![\"Microsoft](\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/uploads\/prod\/2021\/10\/ms-digital-stories-300x122.png\")
Several years into the era of flexible work, most of us are used to appearing in a Brady Bunch-style gallery. We select an emoji to ask a question or applaud an achievement and still have to remember \u201cunmute\u201d when it\u2019s our turn to talk.<\/p>\n
Half of workers have gone back to the office, but much of our collaboration with others is still being done in online meetings. Clearly, the flexible workplace isn\u2019t going anywhere. Many organizations have tried hard to figure out a structure to accommodate their employees from wherever they dial in\u2014whether it is executive boardroom or their back porch. But it\u2019s a big jump from diagnosing the challenges to devising solutions that enable people to connect more deeply in online meetings.<\/p>\n
There’s no doubt that we’re embracing a new work culture at Microsoft. Our colleagues are more distributed and diverse than ever before. This is why we built Microsoft Mesh<\/a>, a 3D immersive space built into Microsoft Teams. Teammates show up as avatars and interact with one another in real time in the same virtual space.<\/p>\n Microsoft Mesh is a platform that powers shared immersive experiences, connecting people in a more natural way. Here\u2019s how it can help you: We wanted to get immersive spaces right for ourselves here at Microsoft and<\/em> for thousands of organizations that need flexible workplace solutions. And in effort to solve complex challenges with nuanced technical solutions, we have had to learn along the way.<\/p>\n One way we do this is by receiving and incorporating feedback from our own employees before we release products to the public, a concept we call Customer Zero<\/a>. Immersive spaces benefited greatly from this cycle of refinement.<\/p>\n \u201cThe future of distributed collaboration is more than the video grid,\u201d says Jeff Teper, president of Microsoft 365 Collaborative Apps and Platforms, who shared his view in a LinkedIn post announcing the public preview of Mesh<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201c(Mesh) is a step forward for us all to learn together,\u201d Teper says.<\/p>\n Immersive spaces allows participants to connect more naturally. You can bond with coworkers as you toss bean bags, sit by the firepit, or gather on couches in a lake house\u2014all within Teams accessible via PC or VR headset.<\/p>\n Flexible work is now the norm, with people from the same team working remote from many different locations. We\u2019re no longer having those authentic moments during or in-between working sessions to socialize and create personal connection at work.<\/p>\n \u2014Alexandre Godin, principal product manager, Microsoft Mesh product team<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Mixed reality products had been brewing for years with products like HoloLens, but the pandemic massively accelerated this work.<\/p>\n \u201cFlexible work is now the norm, with people from the same team working remote from many different locations,\u201d says Alexandre Godin, a principal product manager who helped build Microsoft Mesh from its inception. \u201cWe\u2019re no longer having those authentic moments during or in-between working sessions to socialize and create personal connection at work.\u201d<\/p>\n The geo-diversity of our teams has made finding connection on our Teams calls as important as it\u2019s ever been. Immersive spaces fills that void and enables teammates to easily and more naturally interact with each other virtually.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels like I don\u2019t need to wait for my turn to have a conversation,\u201d Godin says. \u201cYou get to interact in a much more natural way with a sense of physical togetherness in this 3D space.\u201d<\/p>\n For the first time, it\u2019s really easy to use and is accessible to everyone in Teams. I\u2019m not here and you\u2019re there; we are all here together in virtual reality.<\/p>\n \u2014Sara Bush, principal product manager, Microsoft Digital<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It\u2019s creating a new way to communicate.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the first time, it\u2019s really easy to use and is accessible to everyone in Teams,\u201d says Sara Bush, a principal product manager for the team in Microsoft Digital, the company\u2019s IT organization. \u201cI\u2019m not here and you\u2019re there; we are all here together in virtual reality.\u201d<\/p>\n Everyone who has tried immersive spaces agrees that this virtual world\u2019s coolest feature and biggest brain-bender is spatial audio.<\/p>\n \u201cAs you could in reality, you can move away from the cluster of folks you’re talking to, or the main meeting environment, and the audio will reflect that,\u201d says Bush, an 11-year Microsoft veteran who helped deploy Teams across Microsoft in 2018.