions
    Virtual Worlds Zone: 364 regions
    Neverworld: 332 regions
    Nemesis 3D: 305 regions
    EdMondo: 300 regions
    Darkheart’s Playground: 276 regions
    WestWorld Grid: 270 regions
    DreamNation: 264 regions
    Open Virtual Worlds: 229 regions
    MisFitz Grid: 206 regions
    Japan Open Grid: 196 regions
    Kater and Friends: 193 regions
    Counter Earth: 190 regions
    Adreans-World: 170 regions
    GerGrid: 141 regions
    XTalent: 140 regions
    Outworldz: 132 regions
    Arcadia Asylum: 123 regions

    Do you know of any other grids that are open to the public but that we don’t have in our database? Email me at maria@hypergridbusiness.com.

    Hypergrid Business editor and publisher Maria Korolov is a science fiction novelist. During the day, Maria Korolov is an award-winning freelance technology journalist who covers artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and enterprise virtual reality. See her Amazon author page here and follow her on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, and check out her latest videos on the Maria Korolov YouTube channel. Email her at maria@hypergridbusiness.com. Her first virtual world novella, Krim Times, made the Amazon best-seller list in its category. Her second novella, The Lost King of Krim, is out now. She is also the publisher of MetaStellar, a new online magazine of speculative fiction.
    Latest posts by Maria Korolov (see all)



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    How to Use Virtual Stores to Drive Holiday Shopping

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    How to Use Virtual Stores to Drive Holiday Shopping


    It’s not surprising that holiday sales account for a significant amount of retailers’ annual sales. Brands are continually searching for engaging and entertaining campaigns to capitalize on drive holiday shopping and sales. A 3D virtual store offers a new experiential shopping format and serves as a viable sales channel. With a virtual experience, brands can create an environment that is modeled off of their retail store, a creative concept store or a completely fantastical location.

    Virtual holiday stores allow brands to create completely immersive and discovery-driven experiences packed with educational content, primed for the busy gifting season. With 3D content and innovative features such as gamification and gift recommendation quizzes, brands across verticals were able to increase engagement, conversion and reach during the busiest time of year.

    Key benefits of virtual holiday stores include:

    A new and engaging virtual channel that stands out from other holiday campaigns

    Interactive and discovery-driven shopping experience that drives sales and marketing ROI

    Engaging features that connect consumers to the brand

    A one-stop shop to discover, research and purchase gifts with seamless e-commerce integration

    Lower production costs for CGI visuals compared to on-location shoots and brick-and-mortar displays

    To learn more about how immersive experiences impact holiday sales, download our e-book comparing industry benchmarks from partner Salesforce to Obsess first-party data.

    Examples of Virtual Holiday Stores

    Obsess has worked with a number of brands and retailers to create memorable holiday virtual stores and experiences. Each experience featured fantastical displays and larger-than-life decorations, while maintaining core e-commerce functionality for an immersive and enriching online shopping experience that drives virtual holiday shopping. From brands in fashion and beauty to CPG and beyond, these unique e-commerce experiences are able to immerse holiday shoppers into a virtual world unique to the brand.

    Here are 5 examples of Obsess-powered virtual holiday experiences:

    J.Crew Virtual Ski Chalet

    J Crew holiday Virtual store shopping powered by ObsessJ Crew holiday Virtual store shopping powered by Obsess

    J.Crew launched a digital après-ski retreat to delve into the brand’s essence and seasonal offerings. Full of interactive elements and holiday-inspired ambiance, the innovative ski chalet merchandised the latest men’s and women’s collection in unique ways. Users would navigate to the Snow Lodge for the newest women’s styles, and the Ski Chalet for men’s—a curated selection of seasonal looks and holiday gifts were seamlessly woven into the experience, offering a fully shoppable journey that encouraged virtual holiday shopping.

    To add an extra layer of excitement throughout the experience, the brand included dynamic animations and custom gamification that engaged shoppers and deepened consumer connections. Festive gamification included a scavenger hunt game, vintage video game-style Ski Racing Game and a branded quiz that tested shopper’s knowledge on the brand’s long and storied heritage. The scavenger hunt also unlocked a chance at an exclusive luxe cashmere giveaway, which prompted users to explore the entire store. Click to read more about the Holiday World of J.Crew.

    Corona Holiday Beach Hut

    Constellation Brand’s Corona invited new and longtime fans to Feliz Navi-Drip it like it’s hot with Snoop Dogg in their Holiday Beach Hut experience. The Mexican beer brand revitalized one of their famed holiday commercials into an immersive experience that transported visitors to the same palm tree-filled beach sunset environment. The experience amplified their holiday campaign in VR and enabled consumers to explore products and engage with the brand in new ways.

