Mixed Reality Meetings, the New Reality of Remote Working
The COVID-19 pandemic forced many people into working remotely. Whether you want it or not, you had to adjust yourself to meetings on Zoom and Skype to be able to do your job. Technology is trying to keep up with this problem by offering solutions that make video conferencing more realistic and collaborative.
One such solution is holding virtual meetings using state-of-the-art technologies such as augmented reality and virtual reality cameras. These cameras can create a virtual conference room where you can sit with your clients or co-workers and work with them as you would do in an actual room.
What’s more, mixed reality meetings can have some added features as well. For instance, you can share your project so that everybody can suggest adjustments or write notes on it. You can also have a virtual board on which you can brainstorm your ideas and make charts. Giving reports can also be easier in a mixed reality meeting as you can commandeer your PowerPoint more dynamically as you would also be able to in a physical room.
Which companies are offering mixed reality meeting services?
Spatial
Spatial is a platform that gives you a virtual conference room. You can sit next to people worldwide and use the whole virtual room as your workspace. The holographic area allows you to use your hands to manipulate pictures and notes. The Spatial conference room also enables you to search for things instantly, then display and share them with the other team members.
Attendees can use any type of VR or AR camera they have at their disposal. They can also use their smartphones to attend the conference. To enter the room, you will need to create a 3D avatar of yourself using a single selfie. Then your avatar will move, talk, and interact with the other avatars present in the meeting.
Spatial was founded in 2016 and is based in New York and San Francisco. This company is supported by investors such as Mike Krieger (Co-Founder of Instagram) and Andy Hertzfeld (Co-Inventor of the Macintosh). Spatial received 22.2 million dollars of investment to generate revenue in 2020.
Mesh
Mesh is a project by Microsoft (MSFT) that uses the Azure-based developer SDK to create mixed-reality platforms for conferences and meetings. This technology enables people to use life-like avatars to collaborate and communicate with people remotely. Mesh allows users to use any kind of AR or VR camera, whether it is Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 or a camera made by other companies.
Using Mesh, you can have a shared virtual environment where you can share 2D and 3D content. You can also easily manipulate this content with your hands. However, this is not all. Microsoft intends to integrate Mesh with some of its other products.
MeetinVR
MeetinVR is another company that enables users to use a mixed reality platform for their meetings and conferences. Using MeetinVR, you can hold your virtual meetings in light-filled rooms with amazing scenes of nature outside the windows. This platform also gives you access to interactive whiteboards, shared spaces, and movie viewing capabilities. MeetinVR is currently collaborating with Oculus VR cameras designed and made by Facebook and CopenX, one of the most influential network companies in Scandinavia.
In 2020, MeetinVR signed a collaboration contract with Varjo, a company manufacturing industrial VR cameras. Varjo makes VR systems that have human eye quality. What’s more, MeetinVR has allocated a discount for users of Varjo who hold their meetings with this company.
How fast is the Mixed Reality market growing?
Mixed reality and AR and VR are new technologies that are slowly finding their foot in the market. The COVID-19 pandemic’s ensuing challenges have further pushed companies to use mixed reality in their meetings and conference calls. This makes people, clients and employees alike use virtual communication more enthusiastically. It also gives them the same capabilities they would have in a face-to-face meeting.
The market size for mixed reality meetings was 553.27 million dollars in 2020. This amount is expected t grow by more than 47.9% by 2026, reaching 5,811 million dollars. One of the most significant users of mixed reality are architecture companies; however, other industries are catching up quickly.
The amount of investment in hardware and software sections on this technology has enabled more companies to develop innovative tools and platforms for mixed reality meetings. For instance, England has recently invested 33 million Euros in developing AR and VR technologies. All in all, mixed reality meeting is one of the fastest-growing trends in the market today.