<\/p>\n \u201cYou’ll get a visual notification on your screen, and you will notice the audio fade out and you can no longer hear those people that you were standing with,\u201d she says. \u201cBut now you can hear this other group that you’ve walked over to. This experience is more akin to being together physically.\u201d<\/p>\n Participants can also have side conversations and communicate effectively in subgroups without talking over each other.<\/p>\n \u201cSpatial audio is amazing,\u201d Godin says. \u201cIt really does feel like you\u2019re in the room by mimicking real audio behavior, and it helps capture nuances and non-verbal cues that don\u2019t always come through in standard online meetings but are so important for the group dynamic.\u201d<\/p>\n Work in this new era is about flexibility and accommodation for productivity.<\/p>\n \u201cWe each have our own work style,\u201d Bush says. \u201cSometimes you want to come into the office to collaborate and to have face-to-face engagement. Sometimes you want to focus in a way that you can\u2019t in the office but can at home. This gives us the best of both worlds.\u201d<\/p>\n It also allows for different types of meetings for different kinds of people, boosting communication and coordination. For example, an introvert who thrives on one-on-one conversations can find a cozy nook, have a side conversation, then rejoin the group. It also helps capture nuances that might not come through in a video call only.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really makes a huge difference in how people interact and participate in a session,\u201d Godin says. \u201cIt helps them connect with co-workers in a more natural and deeper way that resembles what would happen if everyone was physically together.\u201d<\/p>\n Immersive spaces lets people show up the way they want, which makes them feel included, engaged, and connected. It works regardless of each participants\u2019 location, title, and learning type, making for a more equitable and inclusive working environment.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a technological solution to physical space realities and limitations.<\/p>\n \u2014Sara Bush, principal product manager, Microsoft Digital<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Immersive spaces can be used to encourage and enhance social interactions during employee orientations, training, professional development, and networking events.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a technological solution to physical space realities and limitations,\u201d Bush says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Microsoft\u2019s robust program for internal testing, known as Customer Zero<\/a>, has played an essential role in helping to shape immersive spaces. Employee testing and feedback helped refine and improve the product before it was released to the public.<\/p>\n In fact, feedback from our colleagues testing and using pre-release features or products is fundamental to the company\u2019s mission and momentum. Microsoft employees can try out, pressure test, and identify bugs in the software while it\u2019s still in beta, raising early flags about a product\u2019s user experience. Each group that evaluated immersive spaces passed along critical feedback and information about their experiences.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to make sure we\u2019re looking at things from the customer\u2019s point of view, which is why we have a great system where our internal early adopters can test and evaluate products and report any issues,\u201d says Rachel Castillote, a senior product manager leading the Teams Early Experience service in Microsoft Digital. \u201cThis critical feedback is necessary to ensure these experiences are diverse and inclusive across many different learning types, geographies, and user journeys. That turns into diverse experiences and products that are going to delight our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n The Customer Zero framework was particularly helpful when developing immersive spaces.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a whole new experience, so it was really cool to witness our internal early adopters evaluating and validating it for the first time,\u201d Castillote says. \u201cIt was great to be able to see people in avatar form in this virtual environment that mimics many of the aspects of real life and just exploring the space, moving around in the space. We got to experience the awe, the wow factor of the participants, which was very validating.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s more casual. More intimate. And that opens us up to more collaboration and connection.<\/p>\n \u2014Laura Oxford, senior content program manager, Microsoft Digital<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n One beta tester of immersive spaces was skeptical at first.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, it was a little unusual at first, because you\u2019re in a meeting room with people, but we\u2019re not actually in a meeting room,\u201d says Laura Oxford, a senior content program manager in Microsoft Digital. \u201cBut it really did feel like we were in a space together.