Microsoft introduces online AR and VR developer platform Mesh

Microsoft has introduced Mesh, an online platform that allows developers to create applications for mainly AR and VR headsets. Mesh is about applications where several people work together in the same digital environment.

Mesh works with a cross-platform SDK where users can develop applications for AR and VR headsets, for smartphones and for PCs. The focus is on the headsets. Mesh is all about applications where several people work simultaneously in a digital environment. That’s why Mesh has support for avatars, for example, so that users can see where other users are. These avatars have a torso, head and hands. The positions of these body parts are again based on the positions of the headset and any controllers of the users. Later it should be possible to see ‘photorealistic holographic people’.

The developer platform also has support for spatial maps. This will share the caches of participating devices, so that everyone sees the same objects in the same way. Microsoft gives the example of several people who digitally build a car together. When a user changes the shape and location of a car part, the other users will see this too. Mesh works with Azure to ensure that these digital objects can be rendered by Azure. The advantage of this is that the objects are rendered in the same way for all users, regardless of computer power.

With Mesh, Microsoft hopes that users will use AR and VR glasses more to collaborate online. That is why the platform works with many different devices, such as the Microsoft HoloLens, HP Reverb G2 and the Oculus Quest 2. The sdk now has support for Unity, C++ and C#. Later, Unreal, Babylon and React Native should be added.

The company aims not only at the business market with Mesh; Pokémon GO developer Niantic is also experimenting with Mesh. Microsoft has also developed two Mesh apps of its own. The Microsoft Mesh App allows users to have Teams-like conversations in an AR or VR environment and import 3D content from OneDrive. The second Mesh app AltspaceVR lets users organize live virtual events. Microsoft promises to expand Mesh with more features and supported devices, engines and frameworks in the near future.