Microsoft partners with Meta to bring Teams, Office, Windows, and Xbox to VR

Microsoft and Meta have announced that they are working together to create better working environments and even games in virtual reality. That started with Microsoft bringing its biggest offerings like Teams, Office, Windows, and even Xbox Cloud Gaming into the Meta's Quest VR headset.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in Meta Connect. “You can connect, share, collaborate as if you were in person. We are bringing Meta Quest an immersive Microsoft Teams meeting experience to give people new ways to connect with each other.”

Teams experiencing the new Quest Pro and Quest 2 headsets will include Meta and Microsoft's avatar system tailored for Teams, Teams will receive support in Meta's own Horizon Workroom. People can join Teams meetings directly from Workrooms.

“We think this cross-device, cross-screen experience will be the foundation of the virtual office of the future,” said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. This virtual office of the future isn't just for meetings. Microsoft is bringing Windows 365 to Quest, to stream full versions of Windows to devices.

With Windows 365 coming to Quest, you'll have a new way to securely stream your entire Windows experience, including all your apps, content, and personalized settings to your VR device.

Microsoft is also bringing 2D versions of its Office apps to Quest through Progressive Web Apps (PWA) technology. These aren't fully 3D versions of Office designed for VR, but if there's a need for VR in the enterprise, it's easy to envision Microsoft adapting them in the future.

Xbox Cloud Gaming will get access to Meta's Quest VR headset, allowing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers to stream games. It won't be as immersive as the original VR experience for Xbox games, but you'll be able to pick up Xbox controllers and play them on a giant screen projected inside the Quest headset.

This is a close partnership between Meta and Microsoft. While the pair have collaborated on Teams for Meta's Portal devices and on several integrations for SharePoint and Outlook, this is the first major partnership since the deep integration of Facebook into Windows Phone over a decade. previous century.

Meta currently has an important ally in the effort to make the metaverse a reality, as well as there are clear signs that this will be a challenging environment to stay on track. Meta has been trying for years to reach enterprise customers through its Workplace platform, but by working more closely with Microsoft Teams in VR, it's a clear admission of failure when it comes to the future. of productivity and collaboration applications in the workplace. Microsoft's Mesh work for Teams was particularly impressive in virtual meetings last year, so it will be interesting to see how the company brings that into the Meta's Quest headset.

It's still early days for this partnership, with more details on exactly when these experiences will arrive in the coming months. You can expect to hear more about Teams, and perhaps Microsoft's 3D metaverse avatar, when the company hosts the Ignite conference in Seattle, where they'll discuss the future of work, security and more .

Source: https://www.theverge.com