    Fans dived into the holiday spirit with interactive features throughout the experience, such as a custom arcade-style ornament collection game. In the colorful string light laden beach hut, visitors were able to watch the aforementioned commercial and hang with brand ambassador Snoop Dogg. Using AR technology, visitors were able to take a picture with Snoop and create a custom, shareable holiday card. Visitors were also given a chance to match Snoop’s iconic look if they entered the sweepstakes to win a limited-edition Talia Coles robe. Read more about the virtual experiences Obsess has created with Corona, including the Holiday Beach Hut.

    Sephora X Cosmopolitan Gifting Suite

    Sephora x Cosmopolitan Virtual Gifting Experience Powered by ObsessSephora x Cosmopolitan Virtual Gifting Experience Powered by Obsess

    Renowned Hearst publication Cosmopolitan collaborated with beauty retailer, Sephora, and released the Gifting Suite. The virtual holiday experience empowered users seeking a scent for personal indulgence or as a sophisticated gift to discover unique scent profiles for their holiday shopping needs. Redefining the fragrance content and online shopping experience, the immersive experience focused around personalized luxury and discovery.

    Lined with chic twinkly lights and festive disco ball-covered trees, the suite featured a curated selection of scents directly shoppable in the experience and thoughtfully arranged by notes. Central to the experience was a Cosmo-esque quiz, where shoppers were invited to unravel the nuances of their fragrance preferences. Click to read more about the Sephora X Cosmopolitan Gifting Suite.

    H-E-B Grocery Holiday Home

    Step into the Holiday Home of beloved Texas-based grocery chain, H-E-B. An immersive wonderland of flavors, recipes and holiday products unfolded through interactive features and cheerful animations. Adorned with festive decorations, the Texas-style home featured multiple rooms ready for the holidays. Users were greeted by virtual chef avatars that guided shoppers through classic recipes, covering appetizers, mains, sides and desserts. Each recipe pop-up was complemented by shoppable links of H-E-B products, offering a seamless buying journey that allowed users to kick-start their holiday cooking.

    The virtual experience also provided the brand with a platform to spotlight its philanthropic endeavors and rich history. An interactive scavenger hunt game engaged users through a discovery-driven educational adventure that unveiled facts about the brand and unlocked exclusive holiday deals. Read more about the virtual grocery shopping experience from H-E-B Grocery.

    Laneige Virtual World

    Korean beauty brand, Laneige, launched a dreamy virtual world that enabled shoppers to explore fan-favorite products and their brand story in a fully immersive context. The experience launched with discovery-driven games and a variety of rooms dedicated to different product lines, and enabled shoppers to interact with products in different ways, including 3D views and multimedia content around ingredients and application. The brand regularly updated the cloudscape to align with their marketing calendar, including a full seasonal refresh that reflected new offerings and product releases for the 2023 holiday season. Festive updates included limited-edition collections, new flavors of the iconic Lip Sleeping Mask and a revamp of the classic scavenger hunt game.

    “The virtual store is a powerful customer engagement tool that will allow shoppers to dive into Laneige’s unique scientific expertise and entertaining digital content, while also helping them select the right product for their skin needs, including our bestselling Water Sleeping Mask and Lip Sleeping Mask,” quoted Julien Bouzitat, Chief Marketing and Digital Officer of Laneige parent company Amorepacific U.S. Read more about the Laneige Virtual World, and it’s continued evolution.

    These examples only scratch the surface of the limitless possibilities that can go into a digital holiday experience. To find out more on how you can create your own holiday virtual experience, book a demo or email us at contact@obsessvr.com. 



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    Accessibility In The Metaverse

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    Accessibility In The Metaverse


    Why Join?

    Making the metaverse accessible is a group effort. We need representatives from across tech, academia, advocacy and more to solve it – including you!  

    We generally meet every other Friday at 9am PT / 12pm ET / 4pm UTC via Zoom.  Members can access our MSF Portal, participate in meetings, contribute to working documents, and more.  

    Joining does not come with any formal responsibilities – if you just want to receive email updates or listen in on the meetings, that’s fine. However, we hope that you will help us conduct research, reach out to stakeholders, and do your part to make the metaverse a more inclusive place!  If you’d like a one-time invite to see if the group is right for you, email us at [email protected]. 



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    Council of Europe Highlights Metaverse’s Impact on Privacy and Democracy

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    Council of Europe Highlights Metaverse’s Impact on Privacy and Democracy


    In partnership with the IEEE Standards Association, the Council of Europe has issued an extensive report assessing the potential effects of the Metaverse on human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. The report does a deep dive into those virtual opportunities and risks posed by the very immersive technologies that comprise this new frontier, stressing the importance of taking regulatory action to protect and preserve the basic virtual liberties of our global citizenry.

