Last Updated on October 27, 2022
Have you heard about Microsoft Mesh?
It made some buzz in last year’s Ignite Digital Event as Microsoft’s entry into the virtual reality and augmented reality industry.
Table of Contents:
What is Microsoft Mesh?
Similar to competing technologies, Microsoft Mesh aims to connect the physical and digital worlds.
Microsoft designed Mesh for collaboration and software creation with the help of virtual and augmented reality headsets.
Microsoft Mesh was built on top of Microsoft’s Azure platform, together with HoloLens 2 and other devices.
This is an exciting technology, especially because of the augmented reality headsets that are unique to other competing technologies.
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What are the uses of Microsoft Mesh?
Here are the things you can use Microsoft Mesh for:
1. Virtual collaboration
In the spirit of bringing colleagues and teams together no matter the distance and time, Microsoft Mesh can make it feel like you’re all in the same room.
Since Mesh integrates well with Microsoft 365, all your calendars, content, connections, and workflows are also present in the mixed reality world.
2. Review designs and models
Microsoft 365 apps have advanced really well in the last few years and any documents shared through OneDrive allow people to work on them together.
This is called co-authoring. But imagine bringing that same feature and working on 3D models.
That’s basically one of the purposes of Microsoft Mesh. Whether in person or through the hololens, your team can check and annotate 3D models in real-time.
Similar to any cloud experience that we have, any work made during sessions will automatically be saved so you can start exactly where you left off.
3. Remote Guidance
Gone are the ways when you have to wait for someone to be present before that person can guide you on something important.
For employees, it’s a great comfort when experts are present and always ready to guide and offer new perspectives.
Through Microsoft Mesh, experts can teach others remotely in areas where they are needed and resolve issues faster.
4. Training and learning
In many parts of the globe, people are starting to use virtual reality to teach a skill or two (like in the medical field).
But imagine giving guidance to someone in real-time even without seeing each other in person?
Some topics and skills are not that easy to teach unless you’re in the same room with the instructor and looking at the same things.
Using Microsoft Mesh, employees can train and learn together using holoportation and holographic sharing and visualization.
This approach could greatly reduce travel and logistical costs for the companies since all are done in digital reality.
5. Virtual meet-ups
Putting this in the last place since it’s also the most obvious use case there is.
Meeting in mixed reality through virtual meetings with Microsoft Mesh can potentially provide a connection similar to meeting in person.
A common problem with today’s virtual meetups is that it doesn’t feel real. Presentations feel boring since you’re just sitting there alone watching a screen.
But imagine if you can see who you’re talking to as well as the avatars of other people who are with you in the meeting.
How to get Microsoft Mesh?
Currently, Microsoft Mesh is in a limited free preview. You can use the Mesh app on your Hololens if you have one.
To preview the Microsoft Mesh-enabled experience, download the Mesh app here first on Hololens 2.
You can go here to express your interest in Microsoft Mesh and get updated with news and announcements.
How do you feel about Microsoft Mesh? Share your thoughts about this exciting technology in the comments below.
If you need any help with Microsoft 365, send me a message through the contact form found here and I’ll get back to you shortly.