\u201d<\/p>\n The fact that it was done without virtual reality headsets or equipment is a big plus.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all just on Teams on the computer, yet it gives you that sense of social connection,\u201d Oxford says. \u201cIt\u2019s more casual. More intimate. And that opens us up to more collaboration and connection, and that engagement enhances any kind of remote or flexible-work experience.\u201d<\/p>\n We are continuously gathering details and feedback that help us validate our products. Our products go through an agile and iterative process, so we\u2019re constantly iterating based on the feedback that we get from our participants.<\/p>\n \u2014Rachel Castillote, senior product manager, Microsoft Digital<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The immersive spaces team has applied lessons learned from all the mixed-reality products that came before it.<\/p>\n \u201cFeeling co-present is key. Being in the same place and having shared experiences, whether it\u2019s fun or work focused, or both, is really important,\u201d Godin says. \u201cThere is a ton of value in asynchronous communication or video calls, but sometimes you really need to get together in a room to create that deeper engagement and connection that will make a difference for the team to achieve their goals together.\u201d<\/p>\n Mesh immersive spaces really offers something kind of magical and special as we\u2019re all feeling we\u2019re there together.<\/p>\n \u2014Alexandre Godin, principal product manager, Microsoft Mesh product team<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Continuing the virtuous circle of feedback from early adopters won\u2019t stop anytime soon, according to Castillote.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are continuously gathering details and feedback that help us validate our products,\u201d Castillote says. \u201cOur products go through an agile and iterative process, so we\u2019re constantly iterating based on the feedback that we get from our participants.\u201d<\/p>\n Most early participants in immersive spaces say there\u2019s an ineffable quality that has to be experienced, particularly the spatial audio component.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Castillote is excited about the possibilities still to come.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s a whole other realm that we’re headed to, and a whole new option for how you want to show up in the workplace,\u201d she says. \u201cDo you want to show up in person? Do you want to show up in avatar form? Do you want to show up in avatar form in the immersive space? Like, where are we having our meeting today?\u201d<\/p>\n And oh yeah, it\u2019s good for networking as well.<\/p>\n \u201cI know from experience building that social connection from teams takes a lot of work, even when everybody’s in the office together,\u201d Oxford says. \u201cSocial connections are important for having more effective meetings and relationships.”<\/p>\n Her advice?<\/p>\n \u201cBe open to it,\u201d Oxford says. \u201cHave fun with it\u2014that\u2019s exactly what it\u2019s for.\u201d<\/p>\n In other words, meet you by the firepit to roast marshmallows.<\/p>\n To get started with\u00a0immersive spaces in Microsoft Teams, follow these steps:<\/p>\n Ensure you have the right licensing for immersive spaces. Supported paths include:<\/p>\n Microsoft Mesh will begin loading, and you\u2019ll enter the immersive space pre-join screen.<\/p>\n Within the three-dimensional environment, you can:<\/p>\n Select\u00a0+<\/strong>\u00a0or the pencil icon to create or customize your avatar.<\/p>\n Adjust audio settings: Fine-tune your audio device from the pre-join screen.<\/p>\n Immersive spaces\u00a0work well for various types of meetings, including:<\/p>\n This feature is currently available on the\u00a0Microsoft Teams desktop app for Windows\u00a0and on Mac up to R3. It is not yet supported on Teams on the web or Teams mobile.<\/p>\n To get started and learn more, check out the official Microsoft support documentation for immersive spaces<\/a> or explore the Microsoft Mesh overview<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/uploads\/prod\/2024\/03\/10589-Mesh-Icon.png\"){kind=icon}
\nIntroducing Microsoft Mesh<\/h2>\n
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Impressive spatial audio<\/h2>\n
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Flexible, inclusive, effective<\/h2>\n
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Internal feedback shapes product design<\/h2>\n
Next steps for next-level engagement <\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u2018Magical and special\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/figure>\nFind the version for you<\/h3>\n
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Access immersive spaces<\/h3>\n
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Explore and socialize<\/h3>\n
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Customize your avatar<\/h3>\n
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