    The Metaverse—an immersive, persistent, and interoperable digital environment—contains opportunities for significant advancements across many sectors, including entertainment, education, healthcare, and commerce. However, some experts fear that the Metaverse could bring with it big privacy risks. Indeed, the report analyzes the potential upsides and downsides of the upcoming tech revolution and warns that user data could be at risk in immersive spaces.

    One of the main worries centres on the enormous amounts of data that could be collected. The Metaverse depends on technologies like augmented and virtual reality, which gather huge caches of personal information through wearable devices and other sensors.

    These technologies have the potential to grab not only the usual sorts of data, like demographic information, but also biometric data—such as the movements of our eyes, the expressions on our faces, and the gestures of our bodies. AR and VR can use this data to make the immersion feel seamless; but in the “what could go wrong” department, there’s so much more potential here for privacy invasion and even identity theft than in most other digital experiences.

    The report recommends sturdy privacy frameworks to safeguard users, advocating for both privacy-preserving technologies and transparent data practices. It urges clear user consent and greater user control among companies operating in the Metaverse.

    Web3: A Decentralized Future?

    The next installment of the internet—Web3—will have its own set of consequences for the Metaverse and for the people who use it, according to the report. Unlike the current internet, which is dominated by a few large platforms, Web3 will be built on decentralized blockchain technologies, which could lead to a greater ability for users to control their data and digital assets.

    In contrast to the Web 2.0 platforms that centralized tech companies control, Web 3.0 envisions a more democratic digital ecosystem where users have both ownership and governance over the platforms they inhabit. However, with this decentralization comes a big question mark over governance. Who ensures that our platforms operate effectively, efficiently, and fairly?

    Overseeing decentralized platforms is no simple task. And while these platforms seem naturally suited to operate in an unregulated space, it’s important to understand that they could just as easily become lawless as any other unregulated space. The Council of Europe advises that existing legal frameworks be adapted to the new decentralized conditions.

    Risks to Democracy and Free Expression

    The Council of Europe Metaverse report looks at how the Metaverse can fundamentally alter how people communicate and interact socially, but it’s also a potential threat to free speech and democracy. The distraction-free environments of the Metaverse can be used to good effect, allowing users to have virtual town halls and even virtual elections. However, those same environments can also be used as a blank canvas to control what is seen and heard.

    The important problem of content moderation often finds platforms turning to algorithms for assistance. However, the report points out that these algorithms “may lack the nuance to distinguish between legitimate expression and harmful content.” Moreover, users in the Metaverse can become trapped in “filter bubbles,” where they’re shown only content that aligns with their preexisting beliefs and opinions. This isn’t just a phenomenon of the virtual world but a hallmark of our current information ecosystem.

    The Council of Europe emphasizes the importance of content moderation in protecting not just the right to expression but also the principles of democracy and good governance. Any content moderation policies should not only achieve these goals but also be transparent and allow for user appeal. Our increasing immersion in digital environments makes this a vital as well as a pressing issue, especially in terms of how persuasive and undetectable false narratives can be.

    Safeguarding the Rights of Children

    The Metaverse is a particularly vulnerable space for children. The recent report expresses strong concerns about the inability of current systems to provide meaningful age checks and the exposure of children to spaces that could be dangerous.

    The European Council demands wants more stringent rules on age-appropriate design and robust age verification systems. It wants the platforms used by our children to converge toward a meaningful level of safety. It also wants us to converge toward an acceptable level of understanding of the augmented and mixed realities our children will experience.

    Governance and the Rule of Law

    Ensuring proper governance of the Metaverse is no easy task. It is a virtual world operating across real-world borders and raises fundamental questions of jurisdiction, enforcement, and accountability. These are age-old problems of virtuality that our recent online tools have not resolved. Indeed, traditional legal frameworks are likely ill-suited to handle decentralized and borderless virtual environments—especially when it comes to addressing the real crimes that occur in these virtual worlds.

    The report highlights the necessity of global teamwork in fashioning the new legal structures that will have to govern the Metaverse. The virtual world is just too vast for any one country to regulate on its own. As the Metaverse continues to expand, it will require not just the investment of governments and tech companies but the collaborative input of people all over the world. In recent months, the Council of Europe has been very active in this effort, and its most recent report is a fine overview of the current state of play and its recommendations for moving forward.

    Final Thoughts

    The Council of Europe insists on the urgent need for timely governance and regulation of the Metaverse and Web3 technologies. As these still-nascent technologies offer great prospects for innovation and social engagement, they also hold the potential to create newfound and serious threats to privacy and identity, not to mention a whole new frontier for content moderation and governance that will make current debates seem quaint by comparison.

    Editor’s note: Written with the assistance of AI – Edited and fact-checked by Jason Newey.

    Jason Newey

    Jason Newey is a seasoned journalist specializing in NFTs, the Metaverse, and Web3 technologies. With a background in digital media and blockchain technology, he adeptly translates complex concepts into engaging, informative articles.

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    Microsoft Mesh: the roadmap news

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    Microsoft Mesh: the roadmap news


    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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    Meta Cancels Next-Gen Headset Amidst Changing Market Landscape

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    Meta Cancels Next-Gen Headset Amidst Changing Market Landscape


    The tech community is buzzing over Meta’s recent cancellation of a next-gen mixed-reality headset. Was this a necessary move for a swiftly changing market that has yet to establish a viable product, or was it a strategic error that forfeits a chance to compete with Apple’s Vision Pro? The answer appears to be a bit of both as Meta seeks the sweet spot between innovation and market demand.

    Meta’s mixed-reality headset will no longer be developed. CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other executives reached this decision after the product review meeting, during which they threw the headset under the bus. Once considered a top contender and a direct competitor to Apple’s Vision Pro, the device’s development was clearly no longer tenable—hence, the decision to stop working on it.

    The cancellation of the next-generation Reality Labs headset can mainly be attributed to the high costs associated with advanced OLED display technology. Reality Labs has been a big area of focus for parent company Meta, but the division’s ambitious vision for AR/VR has come at a staggering cost, resulting in billions of dollars in losses.

    Zuckerberg is undeterred, though. He continues to believe that the AR/VR field will amount to something tangible over the next decade or so. Still, the decision to cancel the headset seems to suggest he is rethinking his approach.

    Impact of Apple’s Vision Pro

    Initially seen as a game changing device, Apple’s Vision Pro headset has had trouble catching on. Sales have been disappointing, to the point that we could say the product has not yet found its market. Meta may well have looked to Apple’s struggles when second-guessing its own decision to introduce a pricey mixed-reality headset to a consumer base that seems highly doubtful, at present, about the usefulness of such products.

    In general, the virtual reality marketplace seems to be in a state of turbulence. Microsoft’s HoloLens has moved toward niche markets with heavy wallets, and Google’s smart glasses failed to catch the public’s attention.  Meta, looking at all this, might have decided that now is not the best time to invest in a premium VR headset.

    Shift in Market Focus

    Meta’s cancellation of the next-generation headset appears to be part of a larger strategic realignment. Instead of going head-to-head with the high-end hardware competitors, Meta seems to be focusing on its software ecosystem. If the company manages to create a compelling environment for users and developers, it will have accomplished something of value that it can then monetize.

    In the long run, Meta’s vision could be in forming partnerships and collaborations with other tech firms and start-ups focused on developing affordable AR/VR solutions. If they do that, it might open the door to innovation in areas where Meta could achieve competitive differentiation, like AI integration or improved connectivity between AR/VR devices and smartphones.

    From High-End to Consumer-Friendly Options

    That said, the projected growth for the worldwide smart glasses market is nothing short of impressive. Estimates call for the sale of 13 million units by 2030, and the average annual growth rate from 2023 to 2030 is expected to be as high as 53.0%. In 2023, the U.S. market for smart glasses reached approximately 432,300 units, and this value is poised to climb.

    While high-end items such as Apple’s Vision Pro might keep making the news, the real expansion should come from cheaper, more consumer-friendly products. Meta looks likely to take the lead in this. Its recent foray into the next big thing in computing—mixed-reality (MR) headsets—seems to have the everyday consumer in mind, and not only the well-heeled VR enthusiast.

    Future Implications

    The premium mixed-reality headset that Meta promised to build and sell has been canceled, and that may indicate a turnaround in strategy—away from high-end hardware that delivers premium mixed-reality experiences and toward making augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) technology more accessible and practical. Despite cancelling the headset, Meta still plans to offer a range of hardware and software solutions for various AR/VR use cases, and its significant investment in this area still gives the company an edge in the office and education markets.

    The future of AR/VR may rely less on cutting-edge devices and more on the kind of affordable, everyday products that consumers can easily make use of.

    Editor’s note: This article was written with the assistance of AI. Edited and fact-checked by Owen Skelton.

    Owen Skelton

    Owen Skelton is an experienced journalist and editor with a passion for delivering insightful and engaging content. As Editor-in-Chief, he leads a talented team of writers and editors to create compelling stories that inform and inspire.

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